Polo on the Beach, Watergate Bay North Cornwall 19th May 2013
The highlight of the weekend came with a high goal polo match between teams from Joules and First Great Western starring England international Jamie Le Hardy and Europe’s best arena polo player, Chris Hyde. The Joules team, captained by Tim Vaux, narrowly retained their hold on the Watergate Bay Trophy presented by Vivek Menon from Veuve Clicquot, by the smallest of margins. Vaux’s team of Andrew Blake Thomas and Jamie Le Hardy won by a single goal, beating the First Great Western team by 13 goals to 12. Peter West said the match was the best yet seen at the Cornish beach: “I think the standard was up by a measure of around 45 per cent from last year. It was just so much more open, it was end to end stuff, the crowd must have thoroughly enjoyed it. There was never more than two goals in it right from the first chukka. Absolutely amazing.” Vaux made his intentions clear from the start of the first chukka, scoring within seconds to give his Joules team an early lead only for Chris Hyde to level the score for First Great Western. Andrew Blake Thomas and Tim Vaux both scored to put Joules ahead, but Andrew’s brother Richard scored for First Great Western from a very acute angle just before the hooter to leave the score 3-2 to Joules at the end of the first chukka. Seven goals were scored in an action packed second chukka, with Joules converting first to extend their lead before two goals from First Great Western tied the match at 4-4. The teams each scored twice more in turn, with Andrew Blake Thomas’s solo goal running the length of the pitch a particular stand-out. After spectators flooded on to the arena at half time to perform the traditional treading in of the playing surface, First Great Western took the lead for the first time in the third chukka through two goals from Richard Blake Thomas, only to see his brother pull a goal back for Joules from the restart. Jamie Le Hardy then smashed in a high shot from distance to put Joules ahead by 9 goals to
Size: 4256px × 2370px
Location: Watergate Bay North Cornwall
Photo credit: © Simon Stuart-Miller / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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