Polo: Bay bloke basks in Hurunui glory

HISTORIC WINNERS: Members of the winning Hurunui team from left Lachie Hunter, Sam Martin, Peter Dormer and Olly Tutill. PHOTO/TREWEY'S PHOTOGRAPHY

It was hard to gauge who had the biggest grin at Elwood Park yesterday ... Hawke's Bay polo player Lachie Hunter or his father Robbie.
"It was a pretty proud moment. Our family has been involved in polo for 25 years and Lachie is the first one of us to play in a winning Savile Cup team," former Junior All Black Robbie explained after watching Hurunui pip Mystery Creek 9-8 in a thrilling final of the glamour division at the national tournament.
Former New Zealand rep and five goaler Lachie, 33, had played in a couple of Savile Cup tournaments previously but this was his first final. He only found out 10 days ago he would be playing for Hurunui as a replacement for Guy Higginson, a son of former All Black and Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby lock Graeme Higginson, who had to withdraw after surgery.
"It's awesome to help out and do it for a South Island team. It's great to be a Wanstead and South Island player ... I'm chuffed," No 4 Lachie said.
When the globe-trotting professional was quizzed if he would be helping Hurunui, the first South Island team to win the cup which is one of the country's oldest sporting trophies, in almost 80 years attempt to retain the cup next year Lachie replied:
"That's a long way off. But I will keep in touch with Peter [team stalwart and No 1 Dormer] because I want to play with him again. I've got to thank Peter and my Wanstead clubmate Simon McDonald for lending me horses for the week too."
He will be back in Wanstead colours when the Hawke's Bay Open Dewar Cup tournament is played at Elwood Park from February 23-35. One goaler Dormer said his club, which travelled from North Canterbury with three trucks and 28 horses, had been building up for this tournament for three years.
Captain and five goaler, English import Olly Tutill, who scored the winning field goal with a couple of seconds remaining, said it was the first Savile Cup final for his entire team.
"It's so hard for a South Island team to come up to the North Island and win it. We're over the moon."
Mystery Creek captain and former New Zealand rep, five goaler Simon Keyte, refused to blame the gusty north westerlies for his team's slow start which saw them trailing 4-1 after the first three chukkas. But the South Islands were better in the strong winds and Mystery Creek's performance improved as the winds dropped.
"Hurunui were very tactical and all played extremely well. However we fought back and the game could have been anybody's ... they were lucky enough at the end," Keyte, who was hoping to taste Savile Cup glory for a fourth time, said.
He added he had been vomiting for 12 hours before the final.
"I picked up a gastro bug ... the same one all the Cambridge boys went home with last night."
Mystery Creek outscored Hurunui 3-1 in the fourth chukka to trail 5-4. The score was 6-all after the fifth.
With four minutes remaining in the final chukka Mystery Creek's No 3, Rangitikei five goaler Angus McKelvie, converted a penalty attempt to tie the score at 7-all. Hunter put his side ahead again with a field goal with 55 seconds lefrt on the clock before McKelvie succeeded with a penalty attempt to tie the score.
The Hawke's Bay C team, which included 69-year-old Phil "Curly" Thompson in the No 4 role completed an unbeaten run in the six-day tournament with a 13-4.5 victory against the President's All Stars in the Wood Trophy final on Saturday. Hawke's Bay A were pipped 4-3 by Waimai Coastline Fencing in their Equissage Wilson Cup semifinal on Saturday and Hawke's Bay B lost 6-5 to Auckland D in their Klaus Cup final on Saturday.