Guy Schwarzenbach received the Meyado Archie David Cup from sponsor Martin Young on 29 June after his Black Bears had defeated Mad Dogs 9-4. Alan Fall’s Mad Dogs were very much in contention in the first half of the game and were only a goal adrift at half-time. However everything changed in the third chukka, thanks to some great play from Dirk Gould. He put the Bears comfortably ahead in the third and they never relinquished that advantage for the rest of the game.
It must be stated though that the Mad Dogs had to change their line up for this final as Mario Gomez had to play in the high-goal Warwickshire Cup final on the same day. Andrew Blake Thomas stepped in at the last minute to play for the Dogs and although he produced a great performance the balance of the team had changed and as captain, Will Hine admitted after the match, "the chemistry was missing". However the Mad Dogs did not appear too despondent as 27 teams entered this leading low-goal tournament and players consider just reaching the final an achievement because it is a "marathon" of a competition.
The end result in the subsidiary Caterham Cup final was not declared until the final minutes of this game. Pizza Hut led going into the fourth chukka, but El Nino suddenly found an extra gear. Tito Ruiz Guinazu converted a penalty to level the scores 5-5 with only a minute left on the clock and then scored in the last 30 seconds of the game to give El Nino victory. The crowd was astonished as it seemed certain that the game was going into a sudden death, extra chukka.
A unique element of the Meyado Archie David Cup is that the Guards’ own teams have another opportunity to win some silver if they fail to go through to the final stages of the Archie David or Caterham Cups. They can play for the Claude Pert Cup. This year it was won by The Pirates, who overwhelmed Great Oaks 12-5. The Pirates were 5-2 up at half-time and dominated the rest of the game.
Black Bears:Jean Du Plessis 3; Guy Schwarzenbach 1; Dirk Gould 4; David Baxter 0. Mad Dogs: Alistair Walker 1; Alan Fall 0; Will Hine 4; Andrew Blake Thomas 3.
El Nino; Paul Monahan -1; Francisco Vizmara 2; Tito Ruiz Guinazu 4; Richard Le Poer 3. Pizza Hut: Jaime Dundas 1; Matthew Cudmore 2; Tom Hunt 3; Tom Beim 2.
Pirates: Ben Pincus 0; Oliver Hipwood 5; Juan Jose Diaz-Alberdi 4/Antonio Manzorro 4; Edward Caffrey -1. Great Oaks: Ricardo Massu 0; Louis Bacon 0; Gonzalo Garcia del Rio 5; Marcos Garcia del Rio 3.
