Final Scores: Dubai 12 vs 10 Scone | Venue: Cowdray Lawns
Crowds flocked to Cowdray Park Polo Club’s prestigious Lawns grounds to experience the perfect family polo day out on the opening Sunday of the British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup. A record number of visitors enjoyed a range of activities prior to the 3pm match, including tractor rides through the pony lines, laser clay shooting, face painting, fun fair rides and mini rugby.
The Cowdray Estate team were also at the grounds showcasing an impressive selection of farm machinery including their combine harvester. Prior to the match, award winning gundog trainer, Jason Mayhew, took to the pitch to demonstrate the skills of his canine pupils, which included the charismatic cocker spaniel, Cooper, owned by celebrity chef, James Martin. With picnic rugs down of the edge of the field and baskets full of food, drinks and gallons of ice cream, everyone settled in to watch the match which featured world number one, Adolfo Cambiaso and his son, playing for Scone Polo Team, taking on Rashid’s Albwardy’s Dubai in an intense first half.
Scoring 17 goals in their opening game earlier in the week, Dubai Polo Team’s leading scorer picked up where he left off as Camilo ‘Jeta’ Castagnola scored his first of nine goals to set an early tone from the field. Scone’s Adolfo Cambiaso matched Castagnola’s early field goal, while teammate Rosendo Torreguitar found the posts on back-to-back drives to account for a three-goal Scone run. However, the momentum swung back in favour of Dubai Polo Team, initiating an unanswered three-goal response of their own that included two more conversions from Castagnola.
After the early exchange of goals, offense continued to come via the penalty line as Dubai Polo Team edged ahead on two more penalty conversions to take a 6-4 lead into the halftime break. The crowd descended onto the field to help tread in the divots and were delighted to be able to meet the Cowdray Park Polo Club Academy ponies, ridden by some of the youngest members of the Cowdray Hunt Pony Club.
With spectators safely back to the sidelines, the second half of the game got underway. Erasing their two-goal deficit quickly in the fourth, back-to-back goals from Adolfo Cambiaso tied the match at 6-all, showcasing an evenly matched contest with neither team able to hold off the response. Quickly answering the run, Castagnola and Jeronimo de Carril found the mark to put Dubai Polo Team up by one once more but with two chukkas remaining, it was uncertain which team held the upper hand.
A second three-goal offensive blitz from Scone saw Rosendo Torreguitar find the posts for the second time in the match, as father-duo of Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso each converted from the penalty line to bring the game even once more. Finishing with a game-high nine goals, Castagnola stepped into the spotlight in the final chukka, scoring consecutive field goals to hold off the late push from Scone and capture the crucial 12-10 win.
Gold Cup Gallery Day 6
Photographer: Mark Beaumont
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