Monty Waterbury Cup-7-25-13 round-up

White Birch sneaks past Heathcote11-

In another close game, White Birch (Del Walton, Joao Ganon, Matias Magrini and Peter

Brant) scored an 11-10 win over Heathcote (Johnny Redlich, Naco Taverna, Tommy

Biddle and Nick Manifold) in 2013 Monty Waterbury Cup play at the Bridgehampton

Polo Club Thursday afternoon.

The weather was crisp, in the 60s, but the morning game didn’t get off on time. An

accident on the roads delayed the arrival of some of the horses and players over two

hours to a noon throw-in.

“Our horses were a little heavy,” offered Heathcote 6-goaler Tommy Biddle. The

weather wasn’t a problem, but they spent nearly three additional hours in the trailers

before we got to the field.”

With Johnny Redlich substituting for Heathcote team captain Steve Lefkowitz, Nick

Manifold scored the first goal of the game to put them on top, 1-0. White Birch’s

Brazilian 7-goaler, Joao Ganon, responded with a goal from the field and a 60-yard

penalty shot. White Birch left the field with a 2-1 advantage at the end of the chukker.

Both defenses held their own in the second period. Ganon and Biddle exchanged

penalty goals for the only scoring in the chukker. Biddle converted a 60-yard penalty

shot for Heathcote that tied it up at 2-2. Ganon responded in kind for White Birch with

the same, and Heathcote continued to trail by a goal, 3-2.

The Heathcote defense did their job again in the third period, shutting White Birch out

for the first time all day. Biddle added a 40-yard penalty goal and Naco Taverna added

a goal from the field that gave Heathcote a 4-3 halftime lead.

White Birch got back on track in the second half, scoring the first three goals of the

fourth chukker to move ahead, 6-4. Ganon scored twice (once on a 40-yard penalty

shot and once from the field) for White Birch and Peter Brant added a goal from the

field. Heathcote answered with three straight goals of their own, with Johnny Redlich

cutting the White birch lead to a single goal, 6-5, with his first goal of the game. Biddle

scored twice from the field and had Heathcote back in the lead, 7-6. Ganon tied it up at

7-7, with a 60-yard penalty conversion to end the chukker.

Del Walton broke the tie with the opening goal of the fifth period, 8-7. Ganon stretched

the lead to two goals, 9-7 on a 40-yard penalty goal. Biddle scored the last goal of the

chukker on a short penalty shot, but Heathcote trailed, 9-8.

Matias Magrini’s first goal of the game had White Birch on top, 10-8, but Heathcote

fired back with goals from Biddle and Manifold to deadlock it at 10-10. With under three

minutes left in the game, a Heathcote foul sent Ganon to the penalty line where he

converted a 30-yard penalty shot that proved to be the final goal of the game in the 11-

10 White Birch win. The victory kept White Birch undefeated at 2-0 while Heathcote

slipped to 0-2.

Ganon led all scoring with eight goals (six on penalty shots). Walton, Magrini and Brant

each added a goal for the victory. Biddle’s six goals (three on penalty shots) led the

Heathcote team. Manifold scored twice and Taverna and Redlich each chipped in a

goal in the loss.

Monty Waterbury Cup action is slated to continue on Saturday afternoon at 4PM when

Heathcote (0-2) returns to play Lechuza (1-1).

(Photo credit-Alex Pacheco)