Mercedes Benz proved to be the luxury team of the Diamonds International/Crown of Light 10-Goal Polo Tournament, after they drove all over the First Citizens team to register a hard fought 5-3 victory at the Apes Hill Polo Estate last Sunday.
Playing in front of a large crowd, the Mercedes team, led by a hat-trick of goals from Argentinean 5-goal handicapped player Martin Jauregui, took the title quite comfortably in the end after being forced on the defensive late, as First Citizens tried desperately to penetrate their defence in an effort to close the gap.
First Citizens’ Oliver Taylor scored the first goal of the match to set his team on the way in the opening chukka and succeeded in keeping Mercedes on the backfoot until the end of the period.
However in the second chukka, Mercedes went into over-drive and slammed three goals past their hapless opponents to open up a 3-1 lead at the end of the second chukka, a lead which they never relinquished.
Two of the three goals came from the mallet of Juregui and the other from Salvador Duggan. Â
First Citizens scored one more goal in the third chukka while Mercedes added two more to bring their tally to five at the end of the third chukka.
Tight defence by both teams in the final chukka saw First Citizens managing to add one more goal, while Mercedes were content to keep them at bay until the proverbial fat lady began humming her favourite tune.
In the subsidiary final which was played after the final due to the uncertainty of the weather, the Sir Charles Wiliams-led Digicel team held on gamely to defeat the First Caribbean team 6-5 in an exciting game.
Jamie Dickson was the pick of the players from both sides with four goals to lead his Digicel team to victory. (CH)
