La Martina Varsity Day

LA MARTINA VARSITY DAY OXFORD SHINE IN UNIVERSITY TEST

IMAGES: IMAGES OF POLO

SATURDAY 5TH JUNE 2021 LA MARTINA VARSITY DAY

TEAMS OXFORD, CAMBRIDGE, HARROW, ETON

Oxford retained the coveted La Martina Varsity Trophy, defeating their historic rivals, Cambridge, in a competitive match under a blazing sun in early June. This fixture had not been able to be played in 2020 due to the pandemic and so the Club and La Martina were delighted to welcome the students, their families and friends back to the Club for this key match.

Oxford has dominated this university test – which dates back to 1879 – in recent years; Cambridge last took the trophy back to East Anglia in 2014. The 2021 contest was a closer affair than some of the more recent contests - Oxford winning the game 8-3 – but the Varsity is always played open, which was not to Cambridge’s advantage this year. That said, Cambridge kept Oxford in their sights throughout the four chukkas

Tamara Gibbons, an experienced Varsity player for Oxford, was named the La Martina Most Valuable Player, a prize she had previously received in 2019. Meanwhile, Cambridge’s Junaid Safdar headed home with the Best Playing Pony prize. This was awarded to Chasco Laguna, a pony bred by the high-goal player Alfredo Bigatti.

The Varsity Day, which has been sponsored

by La Martina for the past fi ve years, began with an equally competitive schools match featuring Harrow and Eton (rec ½ goal) for the Jenny Walton Masters Trophy. This was a fast-paced match which perfectly highlighted the incredible depth of talent in schools’ polo at this time.

Harrow narrowly won this match with school’s number three Hector Rogberg delivering a particularly powerful performance. Eton did not head home empty handed though as Oliver Drewitt was named the Most Valuable Player while his team-mate Beau Buchan received the La Martina Best Playing Pony prize for Sapo. ✸

TEAMS

Oxford: Jamie Baillie (-1); Cecily Day (0); Tamara Gibbons (0); Thomas Gordon-Colebrook (1). Cambridge: Éclair Chen (-1); Catherine Richards (-1); Junaid Safdar (0); Tate Lavitt (0). Harrow: Ulysses Hu (-1); Freddie Strange (-2); Marc Lindgren (-2); Hector Rogberg (0). Eton: Alick Sweeting (-2); Oliver Drewitt (-1); Beau Buchan (-1); Fraser McDade (-2)/ Sacha Davie Thornill (-2).