Mon 18th May 2015England triumphant at St. Regis International CupFirst International of the season at Cowdray Park Polo Club
On Saturday 16 May, under blues skies teams representing England and The Americas took to Lawns 2 at Cowdray Park Polo Club to play the first International of the season for The Silver Jubilee Cup. A last minute team change for England could have spelled disaster as Richard the Earl of Tyrone was forced to pull out on Friday evening after complications from a previous injury meant he could not play; Tom Morley stepped up to take the number 1 shirt for the game in his place. Nacho Figueras was also on the back foot for the game playing unfamiliar horses and only arriving into the UK that morning, however it didn’t stop him and his teammates for The Americas putting up a strong fight against England. The game was not the most exciting for spectators, but flowed well for the first two chukkas with England playing a strong offensive game and The Americas applying plenty of pressure in defence. Morley proved his worth in the team with some incredible backhands in front of their defended goal allowing Charlton, Beim and Harper to push through their opposition to move play further up the field. The first chukka ended without a goal on the scoreboard and it wasn’t until well into the second chukka that The Americas made their first mark with a goal. The English picked up their pace as Charlton scored in the third chukka and then set up another goal for Beim to make 2-1. The Americas won an undefended penalty with one and a half minutes left in the third chukka to even the score 2-2, quickly followed by another goal to take them ahead. Charlton won the line-out to pass to Harper who took the ball on a run to goal to close the chukka on three all. After St. Regis celebrity guests and polo aficionados alike had trodden in at half time, the second half was dominated by whistles and penalties for both sides. England seemed to rally, but didn’t manage to score again until the last minute of the fourth chukka to nose one goal ahead. It wasn’t until the fifth and final chukka that England really managed to get their game together to pull away by scoring two more goals to win 6-3. The consensus from the cognoscente in the sidelines was that despite an England victory the game had not been as exciting as had been anticipated and had not opened up to allow long and flowing play expected of an International. The America’s Manuel Elizarde was awarded The Polo Magazine Most Valuable Player Award and James Beim’s pony Lucky, which he played in the first chukka, was awarded the RoR Best Playing Pony Award. England: Tom Morley (6), Max Charlton (7), James Beim (7), James Harper (6) The Americas: Manuel Elizarde (9), Nacho Figueras (6), Matias Zavaleta (7) Jaime Huidobro (8) Photograph: Tom Morley, Max Charlton, James Beim and James Harper raise The Silver Jubilee Cup at Cowdray Park Polo Club. By Lucy Wilson |