We had to wait until the very last minutes of this „semi-final“ between Barrière and Brittany Polo Club to know the finalists of the 2022 Marta and Lucien Barrière Gold Cup. It will be a battle between the two biggest French teams, the only ones to have won, in this 21st century, the British Gold Cup (Brittany Polo Club) and the Queen‘s Cup (Talandracas), the two most prestigious titles outside Argentina
The two big powerful teams of Sunday‘s final were nevertheless greatly challenged by a smaller team, the winner of the Silver Cup: Barrière, whose captain Isabelle Larenaudie was making her first appearance at this level. The team she formed with the Zavaleta family came very close to being a spoilsport today. If they had won, all three teams would have had to go battle it out in a shoot-out: the famous penalty shots where nerves often play the main role. Brittany Polo Club’s men didn‘t want to go through that. The team in black was held up from start to finish by the Zavelatas, who were all very inspired and never let go of their opponents! Most of the time, the gap between the two teams was only one goal. Sometimes two. At the end of the game, Ramiro Zavaleta put the two teams back on the same level with a magnificent and intelligent goal and it took a great Diego Cavanagh to snatch the victory with a few seconds left on the clock scoring his only goal of the game! The Zavaleta‘s disappointment was sad to witness at the prize-giving ceremony, but this fine team still leaves Deauville with the Silver Cup and high hopes for the upcoming French Open.
See you on Sunday at 5.30 p.m. to know the outcome of this beautiful edition of the Gold Cup… and on Saturday at the same time for the Bronze Cup whose finalists will be known tomorrow.
Barrière: Isabelle Larenaudie (0) Ramiro Zavaleta (4,2 goals) Juans-Gris Zavaleta (7, 5 goals) Simon Zavaleta (5, 1 goal)
Brittany Polo Club: Jean-François Decaux (1) Benjamin Urquiza (6, 6 goals) Diego Cavanagh (8, 1 goal) Roberto Iturrioz (1, 2 goals)
Progression Brittany Polo Club: 1/0 – 2/1 – 4/3 – 6/5 – 9/8
