HORSEWARE made it three in a row recently at the AIPC in Phoenix Park, Dublin, scoring a hat-trick for the Pakistan Cup during the final high goal tournament of the summer season.

Horseware’s Captain James Connolly commented that winning the coveted cup for the third consecutive year, inlaid with lapis lazuli on fine tooled silver, took a lot of hard work, the line out with Polo Wicklow was made even more formidable by the visiting five-goal player, Richard le Poer.

Richard, the son of Lord Waterford, has been in England for a number of years, working on the medium-goal status he has achieved. The qualifier against Tyrone saw Le Poer playing a strategic game, the rarely seen pause to place teammates Caroline Keeling, April Kent and Peter Fell ahead of one of the powerful hits he delivered to reach seven goals to 6½ from Eamonn Laverty, Dan Laverty, Keelan McCarthy and Facundo Matilla.

Along with James Connolly, Horseware’s Barry Finnegan, Michael Connolly and Ailbhe Fell went on to win their qualifier, relegating Pegus to a Challenge Match with four goals to nil and LHK against Tyrone to the subsidiary final.

“We are absolutely over the moon,” said James Connolly after beating Polo Wicklow in the final with an impressive score of 6½ goals to just two. “For us it is fantastic to win it three times in a row.”

SUCCESSFUL SEASON

Horseware had only just won the Autumn Tournament and the venerable Freebooters Cup on the previous weekend at the AIPC, coming off of an overall successful season at tournaments in Spain.

“We can’t believe we managed to win it with Richard (le Poer) coming over,” James Connolly added. “It is a credit to all the other teams that we worked so hard to win.”

Tyrone went on to beat LHK’s Colm Kelleher, Siobhan Herbst, Fred Sheehan and Gonzalo Lopez Vargas in the subsidiary final with a score of five goals to four.

The Pakistan Cup tournament was the final of the summer season, and the last for Tyrone’s Eamonn Laverty as AIPC President, his term finishing just before the 2019 season next May.

By special request, Eamonn had agreed to extend his from two years to three at the AIPC AGM last May.

Speaking at the recent AIPC Polo Ball and awards night, he said: “I must say that Phoenix Park is one of my most favourite places in the world. Every time I am here I feel so special to play polo in Phoenix Park.”

Eamonn Laverty added as he spoke to around 70 people attending the Polo Ball, “to be President of the AIPC I think is an honour and a privilege. I thank you all for your help and support over the past three years.”

The low goal final for the Stanley Corcoran Cup was won by Sixt’s Ian McCulla, Keelan McCarthy, John Flavin and Pat Flavin with 4½ goals to four from Rits headed by Sean Reynolds.

Pegus, led by David Stone, beat William Clarke and CJ Law on six goals to nil while Paul Monahan’s El Nino was relegated in the qualifiers to last place, losing with three goals to 5½ from Rits.