Penultimate event lives up to its billing.
The venue to host Christmas Polo Championships from Friday
Amistra squad of Harry Stichbury, Cindy Voorspuy, Philip Gulden and Marianne Stiernblad are the Moi Cup Polo Champions.
They achieved the feat after whipping stubborn Cherokee 5-4 in a tension-packed see-saw match to lift the title with maximum nine points from three rounds of matches at Manyatta Polo Club, in Gilgil, yesterday.
It was a tie that man-of-the-match Harry Stichbury will live to remember as he scored four of the five goals in each chukka with Voorspuy (Cindy) sealing the fate of Cherokee with a golden goal with two and half minutes to the final whistle.
However, it was Cherokee’s captain Raphael Nzomo, who almost denied the winners the coveted title when he reduced the deficit with their fourth goal only 30 seconds to the final whistle.
Earlier, it was Stichbury, who scored two goals in the first and second chukkas before Raphael and Jadini Nzomo equalised for a 2-2 deadlock at the end of the second chukka.
Then, Stichbury pulled back a 60-yard penalty to assume the lead in the third chukka. Moments later, Raphael (Nzomo) was on the mark to cancel the lead for a 3-3 score at the end of the third chukka.
In the fourth chukka, Amistra outplayed their opponents and scored two quick goals through Stichbury and Cindy Voorspuy before Raphael reduced the deficit at the eleventh hour.
“The amazing talents of Amani and Jadini Nzomo coupled with the presence of youngsters like Harry Stichburry, means Kenya has a bright future and this is the way to uplift our standards,” said Cherokee captain Raphael Nzomo.
Touchdown finished runner-up in the Moi Cup Championships with a 6.5- 0 victory over Absa Barclays to end the tournament with six points from three rounds of matches after only losing to 3.5-3 to Amistra in their penultimate tie on Saturday.
Cherokee were third with three points from three rounds of matches and Absa Barclays trailed with no points after losing in all their matches.
Touchdown’s team members included handicap 2 Kimoi Moi, L. Roumeguere, Amani Nzomo (-0.5) and B. Perry(-0.5).
In the American Tournament, Mambo’s team of Goddy Millar, Gideon Moi, Tom Stonewigg and L. Stichbury, with a total handicap of 2.5, scooped the title after defeating Tack Rack 2-0 to finish with maximum six points.
“It was tough but we tried our best to emerge victorious by winning our two matches,” Gideon told Standard Sports.
Goddy Millar scored the two goals in an identical fashion as he did in their first match against ICL Chemicals on Saturday.
ICL Chemicals were runner-up with three points from two matches after they defeated Tack Rack 5-3 in their second and final match.
Meanwhile, the venue will host the Christmas Polo Championships from Friday to Monday.