Guards Polo Club Official Yearbook 2017 Official Yearbook 2017 | Page 191

inter regimental
T
into goals. Then a melee in the Army
goalmouth after the final penalty was saved,
allowed Suzuki to score the winning goal.
In addition to lifting the main prize,
the Royal Navy’s Lieutenant Commander
Steve Spiller received the Pringle Cup
for the Most Valuable Player. As Colonel
Simon Ledger, organiser of the military
contest, commentator on the day and
Pringle Cup judge said at the prizegiving:
“Steve not only shut the Royal Navy’s
door, but guarded it like a terrier.”
Earlier in the afternoon the Roseville
Combined Services Polo Association
(CSPA) team won the Chapple Cup,
defeating the US East Coast Polo
Association (ECPA) (rec half a goal) 8-6½.
This was another close game and was
an excellent advert for the depth of talent
in British army polo as players such as
Officer Cadet Jamie Fry was only playing
he Royal Navy won the sport’s
oldest trophy – the Royal Horse
Guards Cup – played as the final of
the Inter Regimental Tournament in mid-
summer at Smith’s Lawn. The Naval team
defeated the Household Cavalry (rec half
a goal) 5-4½ in a tussle of a game on The
Duke’s Ground.
The Royal Navy were ahead by half a goal
at half-time, but some strong play from the
Household Cavalry, especially Captain Jack
Mann, who had come out of retirement to
help the Cavalry win this trophy, put the
soldiers ahead by their handicap advantage
going into the final chukka. 
Scrappy play from the Army boys in the
fourth though allowed Lieutenant Hiro
Suzuki and Commodore Adrian Aplin
to have four penalties in almost as many
minutes. Luckily for the Cavalry, these naval
men were unable to convert these chances
in his second match for the Army but
put up a confident performance on a
world-class stage. At the other end of the
spectrum, the ECPA’s John Gobin is no
stranger to playing at Guards Polo Club
as he played in the 1992 Westchester
Cup match representing the USA in its
traditional game against England.
Royal Navy: Cdr Al Wilson (0); Cdre
Adrian Aplin (0); Lt Hiro Suzuki (2);
Lt Cdr Steve Spiller (0). Household
Cavalry: Lt Arthur Soames (-1); Lt Albany
Mulholland (0); Lt Cameron Bacon (0);
Capt (rtd) Jack Mann (2).
Roseville CSPA: Major Mark Cann 0); O/
Cdt Jamie Fray (1); 2Lt Billy Aprahamian
(2); Ct Johnny Sleeman (2). US ECPA: Bash
Kazi/Omar Magalji (0); Alexander Conde
(0); David Greenhill (0); John Gobin (4).
guards polo club official yearbook 2017
191