Captains and Subalterns Polo Tournament

Published: 22/07/2011

The weekend of the 16^th/17^th July found the Royal Navy competing against 16 other teams in the Captains and Subalterns Tournament at Tidworth.  Placed in the top division, on Saturday the -3 goal Navy team of Fawcett, Mason-Mathews, Phillips and Suzuki met a well balanced but slightly worse handicapped QRH team who started with a half goal lead.  In the fist chukka, the RN played well, concentrating on marking their opposite numbers, which was particularly pleasing as Fawcett and Mason-Mathews were playing in their first ever match.  This allowed Suzuki to make a good run with the ball to score, putting the Navy into the lead at the end of the chukka.  In the second chukka however, the RN gave away a penalty while in defence and the QRH made good use of the error to score from 40 yards, leaving the score at 1 – 1½ at half time.  In the second half, the QRH stepped up a gear and played a tight game, marking Suzuki well and allowing their 1 goaler time with the ball to score in both the third and fourth chukka; finishing the 3½ - 1. 

This result meant that Sunday’s match had the Royal Navy facing a -3 goal RAF team, with Cosby (also playing his first tournament) replacing Fawcett.  In the first chukka, the Crabs really grasped the importance of tying up Suzuki which allowed their well practiced team to score.  The Navy found more aggression in the second chukka but failed to turn quickly enough on Suzuki’s backhands.  This gave the RAF the upper hand and allowed them to find the posts again, leaving them in the lead 2 – 0 at the end of the chukka.  After a half time team talk, the Navy came out revitalized and determined not to allow the Junior Service to be victorious.  Hitting hard from the line-out, the RN played well and Phillips scored midway through the third chukka boosting team moral.  Good Navy marking allowed Suzuki to make a great run three quarters of the field and score an excellent goal which evened the tally at the end of the third chukka.  In the final chukka Suzuki scored once again to put the Navy into the lead and when the RAF gave away a penalty in the last two minutes, the game seemed to be over.  Unfortunately Cosby’s shot went wide but, despite Suzuki losing his stick and playing the last moments without one, the Navy held on to beat the RAF 3-2, to come 3^rd out of 17 teams.