La Dolfina win the Hurlingham Open Final

La Dolfina beat Ellerstina in the 2012 Final of Hurlingham Open in Palermo, Buenos Aires, on Sunday 11 November to retain their title from 2011.

La Dolfina started strongly scoring twice in the opening play holding Ellerstina to a single goal, 2-1. In the second chukka La Dolfina started to take control of the game scoring four unanswered goals. After two chukkas La Dolfina had stretched their lead to four goals, 5-1. The third period of play was better for Ellerstina with their attack starting to cause problems for La Dolfina, outscoring La Dolfina 3-2. By the end of the third chukka Ellerstina had managed to cut the lead to three goals, 7-4.

Ellerstina started to come back at the opposition, cutting into the La Dolfina lead by adding two more goals and limiting the La Dolfina attack to just a single goal. At the end of the first half La Dolfina held the lead, 8-6. Going into the fifth chukka, La Dolfina got its teamwork going again scoring two goals while holding Ellerstina to a single goal. The La Dolfina lead was stretched to three goals again, 10-7.

Ellerstina fell behind four goals in the sixth as La Dolfina added two more goals to their total after some excellent play. Ellerstina managed to add a single goal, but were being held, 12-8.

Four more goals from La Dolfina in the seventh chukka had Ellerstina trailing by seven goals and effectively sealed the game. With just one goal from Ellerstina they were 16-9 down with only one chukka to play. Ellerstina battled bravely throughout the final chukka, scoring twice, but two further goals from La Dolfina kept them on top of the Final winning 18-11.

Adolfo Cambiaso and his La Dolfina teammates (Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) were worthy winners beating Ellerstina (Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nico Pieres). The win also levelled the honours for La Dolfina’s earlier loss to Ellerstina in the Finals of the Tortugas Open. The one win each for Ellerstina and La Dolfina means that there will be no Triple Crown Winner in 2012.

Argentine Open

The third and final leg of the Argentine Triple Crown of Polo begins this weekend – The 119th Argentine Open – starting on Saturday 17th November, with the Final due on Saturday 8th December 2012.