Mon 24th Jun 2019Emlor Secure 22 Goal TitleThe Warwickshire Cup
On a sunny Saturday 22 June afternoon, Spencer McCarthy’s Emlor secured The Warwickshire Cup Final honours, for the fourth time in the Cup’s illustrious history. Prior to the Final, Cirencester Park Polo Club held a match in honour of the Polo150, with the PoloAfrica team ultimately coming out victorious 7-6 over the Spillers UK Armed Forces Team. The Warwickshire Final was fast and fraught from the off, with Emlor fighting hard against their English Lovelocks rivals. Going into the match, spectators on the sidelines gave Lovelocks the home advantage, with three out of the four players having graced the Cirencester grounds on numerous occasions during their careers, but Emlor, with the experienced and highest rated player in the tournament, 9 goaler Tincho Merlos, on their side, held off the home team. The teams were evenly matched throughout, but with the teams sat a 9-9 in the sixth chukka, it looked like play might go into extra time. With a tenth goal for Emlor however, the match looked tied up. In the dying moments, quite literally the last five seconds of the sixth chukka, Lovelocks had their chance to push the match into extra time, but the polo gods were not looking down on them that day, with the penalty going wide as the bell sounded. Emlor secured The Warwickshire Cup with a 10-9 final score. Tincho Merlos was awarded The Polo Magazine Most Valuable Player honours, whilst his pony Durazno was awarded The Anne Hughes Memorial Trophy and Polo Times Best Playing Pony rug. The Retraining of Racehorses Best Playing Pony rug was awarded to Alec White’s pony Dazzle. A full report will follow in the August issue of Polo Times so click here now to make sure your subscription is up to date. The Warwickshire Cup Final Teams: Emlor (22): Spencer McCarthy (0), Alfredo Bigatti ((7), Tincho Merlos (9) & Michel del Carril (6) Lovelocks (22): Charlie Hanbury (4), Ollie Cudmore (6), Jack Richardson (6) & Alec White (5) Photograph: Emlor secured The Warwickshire Cup honours for the fourth time. By Tom Reynolds Photography |