Range Rover have finished Barbados’ premier polo tournament in the same vein in which they started.
There was no sudden death this time but Range Rover still needed another one-goal thriller to beat Veuve Cliquot after Danny Atwell hit the decisive strike with five minutes left to give the eventual winners a 4-3 victory in Sunday’s final of the First Citizens Barbados Open at Apes Hill.
It was almost a carbon copy of the gripping tournament opener when Range Rover had to go into extras before Philip Tempro produced the eventual winner against their League 2 counterparts.
Atwell was the hero on this occasion though after breaking out of a pack of players to end a tense 3-3 deadlock just one minute into the final chukka.
It was a fitting finish for a highly anticipated final and opening-day rematch that was met with one of the biggest crowds at a local polo event in recent years.
The patrons had looked likely to be treated to a lopsided dud after Atwell and Tempro scored within seconds of each other to put the unbeaten side up 2-0 by the end of the first chukka.
However, Atwell’s brother Marc scored twice against the run of play in the ensuing stanza before Mike Henderson capped a run of three unanswered goals for Veuve Cliquot with a stunning strike midway through the third chukka.
Tempro levelled the scores just one minute later after breaking free and tapping in the ball ahead of a fast-charging Richard Gooding. (JM)
