Bloxham has won the 2010 A Division Arena Polo Championships after an exciting day of polo involving the top 16 polo playing schools in England played at Longdole (nr Cheltenham).
The 16 were divided into two ranked divisions of 8. Rugby School, who we share facilites and coaches with at the Rugby Polo Club, were the winners of the second division beating Stowe comprehensively in the final. Our final warm-up match had been against Rugby on Thursday and it was apparent that the match had done both teams a great deal of good.
Bloxham were ranked in the A Division along with Milton Abbey, Millfield, Harrow, Cheltenham College, Uppingham, Wellington, and Marlborough.
Milton Abbey were our first oponents but Bloxham proved far too strong and scored freely to record a 6-0 victory over a fancied opponent. Millfield had beaten Uppingham to become our semi-final opponent and again Bloxham set the pace and ran up a 3-0 lead that might have been extended before Millfield launched a strong come back scoring twice and giving the Bloxham contingent some concerns. We hung on however to book our place in the final where Marlborough lay in wait.
The final started badly for us and we were one down within 20 seconds. It took us some time to recover from that start but we came back strongly and lead 2-1 going into the closing stages of the first chukka when we conceded an equaliser. Fresh ponies and a better start in the second chukka saw us move ahead with two goals in quick succession. Some great marking and determined riding saw us run out winners to claim a title that has been out of our possession since 1998.
The Bloxham team was made up of Robin Spicer, Charlie Aprahamian, and Thomas Falkingham. Robin was the popular choice as MVP at the event and he received great support from both Charlie and Tom who made some superb interceptions, breaks and goals of their own.
