Cartier Queens Cup Quarterfinals set, almost

By Alex Webbe

Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Alastair Paterson, Adolfo Cambiaso and Diego Cavanagh) ended preliminary play in the 2014 Cartier Queens Cup at Coworth Park with a perfect 4-0 record after downing the Fox & Hounds (Max Routledge, George Meyrick, Jack Richardson and Tom Morley) Wednesday afternoon, 10-7.

Dubai was virtually assured a quarterfinal position on the strength of the 3-0 record they had amassed before riding onto the field while the Fox & Hounds (2-1) were hoping to earn a berth in the tournament quarterfinals with a win.

A spirited Fox & Hounds team scored the first goal of the game with Max Rutledge getting the honors on a splendid goal from the field. Dubai responded with a pair of penalty goals from Adolfo Cambiaso, ending the chukker on top of a 2-1 score.

Rutledge tied it up in the second period, 2-2, with his second goal of the game, but Dubai retaliated. A goal from Rashid Albwardy put them back in the lead, 3-2. Cambiaso scored from the field to double up the Fox & Hounds, 4-2, but George Meyrick kept his team in the mix with the final goal of the chukker. Dubai continued to lead, but the Fox & Hounds were a single goal behind heading into the third.

Rutledge took the opening throw-in of the third chukker and raced down the field for the tying goal, 3-3. He doubled his action in the ensuing throw-in, once again taking control of the ball and scoring to put the Fox & Hounds in the lead, 5-4. Diego Cavanagh scored Dubai’s only goal of the chukker to level the score at 5-5 at the end of the first half.

A reorganized Dubai team took the field in the fourth chukker and dominated play. For the next two chukkers Dubai shut down the Fox & Hounds offense while scoring four goals of their own. The Fox & Hounds trailed by four goals going into the final chukker.

The Fox & Hounds staged a mini rally in the sixth period, picking up goals from Tom Morley and Jack Richardson while limiting a talented Dubai offense to a single goal, but it wasn’t enough. Dubai would maintain control of the game and ride to a 10-7 victory.

The win had little effect upon Dubai’s playoff qualification, but the loss by the Fox & Hounds would force them to take part in Thursday 3:30pm penalty shoot-out at the Guards Polo Club, with King Power (“Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, Pablo Llorente, Gonzalito Pieres and Marcos di Paola) to determine the final quarterfinal participant as both sides ended preliminary play with 2-2 records.

ERG Bank Aravali 8, Twelve Oaks 7

The final game of the qualification rounds of play would have no effect on the playoff positions with Twelve Oaks (Juan Gris Zavaleta, Magoo Laprida, Iñaki Laprida and Stefano Marsaglia) and EFG Bank Aravali (Jaime Garcia Huidobro, Alejandro Muzzio, Joaquin Pittaluga and Charlie Pidgley) sporting identical 0-3 records and playing for pride alone.

The battle between the two teams was hotly contested, with neither team scoring enough to get any separation from the other.

Tied at 6-6 in the final chukker, Twelve Oaks scored the go-ahead goal, 7-6 in what appeared, at first, to be the winning goal. EFG Bank Aravali, however, responded with the tying goal, 7-7, looking like the contest would be decided in overtime. With seconds on the clock, Alejandro Muzzio scored the deciding goal of the match for an 8-7 EFG Bank Aravali win.

Teams qualifying for the Cartier Queens Cup Quarterfinals include Zacara (4-4), Dubai (4-4), El Remanso (3-1), Lucchese (3-1), Talandracas (3-1), UAE Polo (3-1), Enigma (3-1) and the winner of Thursday afternoons Fox & Hounds (2-2) and King Power (2-2) shoot-out.  The quarterfinals are slated to be played with two contests on Saturday, June 7^th followed by two matches on Sunday, June 8^th.