Azambuja played host this week end to the IX and X matches of the National Horseball Trophy Championship. Quinta de Sto. António clinched the championship after beating the Sintra Team in a 10 goal win (10-2). The team from Quinta da Logoa scored a eight goal win. With this victory Quinta da Lagoa will go up to the Masters division in 2007.
Results of the games played:
9th Match – Azambuja, 10 de June
Quinta da Lagoa 5 – 8 Sporting CEJC
Qta Sto. António 10 – 2 Sintra Horseball
Azambuja 8 – 0 Cascais Horseball
10th Match – Azambuja, 11 de June
Azambuja 11 – 3 Sporting CEJC
Cascais Horseball 0 – 8 Sintra Horseball
Qta da Lagoa 3 – 8 Qta. de Sto António
National Challenge Championship
The penultimate series of the National Challenge Championship was won by Horseball Quinta da Beloura Kids by beating Colégio Vasco da Gama by 10 goals to 7.
The Sport of Horseball
Horseball pits teams of four players (who can be of either sex) against each other. They compete in halves of 10 minutes each – in a pitch that is no more than 70 metres by 30 metres. The smallness of the pitch ensures that players are always in close contact.
In a game of reasonable quality, the teams would expect to share perhaps 15 goals. After each score, or if the ball goes out of play, play restarts with a line-out contested by two players from each side. This is one of the clearest opportunities to gain control of the ball, so teams work hard on tactics to help win on their own throw in, as in rugby.
Otherwise, possession changes either in the tackle or when the ball goes to ground.
Tackling usually involves physical contact, though technically a player must grab the ball without grabbing its carrier. The carrier must hold the ball in one hand only while being tackled, but a challenge can often be evaded simply by holding the ball on the side away from the tackler. Effective tacklers overcome this by shoulder-barging the carrier to knock him off balance-at which point his natural instinct is to steady himself by pulling in the extended ball-carrying arm, giving the tackler a chance. When the ball is dropped, the player has to slide from the saddle and sweep it up, connected to his charging steed only by the stirrups – an act that requires much courage and is thrilling to watch, especially when two opponents race side-by-side to win the ball.
Apart from line-outs, tactics are mostly about attack. Passing the ball within a loose diamond formation is considered the best option. If the attackers ride too closely together, defenders can force them as a pack away from goal; if they are too spread out, interceptions become easy – as they do if the diamond collapses into a straight line across the width of the pitch. But, ultimately, games are won by superior horsemanship. A horseballer must keep his hands free, and rely almost entirely on his legs to control his mount-to stop, turn and vary its speed. This, say horseballers, requires more skill than polo, in which players rely on reins and a whip.
Horseball has become an integral part of riding instruction in Portugal, and the AJH is energetically promoting it at home and, more recently, abroad.