Cartier Queen’s Cup Day 2

Monterosso 14 – 11 Twelve Oaks The Castle – Ground-Flemish Farm
King Power 13 – 10 Marques de Riscal – Noel Farm

Twelve Oaks, fresh from victory in the Royal Berkshire’s Prince of Wales’s Trophy, found themselves up against Monterosso (rec 1 goal on handicap) on the Castle Ground at Flemish Farm on day two of the Cartier Queen’s Cup. A line-up change for Monterosso brought Adolfo Cambiaso Jnr into the line-up in place of Pelon Stirling, resulting in a one-goal on handicap. Quickly adding to their advantage, Monterosso raced out to a 4-0 lead and carried their strong play throughout the first half. Ignacio Toccalino and Cambiaso combined for seven of Monterosso’s eight goals in the first half while the team finished a perfect 6 for 6 from the field and 2 for 2 from the penalty line to extend the lead to five (9-4). A yellow card given to Toccalino and two penalty conversions for Twelve Oaks’ Joaquin Pittaluga in the third chukka helped overcome the slow start as they began to match Monterosso stride-for-stride. A huge pass from Cambiaso sprung Toccalino on a breakaway to open the scoring in the second half, but Twelve Oaks quickly recovered, turning to Pittaluga and Cristian Laprida to try and fight back within reach. Despite 10 combined goals from the duo, Monterosso took advantage of nearly every opportunity in the game, finishing an astounding 83% from the field to complete the 14-11 triumph. 

Newcomer to the high-goal stage, Marques de Riscal, led by nine-goaler Sapo Caset, met King Power at Noel Farm in their 2022 debuts. Top Srivaddhanaprabha enters this season with three new teammates in Mackenzie Weisz, Nico Pieres and James Harper, but they quickly demonstrated that King Power is a team to watch in the Cartier Queen’s Cup. Scoring the first five goals of this game, four from Pieres, gave King Power a commanding lead. However, Marques de Riscal showed their resilience and held the potent King Power attack to just one goal over the third and fourth chukkas. Relying on four penalty conversions from Caset, Marques de Riscal fought back to within one, trailing 7-6 at the end of the fourth chukka. Returning to the quick, passing style of play that proved to be successful early in the game, King Power exploded for four goals, including a tally from Srivaddhanaprabha in a decisive fifth chukka. Playing from behind throughout the game, Marques de Riscal made a final push to begin the sixth chukka, pulling back within two after a goal from Facundo Llosa, but the well-balanced King Power team stayed focused to secure a 13-10 victory. 

Tomorrow’s Fixtures – Thursday 19 May

11:30am – Great Oaks LL v Scone Polo at Les Lions
3:00pm – Vikings v Murus Sanctus at Guards Polo Club 

All games are being livestreamed by Guards TV in association with Polocam TV. Go to https://guards.polocam.tv/package

Photos by IMAGES OF POLO