UAE Polo Team 11 – 8 Vikings
The UAE Polo Team’s first game in the Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup last Saturday had seen them struggle against an in-form Park Place. The team did not appear to gel but it was the first time that this quartet – HH Sheikha Maitha, Lucas Monteverde Junior, Barto Castagnola and Alfredo Capella – had played together. That match report concluded with the words “UAE will build on that experience for their next match”. Build they did today, the UAE Polo Team delivering some strong, cohesive play to win this match and put themselves very much back into contention in this new high-goal tournament.
The direction of this game changed again in the fifth when the UAE Polo Team were awarded three penalties. These were successfully converted by Castagnola and Capella to put UAE ahead once more (8-7). Perhaps more importantly Vikings failed to score at all in this chukka. Although at this level of polo it was still very much game on, even when Castagnola delivered a lovely angled shot to goal at the very beginning of the sixth. Zubia converted a 30-yard penalty with four minutes left on the clock to keep Vikings’ hopes alive. However, when the UAE Polo Team were awarded a couple of penalties in the final two minutes – successfully converted by the huge hitting Capella – the UAE Polo Team’s victory was assured.
Next Game
Thursday 13 August at 3pm: Park Place v Monterosso on The Castle Ground, Flemish Farm
All matches streamed live at Guards TV
