Steven O’Kane for England with Jimmy’s tally of 10 goals earning him Man of the Match with Charlie Bullis scoring 6 not far behind him.
Throughout the week the hospitality provided by Newport Polo Club was truly unbelievable and beyond 5 star, from the dinners in Newport harbour, the sailing on the 1962 Americas Cup Boat captained albeit briefly and almost capsized by Steven O’Kane, to the Scooter World tours that saw Steven O’Kane manage to pull doughnuts, paddle boarding in the Atlantic where Steven O’Kane living up to the name of Ride Off King trying to ride everyone off apart from his girlfriend Jess who accompanied and supported him on the trip, along with her mum and dad (watch this space). The first-class accommodation provided and cars including an Aston Martin for Team Captain Garrie Renucci which was to end in a Police chase in the early hours of the evening for driving down a one way street the wrong way.
One thing that was clear throughout the visit to all was the strong affinity built up over many years by Nick and Annie and everyone from Ham Polo club who has been privileged to take part to date. Everywhere we went the same repetitive question – ‘Where are Nick an Annie ?’ – was to be heard.
The yacht trip provided an amazing view of Newport from the ocean showing just how breath-taking the colonial port is, and in particular the Mansions, and for two of the team that found themselves at an after party with infamous local Mr Brian Cunha who managed to keep them entertained till 4am against the team Captains strict midnight curfew before the match; the names of the two will not be revealed to respect the law of privacy.
Other preparations the day before the match included a massage to relax the body and mind for the big match the next day. A radio interview to ensure a sell-out crowd was interrupted half way through by the late arrival of team and by now Newport icon Sebastian Tarnowski who had clearly become popular handing out tickets in Newport bars, street corners and local Starbucks to anyone who would listen to him.
When asked about the last two years losses and how we thought we would cope with the horses we were going to be given a quick response of “we did not come here to lose and mark my words we will be going home with a win” was met with a response of “sounds like this is going to be a game worth watching” by the radio presenter which clearly helped the turn out on the day. Fast aggressive Polo was O’Kane response ‘they don’t call me the Ride Off King for nothing’.
The evening before the match comprised of dinner at the Cook House on Bannisters Wharf where the food, wine and local hospitality lead by Agnes and Dan Keating and members of the Newport Polo Club did not disappoint. Though not surprisingly, the local
66 HPC • THE LONDON POLO CLUB
club members with the exception of a “non drinking Dan” were not playing the next day. The tactic of the locals clearly to ensure our team did not have an easy night before the big match, and with Sebastian clearly unsteady on his feet leaving, they must have thought it had worked.
The confidence delivered by the Ham contingent over dinner particularly Sebastian pushed USA team Captain Dan Keating to strengthen his line up for the match from their intended 1 goal team to a 2 goal team, much to the surprise and angst of the Ham contingent.
After much debate the kit was designed and wow did we look smart, complete with names on the back of the shirts which helped the crowd and autograph hunters after the match who immediately pounced on by now local heart throb Tarnowski who was charging $2 per photo and $3 for a kiss or a package together with autograph for $4.
Finally match day arrived and following early morning breakfast ritual at Starbucks and lunch at a local Italian the pressure began to get to a by now very quiet Tarnowski and by the time the team arrived at Glen Farm the enormity of what was ahead hit Tarnowski who had a strong bout of stage fright and nerves and had to go and hide in a car for 30 mins with Steven trying to convince him to play and begging Jimmy Wood to stop putting pressure on him.
Ultimately strong words by Steven O’Kane and the sight of Jimmy Wood and Garrie Renucci re-emerge on the centre of the field by helicopter in front of the 7000 Labour Day sell-out crowd, complete with picnics, families and car parks packed as far as the eye could see convinced him he had no option other than to play and we were able to take to the field just in time for the National Anthem which made the hairs rise on the backs
HAM POLO CLUB
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
