Opening Wins by Bendabout and Valiente
Nothing more clearly illustrates the parity in the teams competing in the 20-goal competition this year than in the last three matches played at the International Polo Club.
Last weekend, EFG Bank took a hard-fought battle in the finals of the 2011 Herbie Pennell Cup in overtime while both matches in the opening round of play in the Joe Barry Memorial were decided by a single goal-one of them in overtime, as well!
Saturday’s opening game in the 2011 Joe Barry memorial Cup began with a see-saw battle between Bendabout and ERG, with the score tied seven different times and the lead changing hands on six occasions.
The action started slowly, with each team sizing up its opposition until umpire Darrell Schwetz blew a whistle on ERG 9-goaler Paco De Narvaez for delay of game, as he slowly tapped the ball up the field. From then on it was a whole new ballgame.
Charge after charge carried the players up and down the field. Freddie Mannix scored the first goal f the game for ERG, but was quickly countered by a Bendabout goal from Lucas Criado, and the first perid ended.
Two more goals from De Narvaez in the second period were countered by a single penalty conversion by Chris Nevins for a narrow 3-2, 1-goal ERG lead after two.
Criado answered with three goals for Bendabout in the third while the Bendabout defense held ERG scoreless, and the first half ended with Bendabout holding on to a narrow 5-4 lead.
ERG rallied in the fourth, scoring four times, getting a pair of goals from Mannix and single goals from De Narvaez and Santiago Torres. Bendabout got a pair of goals from Nevins and a single goal from team captain, Gillian Johnston,, and it was all tied up at 8-8 after four chukkers.
Bendabout stepped it up a notch in the fifth, getting two goals from Inaki Laprida and another goal from Criado. ERG answered with two more goals from Criado, but trailed 11-10 after five.
Criado’s sixth goal of the match had Bendabout up 12-10, as he stole the ball from an ERG player and carried it over 100 yards down the field for a score.
With just over three minutes to play, an aggressive ERG attack pressured Bendabout into a foul, and De Narvaez converted it to cut the lead to a single goal, once again.
Continuing to press its attack, ERG forced another Bendabout foul, and with 19 seconds on the game clock the tying goal attempt would be place less than 30-yards from the goal. The sure-shooting De Narvaez blasted the penalty goal attempt at the goal, but the ball carried just wide, and Bendabout took home the win, 12-11, as the final horn was sounded.
Criado led the Bendabout (1-0) attack with six goals. Nevins scored three times while Laprida added two goals and Jornayvaz scored once in the win.
De Narvaez scored six times for ERG (0-1)with teammate Freddie Mannix added four goals to the mix and Torres chipping a single goal.
VALIENTE 12, FARAWAY 11
Valiente ended the day’s Joe Barry Memorial Cup competition with an exciting 12-11 overtime win over a talented Faraway foursome under the field leadership of America’s highest-rated player, 9-goaler Julio Arellano.
“I was rather disappointed in their performance,” said Faraway coach Julian Hipwood. “I had really expected a lot more from them today,” added the former British 9-goaler. “They had been playing so well in practice,” he said, “I rather expected a lot more from them today.”
I’m not sure what Hipwood expects from Faraway, but several hundred spectators got everything they could ask for as Valiente and Faraway chased one another up and down the field, scoring at one end and then the other.
Valiente took the early 3-2 lead after the first chukker of play, and continued to lead Faraway 4-3 after two chukkers. Three goals from Arellano in the third were countered by a single goal from Valiente 8-goaler Jeff Hall, however, and Faraway rode off with a halftime lead of 6-5.
“Their horses were a little quicker than ours were in the first chukker,” said Faraway’s Julio Arellano, “and before we knew it we were down 2-0.”
Julio Gracida scored to put Faraway up 7-5 in the fourth before Valiente responded. A pair of goals from Nacho Astrada and a single goal from Robert Jornayvaz had Valiente in the lead, 8-7, until Arellano’s sixth goal of the game had it locked up at 8-8.
The teams exchanged goals in the fifth, with Gracida accounting for a pair of goals for Faraway while Valiente got single goals from Hall and Astrada. The period ended in a 10-10 tie,
Sixth chukker action was just as fast and furious as the opening periods of play, but great defensive efforts on behalf of both teams kept the scoring to a minimum.
Arellano got Faraway the lead, 11-10, on a penalty conversion, but Valiente returned the favor as Hall converted a penalty shot for a score as well.
Regulation time expired, and after a brief intermission to change to fresh mounts, the teams returned to the field.
Valiente took initial possession of the ensuing throw-in and carried the ball toward the Faraway goal, within 30 seconds Astrada powered the ball through the goal posts for the Valiente overtime win, 12-11.
“The teams are very competitive this year,” offered Hall. “We lost last weekend in overtime, and were pressed throughout today’s game. We fought hard throughout the game.”
When asked when he felt the turning point was in the game, Valiente 8-goaler Hall said “I don’t think there was a turning point. Nacho (Astrada) and I just pounded it out. Stewart (Armstrong) pressed the attack and Robert (Jornayvaz) was a big asset.”
Julio Arellano- “I take full responsibility for the loss. We missed too many penalty shots, and that falls on me,” he said. “They were much quicker than we were in the opening chukker, and got off to an early 2-0 lead, but our penalty shooting sunk us.”
Hall and Astrada scored five goals apiece for Valiente (1-0) in the win. Armstrong and Jornayvaz added single goals.
Arellano led all scoring with seven goals for Faraway (0-1). Gracida scored three times and Erskine added a goal in a losing effort.
Action will continue in the 2011 Joe Barry Memorial Cup competition on Sunday, January 9 with a noon game between Lucchese (0-0) and Patagones (0-0), followed by a 3 pm stadium game featuring Zacara (0-0) and Mt. Brilliant (0-0).
Meet Sharon Salzberg at The International Polo Club Lecture Series
Annual Polo Ball at Nespresso Grande Pavilion
