Day 2 of the Ignition Polocrosse World Cup saw some great action from all the teams and some really close battles, including a match going to golden goal for the first time this World Cup. It also saw a number of falls, as players over reached and a number of ponies slipped. The forecast today was for rain but actually the day was dry. However, there had been quite a bit of rain the night before. The pitch didn’t seem particular wet or slippy but there was some discussion that at some points the top layer of the pitch has just got a bit loose and that might be contributing as the horses lose a bit of grip.

However, for the most part the horses did a fantastic job and continued to show some amazing moves. By day 2 you can start to spot the same horses coming out for certain teams which can make reporting a little easier. Also the players have learnt more about the horses, so the moves just get better and better.

The opening match of the day saw Zambia versus the USA. Zambia knew a win would pretty much guarantee a semi final spot and they got their noses in front in chukka one, despite the efforts of the USA who are playing very well. At the end of chukka 1 Zambia led 3-2. Kelly Krynauw at number 1 for Zambia was mounted up on a very good horse called Essence and try as she might Kat Liner, in the USA number 3 shirt, and her horse could not live with its right hand turn in particular.

The Zambian men stretched it out to 7-5, though there were a few penalties awarded against both teams for unnecessary fouls. This chukka also saw the first of the falls for the day as Mikey Krynauw’s horse stumbled and he ended up underneath its feet. He did get back up after a few moments and remounted to carry on.

The Zambian ladies stretched the lead in chukka 3 with Kelly Krynauw firing through goals. At the end of the chukka the scoreboard read 11-6. However, the USA men were playing well, though they still clearly have not decided who is their best number 3. Yesterday Peter Balogh and Houston Hutcherson both had a go there. Hutcherson played chukka 1 but for chukka 2 they put Rahul Desai out the back to see if he could win them a bit more ball. They are definitely sure that Braxton Hamlin is their number 1 though and he continued to score the goals with some great overarms which Damien Harris had no hope of stopping. The USA men actually managed to narrow the gap by one goal to 13-10 in the chukka; while the USA were playing a great game Zambia men did perhaps seem a little below their best, we even had the very rare sight of Mikey Krynauw missing a shot at goal.

However, chukka 5 helped settle the Zambia nerves a little as the Zambia ladies stretched the lead back out to 16-11. Kelly Krynauw, very ably backed up by Audrey Logan and Celicia Jacobs was able to fire through a few goals and the USA struggled more to convert their possession, possibly due to a horse change under Megan Swift.

The USA men would have had to have a big chukka to pull it back in the last and in the end it was actually Zambia who upped their game and eased away to win 21-13. The USA men were guilty of committing a few goal conceding fouls on this occasion, including a big head hit from Houston Hutcherson on Mikey Krynauw. That foul will have been particularly frustrating for the USA as Hutcherson had actually dispossessed Krynauw on the first swing but had already committed to a second swing and this was the one that met with the helmet rather than the racquet. Mikey Krynauw did also slot one beautiful backwards goal as he rode away from the posts to complete the Krynauw masterclass for aspiring number ones.

The second game of the day was New Zealand vs Zimbabwe and the expectation was that this could be a close match. It duly proved to be incredibly close and the lead ebbed and flowed throughout. For most of the match it felt like a battle between New Zealand’s ladies and Zimbabwe’s men as to who could either get their team ahead or at least keep them in touch.

 New Zealand’s ladies got them off to a flyer. Mirren Tye is playing very well up the front, firing in some great goals and winning a lot of ball herself in midfield. There are a couple of really good number 1 horses in the New Zealand horse pools in Cupcake and French Kiss and they are helping her get around the pitch to great effect. Kayla Murray was also going well out the back and Kirsten Swan, who yesterday was winning ball against South Africa, couldn’t really match her out the back. By the end of chukka 1 New Zealand were ahead 5-2.

Zimbabwe’s men were impressive against South Africa yesterday and they started well against New Zealand. New Zealand didn’t help themselves, they gave away a number of fouls for ride offs and wild swings and Zimbabwe reaped the benefits. By the end of chukka 1 Danie Swan probably felt like he had been a bit beaten up but he had got the Zimbabwe team ahead 7-6.

Chukka 3 saw the Zimbabwe women battle very hard to keep New Zealand at bay.  Sophie Sargeant was mounted up on a good horse, it didn’t have the eye catching footwork of some of the other horses but it certainly was good at driving through traffic. Sophie Sargeant showed all her considerable experience winning ball and carting it to the area and finishing it off with some good goals. They kept the one goal advantage going and Zimbabwe lead 10-9 at the end of chukka 3.

Chukka 4 saw the Zimbabwe men step up a gear and New Zealand, who had shuffled Jarrod Richardson to number 2 from number 1, really struggled against them. Ross Shand was playing the house down at number 3 winning ball all over the place and Danie Swan was taking it from him and scoring some great goals. By the end of the chukka the lead was 16-10 and Zimbabwe were looking favourites.

The New Zealand ladies had to try and dig their team out of trouble and they did a pretty good job, narrowing the gap to four goals. Mirren Tye and Kayla Murray won ball and scored four good goals, though Zimbabwe also grabbed two goals of their own to keep a decent cushion. The men came back out with the scoreboard reading 18-14 and on previous chukkas you would have favoured Zimbabwe.

However, New Zealand chucked Jarrod Richardson up the front and as he did against Ireland yesterday he proceeded to produce a memorable chukka just when they needed it most, snapping balls up the front and driving through the line up to quickly close the gap to one goal. Zimbabwe then did get some ball and briefly crept back to a two goal cushion. Then New Zealand and Zimbabwe traded a couple more goals before New Zealand managed to level it up at 20 goals a piece through Richardson and Ty Murray winning ball. Out of the next line up Christian Coetzee (who had a good game in the Zimbabwe number 2 shirt) came up with the ball for Zimbabwe and got it to Danie Swan, who headed into the area to score what Zimbabwe’s fans hoped might be the winning goal. However, the umpires pulled him back for carrying over the 30 yard line and New Zealand had the ball. They headed down the other end but the hooter went just as Jarod Richardson got into the goal scoring area and so the game went to golden goal.

We are not sure when the last golden goal in a world cup was, we know there were at least two golden goals in 2011 (both involving Ireland from memory) but we don’t remember any in 2015 or 2019 so it might have been the first one for 13 years. Out came the ladies and it was over pretty quickly, Kayla Murray winning ball out the back and getting it to Mirren Tye who duly converted it for a New Zealand win, much to their jubilation. Zimbabwe will undoubtedly feel a bit dejected, especially given the lead they had at one point but from a neutrals standpoint it was a very exciting match. That result saw New Zealand be the first team to go through to the semi finals, a result that probably not everyone expected at the start of the World Cup.

The third game up saw Australia take on the UK, who needed to pull off an unlikely win if they were going to have any hope of making the semi finals. The first two chukkas pretty much ended that dream with Australia getting away quickly to a 11-2 lead, as both the ladies’ and men’s sections were firing through the goals. Jimmy Grills quite rightly always grabs attention as the Australian number 1 for the men but Matt Davison won and feed him a lot of ball today, as he often does, and for the ladies Lindsay Doolan missed very little up front and was very well backed up by Sam Allen, Lucy Grills and Beth Hafey, who all played two chukkas behind her.

From chukka 3 onwards it did get better for the UK. They slowed down the Australia goal scoring and started to add more of their own. However, they could not find a way to close the gap and the lead stretched out slightly over the next four chukkas to an eventual scoreline of 24-12, meaning they lost the last four chukkas 13-10, which is a much more respectable scoreline.

Layla Sics and Stuart Dyson both threw some good goals for the UK when they got ball, and their goals were loudly cheered by a crowd that probably hoped for an underdog victory, though there were also missed chances to convert possession to goals, due to both intense Australia pressure and potentially just a slight lack of experience at this level. Of the UK team only two members have been at a World Cup before and that will have an impact when things aren’t quite going to plan.

In defence Rachael Duhig and Katie Woodward both battled hard in the area with Lindsay Doolan and did some good ball carrying. Josh Smith and Jack Brown, who both played at number 3 for the men, actually won a decent number of balls off Matt Davison throughout the game and delivered good ball to Stuart Dyson. They did disrupt the Australians at points but they were very much chasing the game after the first two chukkas and ultimately Australia were just too good for them. Australia’s win saw both them and Zambia through to the semi finals, they will decide who tops the group when they face each other tomorrow.

The final game of the day saw Ireland take on the host South Africa. Again, Ireland needed a win to keep alive any hope of a semi final after they had lost narrowly to New Zealand the day before. Yesterday Ireland had looked a little tense, perhaps because there was a slight expectation that it was going to be a close match that they might win. Today there was no such expectation. South Africa were expected to win, roared on by a large home crowd. And perhaps it was due to that weight being lifted that Ireland proceeded to play much better.

Their ladies section, which is fairly strong started off with a 4-3 win against South Africa with Joanne Lavery scoring some good goals after Dara Mangan and Debbie Harris won her ball. When South Africa got ball they were similarly dangerous though. Lauren Heynes is very good up the front, mounted up we think on one of her own ponies, and behind her Amy Cocker ad Olivia King were busy mixing it with the very experienced Irish Ladies team, despite all being under 20 years old and this being their first World Cup. Undoubtedly the South African player development system produces incredibly impressive young players.

The expectation was that even if the Irish Ladies could stop South Africa their men would not. In chukka 2 South Africa got ahead with Stef Harris pushing through the goals and Josh Le Roux and Jannie Stenkamp wining ball. However, Ireland were also scoring goals still and the score line was only 8-6 at the end of the chukka. Seb Chambers was using all his experience in the area against Jannie Steenkamp, who has to be a very hard player to play against given his speed, skill, strength and his willingness to really go after number 1’s in the area. Stephen Nuzum seemed to be inspired out the back and was winning ball and Conor Doyle was battling away in the middle as you want a number 2 to do.

Chukka 3 saw the South Arican Ladies start to really fire. They switched Jacquie Minnaar to number 1 and started to score some great goals. Ireland had also switched, with Debbie Harris now up front and when they got ball there was very little that Olivia King could do to stop her.

Half way through the chukka there was the worse fall of the day. Lauren Heynes had actually come down in chukka 1 but on this occasion Olivia King’s coloured pony stumbled at a flat out gallop as she tried to race back to her area. She hit the ground hard and the pony rolled fully over her. Luckily, after receiving medical attention she was able to stand up and leave the field and the pony was also fine. South Africa brought Lauren Heynes back on at number 2 and switched Amy Cocker to number 3 and they kept things going to stretch the lead to 13-9.

For the next two chukkas Ireland and South Africa traded pretty much goal for goal with the scoreline staying fixed at a four goal game. The men drew chukka four at four goals apiece in a very hard fought contest. Olivia King returned to the field for chukka 5 much to the delight of the crowd and her, Minnaar and Heyne linked up well, including one beautiful passing move that started with a backwards pass from King after she won ball out the back. The ball went straight to Minnaar who passed it on to Heynes who duly converted it. Debbie Harris kept the Irish in the fight with some good goals, with good ball provided by Abbey Hamil and Dara Mangan, who won Ireland a lot of ball all match and carried well through midfield. At the end of chukka five the scoreboard read 21-17.

Chukka 6 saw the men take the field again and as they did against Zimbabwe South African’s men ended with a flourish. Chad von Benecke had taken over the goal scoring duties from Stef Harris, who was now in the number 2 shirt and they linked up well to put any thought on Ireland over turning their lead quickly out of sight. South African stretched it out to a 27-18 win at the end and book their own semi final spot but Ireland kept the whole game a lot closer than most people expected. Debbie Harris won the best lady player of the match, apparently her first ever such award despite having played in every world cup since 2003 – though we do think player of the match awards have not been awarded at every World Cup.  

Overall, day two of the World Cup was a great success. The teams will probably hope the pitches hold up a little better tomorrow to avoid any repeats of the falls we saw today but the action on the field tomorrow should be top class, with some potentially really close matches!