US Polo Recap: Faraway to take on ERG in the Hass Cup finals
The foursomes of Faraway and ERG are going to face each other in the finals of the Hass Cup, scheduled to be held on 20 February 2011, as they overpowered Bendabout and Mt. Brilliant in the semi-finals of the tournament. The hard fighting contests were played
at the International Polo Club, Wellington. The following is a recap of the matchups.
Faraway 11 – Bendabout 10
Julio Arellano scored the go-ahead goal in the last frame to lead Faraway to an 11-10 victory over Bendabout, as they secured a place in the finals of the Hass Cup.
Lucas Criado and Chris Nevins of Bendabout, opened the first set of play with a pair of goals and took lead at the start of the contest. The opposing players were not sitting around and letting the game pass by, as Julio Arellano scored a couple of goals
for Faraway and tied the game at 2-2 after the first seven and half minute action.
The second period belonged to Bendabout, as it obtained two goals while holding Faraway scoreless. Inaki Laprida and Gillian Johnston placed two goals against Faraway to take a two-goal lead, 4-2 at the end of the second chukker.
Criado converted another penalty shot in the second frame, which was responded to by a couple of goals from Julio Gracida. The first half ended with Bendabout holding a one goal lead, 5-4.
The two teams exchanged a couple of goals in the fourth set of play, as Johnston made it for Bendabout while Pablo Spinacci and Julio Gracida scored goals for Faraway. The Faraway team was trailing 7-6 after the four-chukker play.
The duo teams marked six goals in the second last frame, making the game more interesting. Nevins, Laprida and Johnston added one goal each for Bendabout, as Arellano alone did it all for Faraway. The Bendabout team continued to lead the game by one goal,
10-9 with one period left to play.
The Faraway team cranked up its offence in the final round and obtained two goals, as they completely shut down the opponent strikes. Arellano scored off two penalty shots in the last frame and sealed the victory for Faraway. They will face ERG in the finals
of the Hass Cup on Sunday.
ERG 10 – MT. Brilliant 6
The Mt. Brilliant team failed to deliver an impressive performance in the second semi-finals of the Hass Cup and lost to ERG by four points.
The opening chukker ended at a 1-1 deadlock, as Nic Roldan scored a goal for Mt. Brilliant while Paco De Narvaez marked it for ERG. It was quite a slow opening to the significance of the competition.
The results remained tied after the completion of the first half play. Jason Crowder and Santi Torres added one goal apiece in the second and remained goalless in the third frame. Bo Goodman notched a goal in the second frame, accompanied by a goal from
Mike Azzaro in the third, to level the game at 3-3 before going into the second half.
De Narvaez and Charlie Micheo added a couple of goals to put ERG ahead on the scoreboard, as Mt. Brilliant obtained only one goal in the frame from Ulysses Escapite. The chukker ended with ERG leading the game by one goal, 5-4.
The trio of ERG including De Narvaez, Torres and Crowder scored one goal apiece and extended the lead to four goals, 8-4 while holding Mt. Brilliant scoreless in the second last frame.
Azzaro and Escapite scored two goals in the final set of play which were answered by a couple of goals from De Narvaez and Micheo. The ERG rod off the field with a 10-6 victory and will meet Faraway in the finals of the Hass Cup.
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