Ibadan Jericho Falls, Dangote Beaten in Dansa Cup
Ibadan teams had a bad day on the field succumbing to defeats in the Dansa Cup as the 2016 NPA Lagos International Polo Tournament continues yesterday at the Lagos Polo Club, Ikoyi.
Ibadan Megamound could not cover for their superior handicap goal of 1.5 as they lost to Lagos STL 7.5-6 in a match which was rescheduled from Wednesday for technical reasons.
An unmemorable outing for Ibadan was sealed as Ibadan Jericho fell 9-2 by Lagos Sao Polo.
The match started on a light note and it was not until Sao Polo’s Abdulrahman Mohammed fell off his pony that the teams began to show their determination to triumph. It was Jericho who had their nose in front with Salisu Umoru tapping in from about five yards but Mohammed scored a 30yard penalty after an infringement on Mumuni Musa. Moment before drifting a 60-yarder wide, Umoru cleared off the line to keep Jericho level but Mohammed have the final say on the keenly contested opening chukka finishing off brilliantly just before the bell.
Musa and Mohammed added goals in the early part of the second chukka as Sao Polo established a three goal lead but Umoru reduced the deficit to two goals with a 30-yard shot for 4-2 advantage to the Lagos team.
The third and fourth chukkas were dominated by Sao Polo with Mohammed scoring either sides of Musa’s goal for a 7-2 lead. He then added another two goals -one of which a diagonal shot from 12 yards to seal a comprehensive win for Lagos which had two of its sides lost on the opening day.
In the Open Cup, Lagos Dangote Polo lost to Lagos Shoreline despite a courageous display which saw them recovered from a four-goal deficit going into the last chukka.
Dangote, who paraded Mohammed Dangote, Bashir Dantata, Adamu Yaro and Babangida Hassan started the Open Cup match on 1.5 goal up due to their handicap disadvantage and they began the five-chukka match on a bright note as they forced Shoreline to concede a double 40-yard free-kick but Dantata failed to convert on both occasions.
They were made to pay for their miss by Juan Cruz in the move that followed but Yaro scored one of the goals of the day with a brilliant 40-yard shot after robbing Kola Karim off the ball to keep their original lead.
Yaro again scored for Dangote but Tunde Karim keeps Shorelines on their opponent’s heels and things get much better for Shoreline as Tino Estrada converted a 40-yarder to keep them in front for the first time as they lead 4-3.5 goals at the end of the second chukka.
Bashir finished off Babangida’s long pass to make the score 4-4.5 to turn advantage to Dangote once again and there was time for Tunde Karim to tap in from close range to for Shoreline to regain the lead.
The fourth chukka was the time for Estrada to lay his mark as he scored twice before Cruz coolly converted from 10 yard for an 8-4.5 goal Shoreline lead. There was still time for Yaro to score for Dangote and by the time Abba Dangote hits the ball four times running over 150 yards to score for Dangote to bring the score to 8-6.5, the game was set for a grand-standing finish.
Two more goals by Abba saw Dangote took an 8.5-8 goal lead but danger-man Estrada scored two goals at the dying minutes to seal a hard-fought win for Shoreline.