Talandracas Polo Team wins the Cartier Queen's Cup

This is the second time that the Carmignacs have won the Queen's Cup having been triumphant in 2011. It is also the second consecutive win for teammates Polito Pieres and Ale Muzzio who won last year with Murus Sanctus.

La Dolfina Great Oaks had a slight edge in the first half - leading 7-5 at half-time. Adolfo Cambiaso Jnr (Poroto) and Diego Cavanagh worked together, firing through all of their team's goals, while their team-mates, Dillon Bacon and Kian Hall worked in defence, clearing their path to goal.

Polito Pieres, Alejandro Muzzio, who was later named the Cartier Most Valuable Player, and Rosendo Torreguitar did an equally brilliant job for Talandracas. This team was the only unbeaten squad after three weeks of intensive play and La Dolfina Great Oaks could not relax for a moment.

Talandracas got themselves level in the fourth (9-9) and these teams traded shots to stay even (11-11) in the fifth.

All the drama of this match was condensed into the final few minutes with two falls and a loose horse. There was 30 seconds left to play of this sixth chukka and the scores were still tied up. The umpires dropped the ball around 60 yards from the Talandracas goal. Cambiaso took the hit but it did not make the distance and was picked up by Pieres, who turned it and took it down field. The ball hit the post but stayed in play and in the subsequent melee - almost everyone had a touch of the ball - Pieres fired through the winner, with just seconds to spare.

The Teams:

Selected Match Highlights:

Polito Pieres hits the ball down towards his goal but doesn't get the distance, all 3 other Talandracas players attempt to finish the shot on goal but are unable to with the ball hitting the post and staying in play, finally it is Polito who is able to finish the game and secure his team the win:


Torreguitar steals the ball from Cavanagh at a key moment, turning the play into attack and running the ball through the goal to equalise going into the 6th chukka: