The 86th. Tortugas Open resumed on Saturday October 24, with two League A games, that saw Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu and La Natividad La Dolfina, victorious over Don Ercole and La Ensenada. Both lineups are still undefeated and with the sights already on the league decider. The second leg of the Triple Crown sees ten teams up to 40 goals, partake.
Don Ercole hit first with two unanswered goals by Keko Magrini and Pedro Zacharias, in the first chukka, that allowed them to earn a 2-0 lead over Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu. With a handful of minutes to close that first chukka, Facundo Pieres converted a 40-yards penalty to make it at 2-1.
Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu bounced back in he second chukka, when they outscored Don Ercole 3-0, with goals by Cruz Heguy and Facundo Pieres, to gain a 4-3 advantage; however, Don Ercole were not about to give up and managed to tie at 4-all halfway in the third chukka. But that wouldn’t last long – two goals by Facundo Pieres secured Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu the 6-4 lead, which extended to 8-4 by half time. Yes, Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu was ahead, but it’s worth noting that Don Ercole presented battle, and they were more solid than in previous games.
That’s what happened in the two following chukkas. Led by Facundo Cruz Llosa, Don Ercole was approaching in the scoreboard – they went from a 4-8 by half time to close the gap to two (8-10) halfway in the sixth chukka; which was a crucial sixth chukka for Don Ercole, indeed, because they reached their goal, to claim the chukka. Suddenly, it became anyone’s game.
There was some drizzle throghout the match, that became a heavy rainfall in the seventh chukka; but the show must go on, and the show was delivered by a determined Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu – two penalty conversions by Facundo Pieres and a remarkable neckshot goal by his brother, Gonzalito, extended their lead to 13-8. Don Ercole’s Facundo Cruz Llosa replied quickly, until Facundo Pieres scored twice to secure Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu a 15-9 lead with one chukka remaining. The rain was now long gone, and Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu were able to close the match in that last chukka – they claimed their third consecutive win, 16-11 and they are able to play the League A decider. With regards to Don Ercole, yes, they lost again, but they never surrendered, and sometimes, they even gave a hard time to their powerful opponents.
Action in Tortugas continued with the clash between La Natividad La Dolfina and Don Ercole, in a match that had some rainfalls in the first chukka.
The contest had two very different parts; La Ensenadada delivered a very good performance both in attack and defense, and were successful in their attempts to block La Natividad La Dolfina. Although La Natividad La Dolfina always remained in the lead, they only managed to earn slight advantages – the gap between the two teams were no further than two or three goals. As a matter of fact, the first chukka ended with La Natividad La Dolfina 3-2 up, thanks to goals by La Ensenada’s Juan Britos and Diego Cavanagh, with the latter playing remarkably well. By half time, the Cañuelas 40-goal foursome were three only goals up (8-5).
Right, La Natividad La Dolfina didn’t sweep La Ensenada like he usually does with anyone they meet. But after all, they are the Triple Crown title holders and rated and 40-goals and everything else we all know; and that’s what they showed in a second part, that belonged to them. They took off in the fifth chukka, when they first outscored La Ensenada 2-0, with goals by Poroto Cambiaso and Jeta Castagnola, to widen the advantage to five goals, and continued in the remaining remaining chukkas – La Natividad La Dolfina did what they know better, overhelm their contenders – by the end of the sixth chukka they were 15-5 up and they had the deal said and done in the seventh, when Jeta Castagnola produced two goals to secure La Dolfina an impressive 17-5 lead. With La Dolfina 12 goals ahead, there were not much La Ensenada could do…
Far from slowing down, the champions kept moving forward, and if the ball didn’t find the flags it was because La Ensenada’s defense managed to hold them back. But at this rate, it didn’t matter that much; incredibly, La Ensenada scored twice (Juan Britos and Juan Martín Zubía) in that last chukka, the only two goals they were able to produce in the whole second half. At the end of the day, La Natividad La Dolfina claimed another impressive win, 17-7. It took a while, but they did it again.
THE 86th. TORTUGAS OPEN WILL RESUME ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 25, AS FOLLOWS:
1pm: Las Monjitas vs. La Aguada
4pm: La Hache vs. Hiper Polo
THE FINAL OF THE 86th. TORTUGAS OPEN IS SET TO BE PLAYED ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7.