The National Senior Schools’ Intermediate and Combined Schools Polo
Tournament took place on Sunday 18th June 2006.It was held at Longdole
Polo Club by kind permission of Major and Mrs. Christopher Hanbury.
Many thanks go to them and to all their hard working staff at Longdole.
We played on their newly laid Hanbury and Brunei grounds which both
played superbly well particularly the Hanbury Ground. As usual all
the games were fiercely fought and were very close encounters-
ten run downs being “run” to prove this point.
In the Combined Schools Tournament eleven different schools were
represented. We welcomed several new schools to SUPA and we hope to see
them for many years to come. The combination of Dauntseys and
St.Bartholomews swept all aside to win the Combined Division.
In Division 3 Westonbirt School (another newcomer this year) overcame
Hurstpierpoint A to gain 3rd place. In the Final Dean Close A and
Shrewsbury battled hard but neither team allowed each other to score.
The Dean Close A players were thrilled to win the run down and thus
Division 3.
Division 2 saw two Millfield teams aiming to secure top slot. The
Millfield B team just managed to squeeze past Millfield C by one
goal to win Division 2. Sherborne Blue beat Felsted for third spot.
Felsted must be applauded for travelling the furthest to the tournament
(over three hours from Essex).
The ball ran straight and true in Division 1 with every game being
played at high speed on the laser levelled Hanbury Ground. Umpire Dan
Banks was hard pushed to keep up with play! The teams were seeded but
the lower seeds were not giving way easily. Two of the first round
matches were decided on run downs as were two of the final round
matches. Harrow beat Eton on a rundown for 3rd spot with Bertie Cayzer
of Harrow taking the ball the full length of the field. Millfield A and
Cheltenham College A gave us a worthy and exciting final match to
finish off the day. It was nip and tuck, as they say, with Cheltenham
College A getting their second wind and managing to score the winning
goal to make it 2-1. Millfield A (Jack Mesquita, Pieter Zwiegers, John
Kent and Hugo Seccombe) were magnanimous in defeat as Cheltenham
College (Ed Horton, Henry Larthe, Freddie Meade and Rory Musgrave) were
gracious in triumph. Harold Hodges of Marlborough was The Most
Promising Player and Ed Horton of Cheltenham College The Most Valuable
Player.
SUPA would like to thank Jilly and Tony Emerson of SATS , our sponsors,for their
support and most generous prizes to all divisions. Many people made the
day run smoothly but particularly our umpires and timekeepers. Our
lively commentator , Nick Harrison-Sleep kept everyone on their toes
and entertained at the tournament AND on the A417 apparently until we
turned the speakers down a bit!! Michael
Chevis took some wonderful shots of the day that can be seen on and
purchased from his web site www.michaelchevis.com
Division
1
1.Cheltenham College A
2.Millfield A
3.Harrow
4.Eton
5.Sherborne A
6.Sherborne Yellow
7.Wellington
8.Marlborough
Division 2
1.Millfield B
2.Millfield C
3.Sherborne Blue
4.Felsted
5.Cheltenham B
6.Malvern
7.Rugby A
8.Rugby B
Division 3
1.Dean Close A
2.Shrewsbury
3.Westonbirt
4.Husrtpierpoint A
5.Hurstpierpoint B
6.Millfield D
7.Dean Close B
8.Pangbourne
THE SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES POLO ASSOCIATION Bolebrook Wood Farm, Edenbridge Road, Hartfield, East Sussex, TN7
4JJ
Telephone: 01892 770591; Fax: 01892 770899;
Email:
info@supa.org.uk
