Thu 10th Nov 2016Ellerstina Win The Hurlingham OpenLa Dolfina’s Triple Crown winning streak ends
Ellerstina’s win yesterday has finally broken the spell of La Dolfina who have reigned Triple Crown champions since 2013. The successive 39 wins came to an end after a staggering eight chukkas, plus overtime, of world class will-they-won’t-they polo. The path to the Final was pretty easy for both teams, and the polo world looked on as the predictable results rolled in, but on the day of the Final anticipation about which way the win would go was electric in the Hurlingham Club stands. The scores were tied at the end of each of the first five chukkas before the combination of Pablo MacDonough and Adolfo Cambiaso took their team into the lead. Nicolás Pieres took a nasty fall in the first half, but continued with a fresh mount after a short delay to be checked over by medics. La Dolfina inched forwards and history looked like it might repeat itself, but the devilish duo of Facundo and his brother Gonzalito Pieres had other ideas about how the game was going to end, equalising the scores with 14 seconds left on the clock of the last chukka. Going into extra time, the play was a mad dash for both teams, but Gonzalito Pieres took on David Stirling head on as he was just meters away from the Ellerstina goal mouth, leaving la Dolfina’s entire line-up stunned and turning their ponies inside out to try and catch him up as he took it the length of the field to score the winning goal. Cambiaso and MacDonough, a couple of lengths behind, had the back bench seat to watch their defeat. The Javier Novillo Astrada Trophy for The Most Valuable Player of the match was given to Gonzalito Pieres who received the award from Eduardo Novillo Astrada. Three ponies took home awards from the match, firstly the Daniel Kearney Cup, presented by the Hurlingham Club went to Anay Sur La Peluda played by Juan Martín Nero, the AAP award, presented by Hernan Agote, went to Comedida, played by Gonzalito Pieres and finally, the AACCP trophy, handed out by the associations President Santiago Ballester, was to Open Z Jones, another of Gonzalito Pieres’ ponies. Next up is the 123rd HSBC Argentine Open Polo Championship, where both teams will again fight for the title. Click here to view the line-up and schedule. Match stats Ellerstina Johor (39): Facundo Pieres (10) – Scored 4 goals including 2 penalties Pablo Pieres (10) Gonzalito Pieres (10) – Scored 5 goals Nicolás Pieres (9) – Scored 1 goal Last Triple Crown win: Argentine Open in 2012 La Dolfina Sancor Seguros (40): Adolfo Cambiaso (10) – Scored 5 goals including 3 penalties David Stirling (10) – Scored 1 goal Pablo Mac Donough (10) – Scored 3 goals Juan Martín Nero (10) Three consecutive Triple Crown wins – 2013, 14 and 15, Tortugas Open 2016 and 39 wins in a row in Triple Crown tournaments Chukka scores: 1-1, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-6, 6-8, 9-9, 10-9 to Ellerstina Johor Photograph: Ellerstina celebrate their win with The Ayrshire Cup and plenty of champagne. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com/ Eduardo Grunberg |