Fri 16th Mar 2018Iglehart Cup FinalPilot make a strong comeback
As the Iglehart Cup tournament began, it looked unlikely that Pilot would make it to the Final. Early on, Curtis Pilot’s team lost to their ultimate Final rivals, La Indiana, but as luck would have it, they were given another opportunity to rectify their earlier loss in the Final on Thursday 15 March. Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres opened up the scoring for Pilot, placing two goals through the posts from far out in the field. La Indiana bounced back with the next throw-in, scoring two goals to bring the scoreboard to an even state. But this was the only time La Indiana looked like they might be in with a shot. Timmy Dutta kept Facundo at bay, blocking him out of the play for a time, but as the teams reached half-time, the score was still 7-6 to Pilot. La Indiana began the second half with renewed vigour, equalising 7-7 early on, with a 40 yard field goal from Toro Ruiz. With no more goals in the fourth chukka, La Indiana almost came back from their rut, but Pilot’s prowess came back with a vengeance in the fifth chukka as the Pieres brothers scored three consecutive goals to create the well-needed gap between the two teams. As the final chukka began, La Indiana needed a miracle to come back from the 10-7 score. As the clock ran down, La Indiana scored two much needed goals, but in the final moments, Facundo sealed the deal for Pilot with an eighth and final goal, bringing the final score 11-9. Toro Ruiz was awarded the Most Valuable Player Award, whilst Gonzalito Pieres’ pony So Easy, was presented with the Best Playing Pony. In the Subsidiary Final, the Glenn Hart Cup, Prestige Worldwide beat Postage Stamp 12-9. Felipe Viana was awarded the Most Valuable Player Award, whilst Vitamina, owned and played by Mariano Aguerre, was presented with the Best Playing Pony rug. The next tournament to take place in the USA high goal season is the 26 goal USPA Gold Cup. Matches are taking place tomorrow, with Daily Racing Form playing Colorado at 10.30am followed by Audi vs. Tonkawa. The Iglehart Cup Final Teams: Pilot (20): Curtis Pilot (0), Timmy Dutta (1), Gonzalito Pieres (9) & Facundo Pieres (10) La Indiana (20): Michael Bickford (2), Toro Ruiz (5), Facundo Obregon (6) & Jeff Hall (7) Photograph: Pilot won the Iglehart Cup Final at IPC on Thursday 15 March. Courtesy of the USPA |