Mon 12th Dec 2011 Cambiaso's side confirmed as Argentina's best La Dolfina's Argentine Open win sees them end the Triple Crown season with two iconic trophies La Dolfina confirmed their status as the best team of the 2011 Argentine high-goal season by winning their eighth Argentine Open title at Palermo on Friday. Adolfo Cambiaso’s side produced an efficient display in attack and defence to comfortably beat their bitter rivals Ellerstina 16-10 to scoop their second title of the Argentine Triple crown season. The usual full-house of 15,000 vocal spectators crammed into the iconic “La Catedral” ground in Buenos Aires for one of the most hotly anticipated finals of recent years. The game itself was not as free flowing as this year’s spectacular Tortugas Open final, won 14-13 by Ellerstina, or the Hurlingham Open final, which La Dolfina won 19-18. But there was no doubting the dominance of La Dolfina, who never looked back after opening up a five-goal lead in the third chukka. Ellerstina, the Triple Crown winners of 2010, kept pace with their opponents for much of the first two chukkas, but two penalties from Cambiaso, who finished the game with nine goals, opened up a 4-2 lead for La Dolfina before the second bell. The decisive period of the game proved to be the third chukka, which saw La Dolfina score three unanswered goals to move 7-2 in front. Juan Martin Nero, who like Pablo MacDonough joined La Dolfina from Ellerstina this year, then came to the fore. His imperious display at back denied his former teammates the chance to get back into the game. And, despite Ellerstina, for whom Facundo Pieres scored eight goals, closing the gap to 9-6 by the end of the fifth chukka, La Dolfina closed out the game with a performance typified by both hard work and skill. Cambiaso was named most valuable player after the final bell, while it was also a historic moment for David “Pelon” Stirling, who, in his second year with La Dolfina, became the first Uruguayan player ever to win the world’s most famous polo tournament. This was the fifth straight final between the two great foes of Argentine polo and the sixth in the last seven years. La Dolfina have had the edge in those finals, winning four to Ellerstina’s two, and they are once again lauded as the best team in Argentina.   Photographs: Main picture -  Adolfo Cambiaso celebrates his side's victory. Second picture - action from the final at a packed Palermo. Third picture - the jubilant Dubai team with Dubai patron Ali Albwardi. All pictures by Alice Gipps

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