The Joe Barry Memorial

9JAN

18 JAN FINAL

Where: International Polo Club Palm Beach, Florida

Over-Time Success for Patagones Winners are grinners at IPC

The Joe Barry Memorial Final Teams:

Beverly Polo (18)

Bill Ballhaus (0) Lucas Diaz Alberdi (6) Jorge ‘Tolito’ Ocampo Jr. (7) Hilario Figueras (5) Patagones (18) Benjamin Avendano (2) Joaquin Avendano (3) Santiago Wulff (5) Tomás García del Río (8)

Photography by ©David Lominska

Rain delayed play by two days, but Final day rolled around on Tuesday 18 January under cold skies on International Polo Club Palm Beach’s Isla Carroll West field, with Beverly Polo vs Patagones. The two teams met for the first time in the Final, with Beverly Polo on a high following their over-time win in The Iglehart Cup just a few weeks earlier, while Patagones were looking to add to their 2020 Ylvisaker Cup win, both teams were no strangers to one another having played against each other at all levels over the years, which only added to the competition as each side knew their oppositions’ playing style and horses.

The Final got off to a penaltyridden start with a flurry of penalties which eventually resulted in Patagones’ Joaquin Avendano being sent to the sin bin for two minutes after he received his second yellow card. Beverly Polo were over-eager to capitalise on their player advantage and fell foul themselves, allowing Patagones to convert a Penalty 4. The third chukka eventually saw the first field goal of the match for Patagones’ Santiago Wulff which was swiftly followed by a goal in reply from Ocampo Jr. to end the first half 5-2 in favour of Patagones.

Ocampo Jr. exploded into the second half which saw four goals scored by Beverly Polo to level the scores, Patagones’ Tomás García del Río replied with two goals of his own but foul play resulted in penalty opportunities for Beverly Polo who took the lead for the first time in the match, 8-7. The fifth chukka saw each team score three goals, with Patagones rebounding with consecutive field goals from Wulff and Avendano. The final chukka got off to a swift start with both teams eager to score, it was Ocampo Jr. who reached the scoreboard first and their advantage was extended after Avendano was given his second yellow card of the match for dangerous riding and was sent to the sin bin; however Beverly Polo failed to capitalise on the three vs four player advantage and the clock ticked down with the scores tied at 10-10, pushing the match into over-time.

Triumphant Patagones with The Joe Barry Memorial trophy

MVP

Tomás García del Río

Over-time began with Beverly Polo maintaining their player advantage, but Patagones put in some strong defensive work to hold their rivals at bay, Ocampo Jr. took aim at goal, but it was saved by Wulff. Patagones’ ranks were bolstered in the nick of time by Avendano, who redeemed his earlier misdemeanours by sending a backshot down to Garcia del Rio who took the ball and scored the winning goal, 11-10! BPP Tunito (Holt x Tunita), played and owned by Tomás García del Río