Mon 15th Jun 2015Gloucestershire Festival of Polo England dominate at Beaufort Charity Weekend
Saturday 13 June at Beaufort Polo Club was dominated by the England sides as both the men’s and ladies’ teams brought home the silverware.
England's Saturday match against Ireland in the Gigaset International Test Match stood out as an exciting and impressive example of polo, with fast play and strong hits moving the ball around the field and providing the spectators with something to get their teeth into. Ireland seemed to have the upper hand in the first two chukkas, but soon England pushed them into making mistakes. A close-run final chukka left it down to Pete Webb to up the score for England, but despite manful defense and retaliation from Richard, the Earl of Tyrone, the final bell sounded with a score of 13-11 in favour of the England team.
In the ladies’ match, the England team of Lucy Taylor, Emma Wood, Nina Clarkin and Tamara Fox, who are also playing together at 8 goal level this season as Appitized, dominated in their match against the Rest of the World team, beating them 6-2. Having played five games this week already as Appitized, the girls were well warmed up for the match, with England exhibiting some brilliant teamwork between Tamara Fox and Nina Clarkin. Despite the defensive efforts of Izzy Parsons and Hazel Jackson, the RoW ladies couldn’t match them. The last chukka saw skill from both sides, with a goal from Lucy Taylor to bring the score 5-1 to England, and then another impressive open backhand shot from Tamara Fox. Though Izzy Parsons managed to score again in the last 20 seconds, the result remained 6-2 to England. The Polo Magazine sponsored Most Valuable Player Award went to Tamara Fox, whilst the Polo Times Best Playing Pony was awarded to Chisba, played by Izzy Parsons and owned Janie Dear.
Sunday saw two very special matches. The first of these was the Gigaset Charity Polo Cup, in which a Royal Salute team including HRH Prince Harry took on HRHR The Duke of Cambridge's Piaget team; this year it was the younger royal, who went home with the trophy. The match was held in aid of the Household Cavalry Foundation, England and Wales Mountain Rescue and the Irish Guards Charitable Funds. To find out more about these charities follow the links on their names.
The inaugural Javier Novillo Astrada U15 Cup was the last match of the weekend, and saw SATS take home the trophy, fending off RJ Polo in the Final, while Zonkey Polo were beaten by Blackhound in the Subsidiary Final. Held in memory of the late Javier Novillo Astrada, the cup is a chance for the rising talents of polo to exhibit their skills in front of a huge audience.
Though the weekend held excitement for many, proceedings were overshadowed by news of the sudden death of Jeff Thomas on Friday. A minute’s silence was held for owner of Tally Ho Farm, the Official Equestrian Supplier to the England Polo Team, and keen sportsman who will be sorely missed.
Photograph: The England Ladies' Team. By Richenda Hine
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