After the thrilling Cartier Queen’s Cup final, our focus turned to the Out-Sourcing Royal Windsor Cup as the final eight teams fought for a place in Sunday’s prestigious final. After closely contested quarter-finals and semi-finals, it was ultimately La Dolfina, led by the father-son duo of Adolfo Cambiaso and Adolfo Cambiaso Jr (Poroto), that won, defeating defending champions Park Place 11-7 on The Queen’s Ground.
The week began with the quarter-final matches, where Park Place edged out HB Glebe Farm in the first quarter-final. Allowing just 4.5 goals per game coming into the game, Park Place held HB Glebe Farm to just 3 for 16 shooting from the field, while scoring the final three goals of the game to advance to the semi-final.
La Dolfina displayed a dominant open play performance in their quarter-final match against Kildare, outshooting their opponents 15-5, while also shooting an efficient 60% from the field, along with perfect 3 for 3 shooting from the penalty line to secure the three-goal victory.
Meanwhile, Emlor squared off against Shalimar in a back and forth game that saw the teams tied at seven different points in the game. Behind a five-goal performance from Marcos Araya, three of which came in the final two chukkas, Emlor advanced with the two-goal victory.
The final quarter-final featured the closest game yet as overtime was required to decide the winner between Armis Snake Bite and King Power. After taking a commanding 6-2 lead, King Power saw that lead disappear as Armis Snake Bite scored five consecutive goals in the second half. Overcoming a missed penalty attempt in overtime, Armis Snake Bite completed the victory as James Beim ran the ball through the goal.
These matches displayed the strengths of the victorious teams as Park Place continued their defensive performance, allowing just six goals, while La Dolfina produced another strong, offensive performance by scoring 12 goals. The opening semi-final saw Park Place commit nine fouls to just one foul for Armis Snake Bite but utilised their defensive effort to create more opportunities to outscore their opponents 7-4 from the field. Three consecutive goals for Jeronimo del Carril secured Park Place’s position in the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Windsor Cup Final.La Dolfina quickly booked their place in the final, thanks to a nine-goal performance from Cambiaso Snr. Scoring five goals from the penalty line and four from the field, Cambiaso anchored the La Dolfina attack which averaged 10.4 goals per game leading into the final.
The final produced an intriguing match-up with Park Place looking to contain the La Dolfina attack but they found themselves quickly trailing 5-1 as La Dolfina took advantage of each opportunity presented to them. The balanced team attack from La Dolfina provided difficulties for Park Place, with La Dolfina’s Kian Hall having an impact in the game, firing through four goals. Three consecutive goals for La Dolfina in the fourth and fifth chukka increased their lead to five with little time remaining. Shooting an impressive 8 for 11 (73%) in the game, La Dolfina outlasted Park Place with a convincing 11-7 victory to come out top of a deep field of 23 teams.
The key to success for La Dolfina’s run in the tournament was in their ability to create attacking play, leading all teams with 13.7 shots per game. Led by 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, who headed the tournament with 34 goals, La Dolfina were able to control possession and generate an efficient attacking game that saw them shoot 56% from the field – the fifth best in the tournament. That efficiency was crucial to their success in their final three games, as they increased their percentage further to shoot 62% to capture the prestigious Out-Sourcing Royal Windsor Cup title.
Michael Foster - Performance Analyst IPA
