GOING into the season’s opening tournament at Curraghmore Polo Club in Waterford, it was all to play for among 10 teams in two leagues. At the end of the first day, the outcome remained undecided as a storm front of heavy rain moved in to cancel the following final day due to a waterlogged field.

RITS opened a fine first day against the Red Devils for the lower -1 to -5 goal Gussie Walsh Memorial Cup, ending their qualifying match with a win on six goals to 4.5 – an impressive finish for the Red Devils ro be within 1.5 goals.

Had the finals gone ahead, RITS would have been matched against Curraghmore, who won their lower goal game five goals to 3.5 against NIPC (Northern Ireland Polo Clubs), while Sixt Rent-a-Car from Northern Ireland was initially also destined for the rained-off, round-robin final on four goals to 2.5 from Bishopsland in Kildare.

While the lower goal final and the higher goal had not been rescheduled at the time of going to press, this particular tournament was the first to bring HPA (Hurlingham Polo Association) and ICP (Irish Country Polo) teams together in one tournament, a remarkable achievement in that each organisation operates under similar rules of play with ICP fully governed from within Ireland, one slight difference being in the Curraghmore club ground under the HPA.

“They showed signs of good, open play,” said Curraghmore Polo Club manager Paul Ronan. “The Northern (Ireland) teams were dominant in both finals, being an nearly all northern affair. That, and that the standard of the lower level was quite high with close, but high scoring games for the level of polo.”

The Northern Ireland teams in the higher goal tournament for the Curraghmore Perpetual (0 to 2) Goal Cup dominated the scoreboard in the qualifying rounds, Tyrone winning on seven goals to Bunclody’s shutout result on their handicap adjustment of 0.5 goals while NIPC earned four goals in their match to just one goal from Pegus/LHK.