Wins for Junior Red & Ireland
On Saturday 20 January, arena polo fans gathered at All England Polo Club, Hickstead for a memorable day of action. The sun was shining, but a bone-chilling wind whipped around the arena, which not only tested the hardiness of the spectators but also proved challenging for the players as high, lofty shots took on a mind of their own.
The first match was a battle between two British Juniors teams. The Junior Red dominated form the outset and despite some tenacious attacking plays in the third and fourth chukka for Junior Blues, the Reds took the win 11-9. 17-year-old Logan Anderson was awarded the title of Most Valuable Player and Nena, played by Blues captain Tani Darritchon won the Best Playing Pony award.
After a brief break to roll the arena and warm up in the Clubhouse, Ireland and England took to the ground to compete for The Bryan Morrison Trophy – the first time Ireland had competed in the tournament since 2015. Two evenly matched teams had the spectators on the edge of their seats with plenty of tied scores and pushed the match into an extra chukka, which Ireland quickly cut short with a successfully converted penalty to take the win, 17-16. Ireland’s Mikey Henderson received the Most Valuable Player award and Jack Hyde’s Graphic was chosen as the Polo Times Best Playing Pony. Full reports with blow-by-blow action from the matches will be included in the February issue of Polo Times – click here to gift a copy to a friend.
The Inspired Arena Test Match for The Bryan Morrison Trophy Teams:
England (20): Jack Hyde (8) (On-Field Captain), Matias Amaya (7) & Sebastian Hancock (5). Coach & Off-Field Captain: Max Charlton
Ireland (20): Richard Tyrone (8) (Captain), Michael Henderson (7) & Niall Donnelly (5)
The British Juniors Match Teams:
Junior Red (5): Wilfred Bate (1), Logan Anderson (2) & Rafi Bruckner (2)
Junior Blues (5): Hugh Bate (1), Archie Heseltine (2) & Tani Darritchon (2)
Photograph: Ireland, winners of The Inspired Arena Test match for The Bryan Morrison Trophy.
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