Ashburton Wins Gould Cup For Polo

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31340, 10 April 1967, Page 6

Ashburton Wins Gould Cup For Polo

Aehburton woo ths GouM Cup for the third year in succession when it scored in the lasit minute of the last chukka to beat Amurt A In the final of the •?P en of ths South IsQand polo champJon»Mpe at Byane road, RuaaSey, yesterday. ' A crowd of 2500 watched the final, probably the biggest to attend a poio tournament in Canterbury. With the score 2-all after six minutes in the final chukka, E. B. O'Sullivan, the Ashburton captain, scored the winning goal. For the remaining minutes Ashburton was content to keep the ball close to the sideAfter Amur! had made moot of the early play Ashburton had a turn on attack, and this eVen territorial struggle eontknlsd in a scorelees first chukka. Amur! attacked from the b»ginnlng of the second chukka Mid D. Lundy and E. G. Rutherford nearly scored, Rutherford’s, shot bouncing out of play olf on . e ,he Prions. Ashburton retaliated and scored half-way through the chukka after mou^ y Pl * y *” Amurt '» «»«<- E. B. O’guHUvan added a tea. %•* ?°?- n ,f,er when ho took the bail down the sideside to tbs goal-mouth. He over-ran the ball but in tha nZ mHtog melee managed to knoek reduced the deficit at n** °* **!* chukka, D. Lundy scoring from a roU tn ( and from an Ashburton in■rmgement, the Amur! captain *• c ; Dean., equalised with a penalty. When the fourth and final chukka began both teams were producing their most constructive play. Counter-attacking featured prominently as the teams strived for the deciding goad, E. B. O'SuUdvan finally scoring the winner. For much of the game Amur! made most of the play but could

not capitalise on many promising attacks. Ashburton generally played more constructively and always seemed to have something in reserve. The Amur! B team won the final of the junior open section when it beat Geraldine, 4-3, and Waimate, in its first season of polo, won the handicap section. This event was open to alt teams other than the finalists In the open events. The highly-regarded Bangitikei team from the North island was. surprisingly beaten in the first round of the senior section by Ashburton. A. J. O’Sullivan (Ashburton) won the plate donated by the Rangitikri team for the best two polo ponies owned and trained by a player. They were judged on the type of breed and their performance. Results were: ■ Senior Open.—Gould Cup— Mnt round: Ashburton 4, Bangitikei 3. Semi-final: Ashburton 10, Ashley A 5; Amur! A 3, Nomads 2. Final: Ashburton 3, Amur! A 2. Junior Open.—POaisted CupFirst round: Geraldine B 5, Waimate 0. Semi-finals: Amur! B 3, Geraldine B 1; Geraldine A 8, As'Mey B .3. Final: Amur! B 4, Geraldine A 3. Handicap Section.— Rhodes Cup—Semi-finale: Ashley B 51, Geraldine B 5; Waimate 51. Ashley A B. Final: Waimate 144. Ashley B 12. Most of the scores have been swelled by handicaps.