Monterosso Polo Team

 

Park Place made history at Guards Polo Club today. Andrey Borodin’s squad is the first team to add their names to the impressive, 22-goal Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup. However Alessandro Bazzoni’s Monterosso team made Park Place work hard for this win, keeping themselves in contention until the final bell. There was little between these two sides for much of the match, with both teams producing strong defensive play which kept the goal judges idle. Park Place had a narrow 3-1 lead at half-time but
the players, and the packed grandstands knew that the advantage was on a knife-edge and could change at any time. There had only been a goal between these two sides when they met in the league stages of the Club’s newest tournament, again in favour of Park Place (9-8), and this match was heading the same way.

 

In the fifth Facundo Pieres turned up the heat a little, making the most of some space to push Park Place ahead 4-3. When he had the chance to successfully convert a penalty many wondered if this was the moment that Park Place would now run away with the match. Ignacio Toccalino had other ideas. He successfully converted a penalty to put Monterosso very much back in contention. Facundo Sola had two chances for Monterosso in the sixth but sent them wide and as nobody else had a shot at goal in this final period
the score remained stuck at 5-4, confirming Park Place’s victory.

John Collins, the founder of Talacrest and sponsor of this new high-goal tournament, produced some amazing prizes for all players – and match officials – on finals day, including Cartier watches for the winners. Juan Britos was named Talacrest Most Valuable Player while Machitos Puccini, owned by Monterosso and played by Facundo Sola, was named the Talacrest Best Playing Pony. This seven-year-old bay mare is one of Sola’s favourites.

Appropriately for a title sponsor who is the world’s most experienced classic Ferrari dealer, having sold in excess of about 1,750 Ferrari, to the value of more than $1billion, the teams were not introduced on the field on horseback but from an impressive array of Ferrari. A former high-goal polo patron himself John Collins said when signing this new partnership: “I have been involved with polo at Guards Polo Club for more than 30 years and so am thrilled to be able to support the Club in this high-goal competition. I know from first-hand experience of playing high-goal at Guards that the opportunity for players to compete at the highest level on the best grounds is invaluable.”

Five teams entered this first edition of the Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup, with each team playing the others over the previous three weeks. So both teams in the sub final for the Talacrest Trophy, Sheikha Maitha’s UAE Polo Team and Andras Tombor’s Bardon, had met before to . In that encounter the UAE team had comfortably won 13-8. So Bardon came to this game having done their homework and dominated the first half. Matias Machado, who was later named the Talacrest Trophy Most Valuable Player was outstanding in the first half, putting Bardon comfortably ahead 7-2. UAE Polo Team, no stranger to the big occasion, closed the gap in the second half, forcing this match into extra time. This was the first time in the entire tournament that overtime had to be played. Bardon were awarded a penalty early into the extra time which Fran Elizalde converted to win the match 10-9.

 

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Bardon Polo Team 10 – 9 Vikings & Monterosso 9 – 8 UAE Polo Team (rec 1 goal)

It was only on the completion of the final league matches of the 2021 edition of the Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup that Park Place, and all high-goal polo fans, learned who would be joining Andrey Borodin’s team in Sunday’s final. That honour will go to Monterosso following their tight but impressive win over the UAE Polo Team. Sheikha Maitha’s team were probably favourites to win this match as they had seemed to be getting stronger and stronger as the tournament progressed, but today they could not get past a focused Monterosso. Admittedly UAE were without the talented 15-year-old Lucas Monteverde Junior who was unwell. Stepping into his boots was the four-goaler Cesar Crespo. A change of line-up always unsettles a team but Crespo is no stranger to the big occasion and slotted in well. So it was hard to predict which way this game would go, even when some brilliant play from Facundo Sola and Cubi Toccalino put Monterosso ahead 5-2 early in the third. Alfredo Capella fired through two goals to bring UAE Polo Team very much back into contention (5-4) at half-time, while team-mate Barto Castagnola produced a lovely run on his own at the start of the fourth to level the scores (5-5). From then on though Monterosso were in the driving seat. Spectators on The Queen’s Ground and those watching the live stream were treated to some fabulous runs and very few whistles. Sola in particular was playing superbly and inspiring the rest of his team to raise their game, giving Monterosso a three-goal advantage going into the sixth. Tension in the UAE team had started to show, with Capella receiving a yellow card for an incident at the end of the fifth chukka. The subsequent penalty saw Toccalino increase Monterosso’s lead. UAE Polo Team were not giving up without a fight though and two goals from the “super sub” Crespo put them right back in the mix. With a minute left to play UAE won a 30-yard penalty which Capella fired through with ease, closing the gap to just one goal once again. Time was the enemy now though and on the bell Monterosso not only won the game 9-8 but earned themselves a finals ticket for Sunday.

 

Andras Tombor’s Bardon team were looking for their first win in this tournament and like Monterosso brought their A game to the Duke’s Ground earlier today. With Max Voelker on his way to the USA to take up a soccer scholarship at university, Noor Khadra came into the team. Like the UAE Polo Team, this change in personnel undoubtedly unsettled the team but Khadra is also used to the big occasion – he subbed for David Paradice for some of Scone Polo’s games in the Queen’s Cup – and he fitted in from the first
whistle. Vikings were looking for their second win but Bardon were determined to win this match from the start. They had gone down after some close battles in previous games and wanted a different result today. Fran Elizalde was firing through the goals in the early chukkas to give Bardon a 4-1 lead at the start of the third. Penalties by the sharp-shooting Juan Martin Zubia brought Vikings back into contention 4-3 in the third and a lovely field goal from the young Argentine levelled the scores at half-time. Vikings dominated the early stages of the fourth with some great teamwork between Sebastian Merlos and Zubia, giving Vikings a two-goal advantage (6-4). Elizalde, who had a stand-out game today, levelled the scores once more only for Chris Mackenzie to win a horse race against Matias Machado to give Vikings the narrowest of leads on the bell. The fifth was almost a carbon copy of the previous chukka; but this time it was Bardon’s Bigatti who scored to give his team the advantage going into the final chukka (9-8). Zubia scored when pouncing on a loose ball to level the scores again, only for Elizalde to convert a 30-yard penalty. There was now just three minutes left and the score read 10-9 to Bardon. A shot from Bigatti went wide and a melee in the Bardon goal also resulted in the ball going wide, guaranteeing a Bardon victory at the final bell. Due to the who beat who rule, this win also means that it will be Bardon who will play UAE Polo Team in the Talacrest Trophy sub final on Sunday morning.

Next Games – Sunday 22 August
11am        Duke’s Ground Talacrest Trophy: UAE Polo Team v Bardon
3.30pm   Queen’s Ground Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup
Final:       Park Place v Monterosso