THE final tournament of the winter arena season at Polo Wicklow was never going to be a foregone conclusion in the win column for Ireland against USA, the old adversaries of more than 20 years each holding tied scores until the final last Sunday.

USA’s Eileen Flint remained focused on notching up a tournament win; however team-mates Jim de Angelis, Branden Van-Loon along with alternates Liz Brayboy and Sofia de Angelis kept a close eye on one of Ireland’s newest citizens just in case she fell to the temptation of backing the new home team.