The 129th Hurlingham Open resumed on Sunday, October 16, with two games played at the AAP Headquarters, in Pilar. La Dolfina Saudi overwhelmed La Irenita GSquared, and La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus brought the heat in terms of League B standings after their remarkable win over Ellerstina. The 129th Hurlingham Open sees eight teams, between 29 and 39 goals, compete.
In the day’s opening match, a merciless La Dolfina Saudi dominated La Irenita GSquared to take an impressive 16-2 victory. With Peke Gonzalez subbing in for Santiago Loza, who has been suspended due to a red card, La Irenita Gsquared were only able to score a couple of goals in the fourth and sixth chukkas.
The following game was the much anticipated clash between La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus and Ellerstina. There was a lot of talk about how the former would do after their surprising debut loss against La Dolfina Saudi. The first half was very balanced, but La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus held a slight advantage. Led by an inspired Sapo Caset, who was very accurate in his penalty conversions and very well supported by Facundo Sola, Alfredo Bigatti, and Jerónimo del Carril, La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus showed a significant improvement in their play since their last match against La Dolfina Saudi. However, Ellerstina did not make things easy for them. By the end of the third chukka, the match was tied 6-all. The two following chukkas, however, saw La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus take off. They left Ellerstina scoreless in the fourth and fifth, which meant that they had secured an 11-6 lead by the fifth.
Somewhat overwhelmed in the fifth, Ellerstina bounced back in a spectacular sixth chukka, outscoring their contenders by 4 goals to 1 to get within two goals. Hilario Ulloa then came through to score a fantastic goal at the start of the seventh chukka to close the gap to just one goal. A red-hot last chukka followed, as Ellerstina fought to force the game into extra chukka and La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus pushed them back. Before the final bell rang, Sapo Caset converted a 60 yard penalty to secure the dramatic 13-11 win for La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR LEAGUE B?
Following La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus’s victory, there are a number of possibilities in terms of what could happen in League B:
- If La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus loses to La Irenita GSquared on Friday, La Dolfina Saudi and Ellerstina will play for the second place in the final on Sunday.
- If La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus defeats La Irenita GSquared, and Ellerstina wins the match against La Dolfina, there will be a triple tie. In that case, League B will be decided as follows:
- Goals in favour scored in the games between the three teams. At the moment, La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus have +18, La Dolfina +15 and Ellerstina +11.
- Goal difference, both in favour and against, between the three teams.
- A draw involving the three teams to determine which one would be removed, and consider the match played between the two remaining lineups.
As a consequence, Ellerstina has to beat La Dolfina Saudi by 5 goals and score 7 more goals in favor to qualify to the final. La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus need a win by Ellerstina, with the latter scoring more than 7 goals and no more than three by La Dolfina Saudi.
It is worth noting that if La Dolfina beat Ellerstina next Sunday, they will qualify to the final, no matter the result.
129th HURLINGHAM OPEN – SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16:
LA DOLFINA SAUDI 16-2 LA IRENITA GSQUARED
La Dolfina Saudi: Adolfo Cambiaso 10 (2 goals), David Stirling 10 (2), Adolfo Cambiaso Jr. 9 (8, 5 penalties), Juan Martín Nero 10 (4). Total: 39.
La Irenita Gsquared: Segundo Bocchino 7 (1 penalty), Mariano González Jr. 7 (1), Martín Podestá 7, Felipe Dabas 7. Total: 28.
Score La Dolfina Saudi: 5-0, 9-0, 11-0, 12-1, 13-1, 14-2, 16-2.
Umpires: Federico Martelli & Martín Pascual.
Third man: Rafael Silva.
LA ENSENADA RS MURUS SANCTUS 13-11 ELLERSTINA
La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus: Facundo Sola 8 (3 goals), Alfredo Bigatti 9, Guillermo Caset 9 (8, 4 penalties), Jerónimo del Carril 8 (2). Total: 34.
Ellerstina Turismo Felgueres: Facundo Pieres 10 (6 penalties), Hilario Ulloa 9 (3), Gonzalo Pieres Jr. 9 (2), Nicolás Pieres 10. Total: 38.
Score La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus: 2-2, 6-4, 6-6, 9-6, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11.
Umpires: Gastón Lucero & Gonzalo López Vargas.
Third man: José I. Araya.
IMAGES
The 129th Hurlingham Open resumes on Friday, October 21, at the AAP Heaquarters in Pilar. Action continues this weekend at the Hurlingham Club:
Friday, October 21 (AAP, Pilar, Times TBC)
La Irenita GSquared vs. La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus
La Irenita Clinova vs Cría La Dolfina
Saturday, October 22 (Hurlingham Club)
4pm: La Irenita Grand Champions vs. La Natividad
Sunday, October 23 (Hurlingham Club)
4pm: La Dolfina Saudi vs. Ellerstina
The final of the 129th Hurlingham Open is set to be played on Saturday, October 29: