Santa Clara defeat Piaget Black to ride into ‘The Memorial by Piaget’ finals: Polo Recap
Joey Casey lit the lamp five times and had an assist, as Santa Clara notched a commanding 11-8 win over Piaget Black in the semi-finals of ‘The Memorial by Piaget’ played at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, on May 27, 2011.
The Santa Clara team had some key punches in the opening period wrapped up some points from Juan Chavanne and Casey in the third and fourth chukkas, and kept back the lead in the final set of play to conclude a long journey with a triumph.
Though both the teams started the game quite professionally, it was Santa Clara that established their dominance onto the field. Chavanne opened the scoring through a field effort while his team-mate, Joey Casey, doubled the tally. From the other side, Lucas
Lalor was the player who scored the solitary goal of the period. The first chukka was concluded with Santa Clara sitting on top by a single goal, 2-1.
In the second frame, the Piaget Black attack came alive and received two goals while holding opponent Santa Clara score-less in the period. Piaget Black continued back to back strikes and took the game into their favour. Sugar Erskine marked a couple of
goals to close out the second period with Piaget Black holding a single goal lead, 3-2.
In the third set of play, it was Santa Clara that turned the tables by scoring two goals and held, opponent Piaget Black, goal-less. Tommy Biddle and his team-mate Chavanne scored one goal each in the seven and half minute of play and put their team ahead
on the score-board, 4-3, with one half left to play.
After the tiny break between the two halves, the two sides cranked up their offence and scored six goals in the period. Casey was the solo runner from Santa Clara throughout the chukka and scored three goals, of which two came on penalty shots while another
from the field effort.
In a counter-offence, Lucas Lalor notched two goals to keep his side in the game. Marc Ganzi, the skipper of the Piaget Black added one goal and reduced the lead down to a single goal, 7-6, with two rounds left to play.
The second last chukka was completely belonged to Santa Clara which obtained a couple of goals, while keeping Piaget Black off the score-board. Biddle chipped in two goals to expand the lead up to three goals, 9-6.
In the final set of play, Casey and his team-mate, Biddle, scored one goal each to take an insurmountable lead at, 11-6. Lalor and Gene Goldstein added one goal each in the dying minutes, but lost the game at 11-8. Santa Clara will face Hawks in the finals
of ‘The Memorial by Piaget’ Cup.
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