North claims S.I. polo title again

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33817, 14 April 1975, Page 3

North claims S.I. polo title again

The Central Districts polo team won the Gould Cup for the South Island open championship for the third successive year by beating Ashburton A, 9-2, in the final at Ryan's Road yesterday. Although the winning margin was a large one, the score was not a fair indication of the abilities of the two teams and the Ashburton side (Peter George, Andrew Askin. Emmett O’Sullivan, and Garth Lemon) started brilliantly, scoring the only two goals in the first chukka. The game was marked by hard riding on the good fast ground and it was not until the fourth of the six chukkas that the North Island side finally took control. Ashburton lost its chance to regain the title — which it won on seven consecutive occasions between 1966 and 1972 — because Central Dis-

tricts’s team of Joe Webb, Bruce McKelvie, John Lane, iand Paddy Sherrif had better i ponies and was generally 'faster to the ball. [ Lane, the leading player in the Central side with a fourgoal rating won the prize [ for the champion polo pony on the day. Results:— ' Gould Cup.—Central Districts '9. Ashburton A 2. Rhodes Cup.—Geraldine A 5, I Ashley A 2£. Michael Bellerby Cup.—Amuri C 5, Waimate C 2J. Plaisted Cup.—Waimate B 3. Taieri 2 Rangitikei Plate lor best pair of polo poniesi. —E. B. O'Sullivan.