All bets were on an extremely close game, and that it certainly was as the two powerhouses of England and New Zealand lined up to face each other and kick off the Gloucestershire Festival of Polo on Saturday 8 June at Beaufort Polo Club.
With a combined age nearly twice that of the England team, the New Zealand side of Dean Fullerton (3), Jimmy Wood (4), JP Clarkin (6), and Ross Ainsley (3) drew on their considerable international experience against a younger England team of Alfie Hyde (3), Luke Wiles (4), Zac Beim (4) and captain Jimbo Fewster (5).
Play started with an open first chukka, seeing great play from both sides and at this stage the game was anyone’s call. First blood went to New Zealand; a huge charge from New Zealand number 2 Jimmy Wood was defended beautifully by Luke Wiles, only for back Ross Ainsley to swoop in and tap the ball over the line for the first goal on the board.
The home side then found their rhythm with strong attacking play keeping the ball mainly in the England half for the rest of the chukka. With 30 seconds on the clock, England’s Zac Beim, capitalising on a missed shot from Jimmy Wood, got possession from the 80-yard line, turning the ball on the bounce to gallop Lovelocks USA to the line and score an outstanding goal out of the air to equalise for England at 1-1.
The second chukka opened with a stunning goal from Jimmy Wood, picking up a decisive backhand from JP Clarkin to break through the pack and fly down to the goal unchallenged and put New Zealand in the lead once again.
Two fouls in quick succession gave England two chances to convert the 60-yard penalties, but neither found their way between the posts for captain Jimbo Fewster. A spectacular offside forehand for Jimbo also veered left with a minute to go; England having had plenty of chances but not quite finding the posts in this second chukka.
The third chukka opened with a beautiful backhand from Zac Beim, finding Jimbo Fewster who made a great run, only for his last-minute neck shot to land slightly wide of the goal. It was not long before England had another chance, with a massive drive down the field from Jimbo to find Zac Beim, who broke loose under pressure and sent the ball home with a brilliant neck shot to bring England back into the hunt with the score at 2-2.
Two huge backhands from Luke Wiles and Zac Beim found a well-placed Alfie Hyde, who sprang into action in this chukka and led a tremendous charge towards the goal but couldn’t quite see it home. Zac Beim then came forward to take a dropped ball, sending it down the field again to a waiting Alfie Hyde, who this time found freedom and tapped the ball home to bring England into the lead for the first time.
Before the dust could settle England were back with another chance; Luke Wiles flew down the pitch to answer a forward shot from Jimbo Fewster, with an agonising miss then picked up brilliantly by Alfie Hyde to run on towards goal with Luke Wiles quickly rallying to ride-off JP Clarkin well clear and give Alfie Hyde time to make it another goal for England and leave the score at 4-2 at half time.
In the fourth chukka Jimmy Wood scored a goal in the first 30 seconds, getting possession of the ball from the whistle before turning it around and firing it home.
Some close-up play followed before Jimbo Fewster took possession of the ball, sent it forward down the field while simultaneously holding off New Zealand’s Ross Ainsley to clear the way for Zac Beim, who was quick to capitalise on the speed of former racehorse Tottie, to gallop confidently down the field and give England a two-goal lead once again.
It was Jimbo Fewster who put the next goal on the board, shaking loose from the New Zealand defence at the 60-yard line and running the length of the field to pluck the ball out of the air and extend England’s lead to 6-3 with less than nine minutes left in the game.
The fifth and final chukka started with a 30-yard penalty for New Zealand, easily converted by Jimmy Wood, and the pressure started piling on to England not to give the game away as the lead shortened to 6-4. It wasn’t long before the orange bandages of Jimmy Wood broke free from the mêlée once again, this time making a confident run-in goal and bringing the visiting team within touching distance with less than four minutes to go.
With tensions rising the England team began to lose their rhythm, and an unfortunate foul from Zac Beim gave the New Zealand side a 60-yard penalty, which was taken by JP Clarkin who found Dean Fullerton in a goal-mouth scramble to be just tapped over the line, and bring the score to 6-6 with everything to play for in the closing stages.
The enormously strong alliance of JP Clarkin and Jimmy Wood came to the fore again for the final goal of the game. A backhand from Zac Beim was snatched out of the air by the waiting Jimmy Wood, who ran the ball down to goal only to be ridden off by Zac. This final chance was saved by JP Clarkin, breaking away from Alfie Hyde and tapping the ball through the posts just in time to put New Zealand ahead with a minute left to go. Another late foul from England scuppered any chance England had to equalise, with the packed crowds having been treated to a brilliant display of polo in the Gloucestershire sun for New Zealand to take the win 7-6 at the final buzzer.
The KBIS Best Playing Pony went to Jimbo Fewster’s Wizard, owned by James Harper, who made such a fantastic run towards the the goal in the third chukka.
There was never any doubt that Jimmy Wood would be called forward to collect the Most Valuable Player prize, having played a blinder throughout the game to be seemingly everywhere all at once. Jimmy’s retrained racehorse Luna, owned by his father Roddy Wood, also picked up the prize for the Best Playing RoR, sponsored by Retraining of Racehorses.
Photos by Tom Reynolds
