Les Lions scorch Salkeld; Zacara handles Twelve Oaks, 11-9
By Alex Webbe
Les Lions scorched Salkeld, 11-2, in a face-saving contest at the Cowdray Park Polo Club in Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup competition Thursday afternoon. Salkeld (Nick Clarke, James Beim, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Max Routledge) and Les Lions (Henry Fisher, Agustin Merlos, Sebastian Merlos and Clinton McCarthy playing for Joachim Gottschalk) put their 1-2 records on the line in the opening match of the day with Les Lions looking like a super power in the game.
Les Lions took the early lead, scoring twice in the opening chukker while holding Salkeld to a single goal. Agustin and Sebastian Merlos rode off the field at the end of the first chukker with a 2-1 Les Lions lead.
Goals were hard to come by in the second period. Les Lions scored the only goal of the chukker. Les Lions stretched their lead to two goals, 3-1 at the end of the second chukker.
Salkeld and Les Lions traded single goals in the third chukker in choppy play. Les Lions held a two goal lead, 4-2, at the end of the first half.
Les Lions finally exhibited the promising offensive power within their lineup in the fourth chukker, scoring four consecutive goals while keeping Salkeld off of the scoreboard. Les Lions boasted a six goal, 8-2 advantage after four chukkers.
Two more fifth chukker goals by Les Lions went unanswered as Salkeld continued to look for any trace of an offense. With one chukker left to play, Les Lions sat on top of an eight goal, 10-2 advantage.
Les Lions scored one last goal in the final chukker of their game against Salkeld, holding their opponents scoreless for the third consecutive chukker in an 11-2 victory at Cowdray Park Polo Club. The win boosts the Les Lions record to 2-2 while Salkeld ends their run for the Gold Cup for the British Open with a 1-3 record.
ZACARA 11, TWELVE OAKS
The final match of the preliminary rounds of play in the 2013 Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the British Open featured two undefeated teams in Twelve Oaks (Chris Hyde, Magoo Laprida, Marcos Di Paola and Inaki Laprida) and Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Rodrigo Andrade and Matt Perry).
Zacara and Twelve Oaks got to it from the opening throw-in, racing up and down the field, taking turns scoring until Zacara established a 6-4 two goal lead after the second chukker. The combination of Zacara’s Facundo Pieres and Rodrigo Andrade, once again dominated the attack while the Laprida brothers (Magoo and Inaki) continued making the case for Twelve Oaks.
What started out looking like a goal-fest adopted a defensive tone to in the third chukker. The two teams exchanged single scores in the third. At the end of the first half, Zacara maintained their two goal lead with a 7-5 score.
An early Twelve Oaks score in the fourth cut the Zacara lead to a single goal, 7-6. Zacara responded with a goal of their own, and the chukker ended with Zacara on top, 8-6.
The highly-touted Zacara offense was limited to a single goal in the fifth period, but the defense held. Twelve Oaks went scoreless, and Zacara extended their lead to three goals, 9-6, with one period of play remaining in regulation time.
Twelve Oaks had their most offensively productive chukker of the day in the sixth. Three Twelve Oaks goals cut into the Zacara lead, but two more goals from Lyndon Lea’s foursome were enough to carry the day for them in an 11-9 win over a previously undefeated Twelve Oaks (3-1) team.
Zacara finished preliminary rounds of play with a perfect 4-0 record, and appear poised to try to sweep the English high-goal season, having already captured the Queens Cup in June.
The pairings for the quarterfinals are yet to be announced with play scheduled to begin on Saturday, July 13. There is shootout slated to take place between Black Bears (2-2), Enigma (2-2) and La Bamba de Areco (2-2) on Friday, July 12 at 11AM.
"Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly" 
Rabii Benadada
