Jack's Polo Team
The Jack Russell Polo Team is led by the young and fearless Will Brasher.
He's 17, he's from Oakham, he's fast and he's good.
In fact he is already playing for the young England team so he really is no slouch.
Having spent a lifetime slugging it out in the mud on a rugby pitch, we found Polo was a bit confusing at first.
Everyone is shiny and clean, the pitches have no lines on them, the goals are a bit vague, no corner flags, you have to wear very big boots, have your collar up and your hair in a quiff thing.
One thing is for certain it is incredibly skillful - these guys steer the pony (it's not a horse) with one hand, hold a bloody long stick in the other and whack a small ball from a fair height while travelling at great speed.
It's dangerous but the champagne makes it worth the effort.
So come and watch the Jack Russell Polo Team this Summer and see for yourself...
May 1/2: Rutland Polo Club in Langham, Rutland LE15 7JY.
Event: Made Trophy.
May 8/9: Rugby Polo Club, Willoughby, Rugby CV23 8AJ.
Event: The Patera Cup.
May 15/16: Rutland Polo Club
Event: Saturday 15th - Rutland Cup. Sunday 16th - Twidale Cup.
May 22/23: Rugby Polo Club
Event: Onley Plate.
June 5/6: Rutland Polo Club.
Event: The Collie Cup.
June 12/13: Royal Leamingon Spa.
Event: Midsummer Tournament.
June 26/27: Rutland Polo Club.
Events: The Seavil Bowl & PB Solicitors Cup
more to follow..................
MATCH REPORTS.
May 1/2 Rutland Polo Club - Made Trophy Match Report:
We Won!!!!
Our first tournament, our first win.
The Jack Russell team looking very pleased with themselves having beaten Stapleford Park through an 8 chukka match over two days.
L-R: James Van Oppen, Will Brasher, Sian Barnacle, Steve Radford and of course Dig-it.
Here is a match report from our valiant leader Will Brasher:
The first day was very tough and Jack Russell being the under dogs played very well throughout however ending the scores 5-7 to Stapleford Park. Unfortunately the Sunday was called off because of bad weather however play continued on the Monday carrying on the scores from Saturday. The game was very quick and I managed to pull it back to a draw in the second chukka scoring 2 goals making it 7-7. From this we managed to break the lead with a penalty I scored, however they managed to bring the score back ending the 3rd chukka 8-8. this leaving it all down to the final chukka. Stapleford took the lead very early into the final chukka making it very tense however I saved my quickest pony till last and managed to bring back 3 goals very quickly giving us a very strong lead. Happily after a very hard match Jack Russell ended out on top 11-9.
As a team we did very well to come back from the score to win beating a local strong side convincingly. I now look forward to the oncoming season leading Jack Russell’s polo team to even greater success!
May 8/9 The Patera Cup ( 0 to 4 handicap )
Venue: Rugby Polo Club.
On the Saturday we started the game in heavy rain and the ground was very slippery however we played hard against a very strong local side and ended up losing by a few goals.
This put us in the subsidiary final for the Sunday where we played much better, however after a long close match we ended up losing by half a goal!
A big thanks to our valiant team in difficult conditions: Abbi Watts, Tom Gilks, Will Brasher, Tom Collie.
May 15/16 The Rutland Cup Match Report:
We Won Again!!!!
Come On!
From left to right:
Tony Nunez, best playing pony, Will Brasher, Phil Seller, Hugh Crouch
and Will says:
The Rutland Cup (handicap 0 to 4).
Originally I had a team for the lower section in the Twidale Cup (handicap -4 to 0) however at the last minute a team pulled out of the Rutland Cup so I thought I would get the Jack Russell team in there. I managed to jumble up a team, two of which I had never met. The Saturday we came up against a mixed team from Rugby and Rutland and having both the clubs polo managers in their team it looked very tough. However we went out to play our best and that’s exactly what we did, we won it 9 and half to 6!
We went into the last chukka with the scores at 5 and half to 6 and managed to get back with 3 strong goals to win!!!
The Sunday was the big final against a team from Kirtlington Polo Club called Photons. This was an even tougher match playing against a very strong side. The commentary was on, the spectators were there and we held the game right to the very last chukka where they managed just to pull away and win 6 to 4 and a half.
It was a great weekend for the Jack Russell polo team getting into one of Rutland Polo Clubs big finals as a new team and from this we have been recognised to be an upcoming competitive side ready to win some tournaments.
May 22/23 The Onley Plate.
This is a -6 to 0 goal event. Will put together a strong team as this was a very strong tournament and we were put up against a highly rated team, which included a professional! They were from St Albans and we went out determined to win as four 0 goal players and managed to hold the game well and finally won 5 goals to 4 and a half!
We reached the final on the Sunday and we faced a big crowd and very good team from Oxford. They were too good and we ended up losing in the last chukka by a goal! The score ended 3 goals to 4!
Jack Russell ended up 2nd out of 8 teams in the Onley Plate 0 goal. A valiant terrier like performance.