It rained, and it did not matter. Andrey Borodin’s Park Place retained the Duke of Cornwall Trophy on Sunday 26 August, beating Andrew Dechet’s Kildare 7-5 in a testing final on the Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club.
A tight, wet final
Eight teams took part in Guards’ last high-goal tournament of the year, created to honour a former player, HRH The Prince of Wales, one of whose courtesy titles is Duke of Cornwall. Dechet knew the trophy: he was the patron of the winning team in 2015. He looked likely to do it again, with goals from himself, Manuel Fernández Llorente and Manuel Plaza giving Kildare a 4-2 half-time lead.
Park Place had a different script for the second half. Juan Britos, Byron Watson and Tommy Beresford all scored for the blue shirts as they came out fighting, and Kildare could not hold on. Watson, a young South African who had impressed through the earlier high-goal season, was named Polo Magazine Most Valuable Player. Kildare’s Manu Plaza took the Polo Times Best Playing Pony award for Casablanca, whom he rode in the second and fourth chukkas.
The sub-final
Earlier in the day, Charlie Wooldridge’s Twelve Oaks beat Mo Sheikh’s Bridge House of Twyford (receiving a half-goal) 7-5½ in the sub-final. Twelve Oaks were fresh from winning the Duke of Wellington Trophy the previous week. Jack Richardson did his best for Bridge House, but Twelve Oaks had most of their team scoring across the four chukkas.
Two in a row for Borodin
Last year’s final, which Park Place won over Golden Falcons, was played in sunshine. This one was a very different afternoon, and Borodin’s team coped better. The team’s strength has been its spread of goals: Britos, Watson and Beresford all scored when it counted, and it was another chapter in a good summer, including a first Cartier Queen’s Cup final.
Guards’ season has just a few weeks to run, with the club’s medium- and low-goal finals still to come. We will bring you highlights from the end of the season.
Sources: Guards Polo Club
