Sport
26 July, 2024
Polo on a roll with Silvershop Bracelet Tournament
The Downs Polo Club hosted the second installment in its run of three tournaments played at the Clifton Recreation Grounds, over the weekend of 20-21 July.
The cooler weather didn’t deter players from attending this year’s Silvershop Bracelet tournament hosted by the Clifton based club.
Three grades of polo were played, with silverware on the line for each grade.
The B Grade and A Grade were hotly contested with local Downs Club teams making it to both finals.
The Colliers C Grade round robin wrapped up on Sunday with the visiting team, Team Clark consisting of players SJ Clark, Hannah Billett, Bill Taylor and Indi Bennetto, taking the win in the finals game on Sunday.
This was followed by the Black Toyota B Grade final which saw two club teams go head to head in the final with the Downs Silvershop side (Cameron Byrne, Peter Grimes, Richard Marchant and Will Gilmore) taking on the Downs Green side (Erin O’Rourke, Bill Murfit, Shaun O’Rourke and Dan O’Leary).
Both sides battled it out on the Downs Polo Club number one field with the Downs Green side ultimately taking the win.
The AEW Horse Walkers A Grade final saw a rematch of last weekend’s final, as local side Downs Pursehouse Rural (Derek Gilmore, James Reid, Beau Skerrett and Jack Mantova) again took on visiting side Colliers (Simon Beirne, Mark Adamson, Wayne Glennie and Dan O’Leary) after both teams won their first-round games to make it to Sunday’s final.
A close game ensued with the Downs side holding a narrow lead throughout the match before pulling ahead in the final chukka to conclude the game with a convincing win over the Colliers side.
The winter polo season on the Darling Downs will wrap up next weekend with the biggest tournament of the season, the Downs Shield, played at the Clifton Recreation Grounds.
The club will be hosting a Polo by Tailgate event, in association with Toowoomba’s Black Ram, to celebrate the finals of the 2024 Downs Shield.
The event will get underway from 10am at the Clifton Recreation grounds with free general admission.
Follow the Downs Polo Club on social media for updates.
- Jessica Rea
