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Dubai wins in OT; Merlos leads La Indiana to victory with eight goals
By Alex Webbe
No day at the park for Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Kian Hall, Adolfo Cambiaso and Juan Martin Nero) winning their second straight game as Britannia El Remanso (George Hanbury, Ollie Cudmore, James Beim and James Harper) gave them everything they could handle in a 9-8 overtime victory in Cartier Queen’s Cup play at the Guards Polo Club Tuesday afternoon.
Dubai took the early lead but Britannia El Remanso wasn’t showing up on the field just for appearances. Under the field generalship of James Beim it was 4-2 at the end of the second chukker.
Third period goals from Rashid Albwardy and Adolfo Cambiaso allowed Dubai to escape with a 4-4 tie at the end of the first half.
Fourth period goals from Juan Martin Nero and Cambiaso went unanswered as Dubai seemed to right themselves in the second half, taking a 6-4 lead.
The two teams traded goals in the fifth with Nero’s 40-yard penalty conversion keeping Dubai on top by two goals, 7-5.
Beim scored his fifth goal of the match on a well-executed nearside shot that carried through the goalposts, 7-6. Nero responded with a goal of his own, scored with Ollie Cudmore on his hip, to make it 8-6, Dubai. James Harper added his second goal of the game, cutting the Dubai lead down to a single goal, 8-7, and with less than 30 seconds on the clock, Cudmore tied the game at 8-8, forcing a sudden-death overtime chukker.
Britannia El Remanso fought brilliantly all day long, so it was disappointing when Cambiaso took control of the ball in the opening seconds of the overtime chukker and scored the winning goal for Dubai. The victory has Dubai at 2-0 while Britannia El Remanso falls to 1-1.
La Indiana 13, La Bamba de Areco 10
In an earlier match La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Nic Roldan, Agustin Melos and Julian de Lusarreta) leveled their record at 1-1 with a 13-10 win over La Bamba de Areco (Jean-Francois Decaux, Diego Cavanagh, Magoo Laprida and Rodrigo Rueda, Jr.).
La Indiana had the misfortune of opening Cartier Queens Cup competition with the defending champion King Power Foxes and dropping the game in a 12-9 battle, but Tuesday’s game at Cowdray Park with La Bamba de Areco belonged to La Indiana.
A well-coordinated attack featured Argentina’s Agustin “Tincho” Merlos and American Nic Roldan who dominated the play.
La Indiana ran up a 3-0 lead in the opening chukker and raced out to a 7-2 lead after two periods of play. La Bamba de Areco fought to get back into the game but La Indiana maintained a three goal advantage, 8-5, at the end of the first half.
La Indiana continued to pummel the La Bamba de Areco defenses throughout the second half, extending their lead to four goals in the fifth, 11-7.
La Bamba de Areco struggled to make up the goals in the final chukker, but the La Indiana defense did their job, as the team rode off the field with the 13-10 victory, with Merlos scoring eight of his team’s 13 goals on the day.
The 2016 Cartier Queens Cup play continues on Friday with a noon game between Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Kian Hall, Adolfo Cambiaso and Juan Martin Nero) and Zacara (Jack Hyde, Lyndon Lea, Lucas Monteverde and Pablo MacDonough). Both teams boast 2-0 records with each looking to remain undefeated at the end of the day. A 3pm contest between Britannia El Remanso (George Hanbury, Ollie Cudmore, James Beim and James Harper) and RH Polo (Ben Soleimani, Ali Patterson, Rodrigo Andrade and Nico Pieres). Britannia El Remanso will be looking for their second win in three games while RH Polo is still searching for their first victory of the tournament.