The semi-final round of the Cartier Queen’s Cup 2018 was played at the Guards Polo Club, on 9th and 10th June 2018. Here’s a look at how the fixtures unfolded.
9th June 2018, Saturday
Park Place vs RH Polo:
The defending champions RH Polo went down against what was a brilliant display of team-work from the Park Place team. After a scoreless 1st chukka, RH Polo fired 3 goals at the start of the 2nd. Park Place soon pulled one back with a Juan Britos penalty, who then went on to score a field goal. Andrey Borodin drew scores level as the game approached half-time, with a scoreline of 3-3.
Another amazingly crafted goal from Borodin at the start of 3rd chukka saw Park Place take a lead. The rest of the half saw a similar display from the team, adding 5 more goals to their tally with Britos scoring 3 of them.
Final Score-
Park Place (9) – (5) RH Polo
Valiente vs Talandracas:
The 2nd quarter-final of the day was a very tight affair with some end-to-end action throughout the game from both sides. With Valiente 1-0 up in the first few minutes of the game, Talandracas’ Julian de Lusarreta collided with Valiente’s Adolfo Cambiaso.
While Cambiaso was back on his feet after a while, Lusarreta had to be ‘blue lighted’ to hospital. Juan Gris Zavalata, who played for Clinova this year, replaced Lusarreta to take the field for Talandracas. Hugo Lewis extended Valiente’s lead to 2-0 early on when the game resumed after almost 30 minutes. By the end of this chukka, the scoreboard read 3-1 in Valiente’s favour.
The scoring action was bound to get more intense. Talandracas responded in style when Alejandro Muzzio put them in lead for the first time in the game, with a score of 5-4 in the 4th chukka. When the 5th began, scores were at a perfect 7-7. As tension began to build, this chukka saw plenty of whistles and ended with Valiente leading 9 goals to 8.
Cambiaso did what he does best, producing a run down the ground in the 6th to give his team a comfortable 2 goal lead of 10-8 going into the final chukka. Talandracas, with some great display of team effort inched closer, pulling one back and taking the scoreline to 10-9 but eventually ran out of time to equalise
Valiente will now play the winners of the former fixture of the day, RH Polo, in the semi-finals.
Final Score-
Valiente (10) – (9) Talandracas
10th June 2018, Sunday
La Bamba de Areco vs Les Lions:
Jean Francois Decaux led his team La Bamba de Areco to a comfortable win over Les Lions. The latter had a strong start and were 2-1 up at the end of 1st chukka. After this, tables turned and it was pretty much a one-sided affair from there on. Byron Watson, David Stirling and Juan Martin Nero kept the scoreboard rotating for La Bamba and ensured their victory even before the final bell. Joaquim Pittaluga fought back for Les Lions with 6 goals to his name, but his efforts were over
Final Score-
La Bamba de Areco (13) – (9) Les Lions
La Indiana vs Emlor:
La Indiana recovered their lost form to beat Emlor with a 6 goal margin, after struggling in the past few games. They were 4-0 up by the end of 1st chukka, after which there was no looking back for Michael Bickford’s team. Emlor tried to pick themselves back up and had narrowed the margin to 11-5 going into the final chukka. La Indian successfully managed to defend their lead, with Facundo Pieres scoring their 12th.
Agustin Merlos did convert a penalty in the last few moments of the game, but it was too late to have any significant impact on the result. La Indiana lifted The Gerrard Leigh Cup trophy and booked their semi-final fixture with La Bamba de Areco.
Final Score-
La Indiana (12) – (6) Emlor
SEMI-FINALS:
9th June 2018, Wednesday-
Park Place vs Valiente Polo Team (12 PM)
La Indiana vs La Bamba de Areco (4 PM)
