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- Cornish Beach Polo Attracts Record Crowd
Cornish Beach Polo Attracts Record Crowd
- By Magnus Nmegwa
- Published December 13th, 2009
- SportWorld
- Unrated
Record crowd were treated to a captivating exhibition of beach polo at Cornwall’s Watergate Bay recently. Organisers estimate that over 3,000 people attended the free Veuve Clicquot Polo on the Beach event, demonstrating how the sport is increasingly capturing the interest of the public.
With teams composed of professional players and England internationals, spectators were treated to a highly entertaining match who saw over a dozen goals as the players from South West Polo put in a convincing performance to win by 10 goals to Midas Construction’s 4 1/2.
Andy Burgess, team captain for South West Polo, said: “It was amazing to see so many people down on the beach and on the cliffs being entertained by polo.
“We’ve had a fantastic turnout, it was way above expectations. To hear the crowd roaring every time you hit the ball is awesome, and everything is so close for the spectators, they can get really close to the horses, it’s brilliant.”
The Midas Construction team of Barbara Zingg, Ed Olof and Tim Vaux started the match with a handicap advantage of 1 1/2 goals over their opponents, however all the early pressure in the first chukka came from South West Polo, who dominated the opening period of play and managed to convert their pressure with two goals from former England international Andrew Blake Thomas.
Andy Burgess scored again for South West Polo early in the second chukka to take the score to 3 goals to 1 1/2, but then it was the turn of Midas Construction to press their opponents with Tim Vaux and Ed Olof both coming close to scoring on several occasions - Olof trying a long range shot which sent the ball whizzing airborne just past the far post, and Vaux thwarted by staunch defending from South West Polo’s Andrew Blake Thomas.
The pressure eventually paid off for Midas Construction, with Ed Olof converting a penalty hit to bring the difference back to half a goal, only to see South West Polo restore their lead immediately from the restart. Then all three players from South West Polo produced an extremely well-worked goal, scored by Richard Blake Thomas, to extend their team’s lead to 5 goals to 2 1/2 as the hooter blew for the end of the second chukka. In the great tradition of the sport, spectators flooded onto the pitch during the interval to trample in the divots on the playing surface, before umpire Jamie le Hardy (himself a current England player) threw in the ball to start the third chukka.
The Blake Thomas brothers continued their unrelenting assault on the Midas Construction goal, with Andrew scoring from the opening play of the third chukka. Soon after Richard flew down the Padstow side of the pitch, crossing the ball into the path of Andy Burgess who slotted between the posts for a 7 goal to 2 1/2 lead.
With teams composed of professional players and England internationals, spectators were treated to a highly entertaining match who saw over a dozen goals as the players from South West Polo put in a convincing performance to win by 10 goals to Midas Construction’s 4 1/2.
Andy Burgess, team captain for South West Polo, said: “It was amazing to see so many people down on the beach and on the cliffs being entertained by polo.
“We’ve had a fantastic turnout, it was way above expectations. To hear the crowd roaring every time you hit the ball is awesome, and everything is so close for the spectators, they can get really close to the horses, it’s brilliant.”
The Midas Construction team of Barbara Zingg, Ed Olof and Tim Vaux started the match with a handicap advantage of 1 1/2 goals over their opponents, however all the early pressure in the first chukka came from South West Polo, who dominated the opening period of play and managed to convert their pressure with two goals from former England international Andrew Blake Thomas.
Andy Burgess scored again for South West Polo early in the second chukka to take the score to 3 goals to 1 1/2, but then it was the turn of Midas Construction to press their opponents with Tim Vaux and Ed Olof both coming close to scoring on several occasions - Olof trying a long range shot which sent the ball whizzing airborne just past the far post, and Vaux thwarted by staunch defending from South West Polo’s Andrew Blake Thomas.
The pressure eventually paid off for Midas Construction, with Ed Olof converting a penalty hit to bring the difference back to half a goal, only to see South West Polo restore their lead immediately from the restart. Then all three players from South West Polo produced an extremely well-worked goal, scored by Richard Blake Thomas, to extend their team’s lead to 5 goals to 2 1/2 as the hooter blew for the end of the second chukka. In the great tradition of the sport, spectators flooded onto the pitch during the interval to trample in the divots on the playing surface, before umpire Jamie le Hardy (himself a current England player) threw in the ball to start the third chukka.
The Blake Thomas brothers continued their unrelenting assault on the Midas Construction goal, with Andrew scoring from the opening play of the third chukka. Soon after Richard flew down the Padstow side of the pitch, crossing the ball into the path of Andy Burgess who slotted between the posts for a 7 goal to 2 1/2 lead.
