Park Place 16 – 15 Dubai Polo Team Les Lions
Great Oaks LL 12 – 10 UAE Polo Team The Princes’ Ground for the Platinum Jubilee Trophy
Kicking-off today’s quarter-final action in the Cartier Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club was an undefeated Dubai Polo Team in action against a 2-2 Park Place team that only secured their place after a thrilling penalty shootout on Wednesday evening. This match quickly established itself as a high-scoring affair as these two teams traded goals to open the first chukka of play, with contributions from Park Place’s Francisco Elizalde and Facundo Pieres to be matched by Dubai Polo Team’s Camilo Castagnola on back-to-back drives from the field. Holding Dubai Polo Team to just one goal off the stick of Guillermo Terrera, Park Place’s high-octane, attacking play seized control of the second chukka to score five unanswered goals, including three from Pieres to secure an early four goal advantage. Despite a brief refuge from Park Place’s scoring onslaught from Castagnola at the penalty line, Park Place continued to apply pressure, with Andrey Borodin getting in on the action as another run of three goals gave Park Place a firm 10-5 lead at half-time. Regrouping in time for the fourth chukka, Dubai Polo Team emerged out of the break with a spectacular fourth chukka from Castagnola, who produced a five-goal individual run, taking advantage of Park Place’s foul troubles to score three of his five goals from the penalty line. Tied for the first time since the first chukka at 10-all, Castagnola continued his dominant play from the line with two more conversions, only to be matched once again by Elizalde and Pieres. These teams could not be more evenly matched, delivering an exhilarating quarter-final and entering the final chukka tied at 12-12. Both teams continued to score at an electric pace, with the battle continuing until the final bell. A Dubai Polo Team foul sent Pieres to the 40-yard line with a chance to win the game. Incredibly this penalty sailed wide with 20 seconds left. Overtime now seemed certain. A broken knock-in from Dubai Polo Team was jumped on by Park Place and Pieres was given a second opportunity to win the match. This time Pieres tapped through the penalty to confirm a 16-15 victory for Park Place and their ticket to the- semi-finals.
Turning to the Princes’ Ground for the second quarter-final, Great Oaks LL faced the reigning Queen’s Cup champions UAE Polo Team. Both teams came into this match with 3-1 records. Early goals from UAE Polo Team’s Tomas Beresford were equalled by a team effort from Great Oaks LL’s Cruz Heguy from the line and James Beim in the field in what was surely going to be close contest. Continuing to exchange goals, neither team could build a significant lead as Beresford’s four goals accounted for all of UAE Polo Team’s attacks on goal in the first half. However, it was a final conversion from Heguy on the 30-yard line that kept Great Oaks LL ahead 5-4 entering the half-time break. The back-and-forth match carried into the second half with UAE Polo Team striking first with Beresford delivering some strong, attacking play. Team-mate Bartolome Castagnola Jnr found his first goal of the match to bring the game even at 7-all. Castagnola stuck once more for UAE Polo Team in the fifth, but three fouls committed in the chukka allowed Heguy to convert twice more from the line and turn the momentum back in Great Oaks LL’s favour. Conceding seven penalty goals to Great Oaks LL on 13 fouls proved to be detrimental to UAE Polo Team’s title defence. Unable to score in the final chukka, UAE Polo Team conceded three more goals to Heguy as he finished with a game-high nine goals to secure the 12-10 victory and ensure a new champion will be crowned in the Cartier Queen’s Cup Final on Sunday 12 June. Dillon Bacon had to leave immediately after the game and so Great Oaks LL team-mate Juan Martin Nero stepped forward to receive the Platinum Jubilee Trophy, especially created by Guards Polo Club to honour HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee which was being celebrated across the country this weekend.
Sunday’s Quarter-Final Fixtures
12:00 pm – Scone Polo vs La Magdeleine at Zacara
3:00 pm – King Power vs Park Place Vaara on The Duke’s Ground. The winner of this match will receive the Gerard Leigh Trophy
All games are being livestreamed by Guards TV in association with Polocam TV. Go to https://guards.polocam.tv/package
