Argentina clawed their way back in the final minutes of the 2025 Bryan Morrison Trophy to force an extra chukka and take home the win with a ‘golden goal’, putting their names on the trophy for the first time, in a heartbreaking reversal of fortunes for the England team.

England got off to a confident start, showing flawless teamwork in the opening stages to take a 6-1 lead by the end of the first chukka. Captain Jack Hyde (8), alongside team stalwart Matias Amaya (7) and England debutant Grant Collett (5) have clocked plenty of match time together, and this showed as they easily found each other again and again to secure themselves a comfortable lead. By half-time, the scoreboard was 9-6 in favour of England and the visitors struggled to find their rhythm. Captain Alfredo Bigatti (8), making his first foray into arena polo before heading to play on snow in St. Moritz next week, needed to rein in the big hits and quickly adapt to the faster, closer style of play in the arena, while also keeping his teammates Adolfo Casabal (6) and Nico Roberts (5) with their eyes on the prize.

The Argentine team came out refocused in the third chukka and began to chip away at England’s lead, keeping the home team in their sights with a 2-goal gap. To the delight of the home crowd, England still held the lead 15-13 into the final three minutes, before the visitors showed the signature tenacity of an Argentine team and got out in front for the first time as tensions mounted. With 20 seconds on the clock, it was all tied up at 17-17 and the packed Hickstead crowd knew an extra chukka was on the cards. With a rapid change onto fresh horses, the final chukka was quickly underway and it was mere seconds before a scuffle in the goal mouth saw Argentina tap the ball home and secure the win after an outstanding game that had the crowd on their feet throughout.

The prizes were presented by a delighted Madam Ambassador Mariana Plaza, the Argentine Ambassador the UK, who has been a wonderful supporter of polo during her first year in post, alongside Bryan’s son Jamie Morrison, who commented that his father would have been delighted with the day’s events. Stephen Biddlecombe presented the MVP prize to the Argentine captain Alfredo Bigatti, while Best Playing Pony went to Matias Amaya’s Always Chispita, a 10-year-old homebred mare proudly presented by Emily Johnson.

The morning’s junior game was won by the Hurlingham team of Archie Heseltine, Jacob Watson, and Harry Oliver against the Ranelagh team of Lucas Stern, Bruno Bradshaw, and Leo Stuart – a full report on this match will be available later this week.

Our huge thanks go to all our teams for a fantastic match, the Hickstead team for another great running of this iconic trophy, and the Morrison family for their continued support. We look forward to the next match in 2026 as England vie to get the trophy back on home soil.

Photos by The Art of Polo