La Natividad La Dolfina, the Triple Crown defending champions, are through the final of the 133rd. Hurlingham Open, after an impressive 22-10 win over Las Monjitas, in the semifinal that took place at the Argentine Association of Polo (AAP) Headquarters, in Pilar, on Friday September 25. The first leg of the coveted Triple Crown in Argentina, sees eight teams up to 40 goals, partake.
The contest had two very different halves – the first part, although with slight advantages for La Natividad La Dolfina, was very balanced, that saw a 4-4 tie halfway in the third chukka, with Las Monjitas eventually taking the lead (5-4), afterwards. Despite La Natividad La Dolfina displayed their usual class and accurate playing, Las Monjitas presented battle, and demonstrated that they were not afraid of the extraordinary skills of the four players of the Cañuelas-based foursome.
La Natividad La Dolfina earned a 9-5 lead in the the fourth chukka, with Poroto Cambiaso and Jeta Castagnola in command – the two of them scored all of La Natividad La Dolfina’s goals, with the exception of the last, courtesy of Barto Castagnola. It’s worth noting that the contest was a very rough one, saw several fouls, and more than 50% of the goals were through penalty conversions on both sides, with La Natividad La Dolfina’s Poroto Cambiaso and Las Monjitas’ Rufino Bensadon taking the duties, mostly, and occasionally, Jeta Castagnola, as well. By half time, only five field goals have been produced.
Right, now Las Monjitas were four goals behind; that didn’t mean they would give up. But surprisingly, something happened – they literally vanished into thin air in the fifth chukka; La Natividad La Dolfina seized the reins and outscored their opponents by an overwhelming 5-0. By the end of that fifth chukka The Cañuelas boys were 14-5 up and kept rolling during the sixth. Las Monjitas remained scoreless for three chukkas, until Lukin Monteverde broke the spell, when he scored the first goal for the orange-jerseys halfway in that sixth episode. Without any trace of doubt, the fate of the game was decided in the fifth chukka.
La Natividad La Dolfina never stopped; just like they did in their debut against La Aguada, they demonstrated to be a perfect oiled team, with four players who fit with each other to perfection, four guys who made everything incredibly easy. They closed all the doors to Las Monjitas and kept moving further and further, expanding their advantage chukka after chukka; the deal was said and done sometime in the seventh and penultimate chukka, when they had a heavy 10 goal lead (17-7). But it was not enough for them – Poroto Cambiaso and Barto Castagnola added two more goals in the last chukka, to secure an impressive 22-10 win, that sent them to the final of the Hurlingham Open once again.
- LA ENSENADA WILL PLAY THE FINAL OF THE SUBSIDIARY DRYSDALE CUP
Previously, La Ensenada and La Aguada clashed in the first semifinal of the Subsidiary Drysdale Cup, in a match that was balanced until the third chukka. From the fourth chukka onwards, it was all La Ensenada’s – led by an outstanding Juan Martín Zubía, La Ensenada seized the reins and left the deal said and done in the fifth chukka, when they took an impressive 10-3 lead. And despite La Aguada managed to produce a handful of goals, the damage has already been done. La Ensenada were victorious 11-17, and stepped into the final of the Subsidiary Drysdale Cup.
THE LAST SEMIFINALS MATCHDATE OF THE 133rd. HURLINGHAM OPEN IS DUE SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26, AS FOLLOWS:
1,pm, SF#2 DRYSDALE CUP – Hiper Polo vs. Don Ercole
4pm, SF #2 HURLINGHAM OPEN– Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu vs. La Hache.
133rd- HURLINGHAM OPEN – Teams & Fixture
Cover photo by Matías Callejo / Prensa AAP.