King Power Keeps Quarterfinal Hopes Alive with Victory Against Vikings
The final league game for King Power and Vikings in the Gold Cup for the British Open Championship held immense importance in positioning for the quarterfinals with a loss ending their chances of advancing. In a relentless offensive attack that produced 26 shots, King Power captured the 11-8 victory on the Lawns Ground.
In one of his best performances of the season, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha led King Power with five goals, finishing accurately in the #1 position. Assisting on six of their eight field goals, King Power used a quick passing attack to produce twice as many shots at goal to outscore Vikings. Juan Martin Zubia finished with six goals in the defeat as he tried to push Vikings to victory, but in the crucial must-win game, it was King Power’s relentless offense that propelled them to victory.
A competitive match was seen from the opening throw-in as the score remained at 0-0 through the first three and half minutes of play, until Vikings opened the scoring on a Zubia field goal. The scoring came in short order after that as Hilario Ulloa and Zubia traded Penalty 4 conversions, while Srivaddhanaprabha restored the tie at 2-2 to end the chukka. The frantic pace carried over into the next chukka but missed chances from Vikings allowed King Power to take the lead as they continued their strategy of passing to the front of the game, resulting in goals for Hugo Lewis and Srivaddhanaprabha. Before the end of the half, Zubia helped Vikings cut the deficit to just one as he accounted for all four of his team’s goals in the first half.
With only one penalty scored from each team in the second half, the game was decided in open play where King Power thrived. Outshooting Vikings 13-6 over the final three chukkas, King Power restored their two-goal advantage after Srivaddhanaprabha’s third goal and a Penalty 2 conversion from Ulloa. Effectively managing their lead, King Power traded goals with Vikings throughout the fifth chukka, preventing a run of goals from their opponent. Scoring the first two goals of the sixth chukka, one from Ulloa along with Srivaddhanaprabha’s fifth goal, King Power pulled ahead by four and left Vikings with little time to pull even. Vikings’ Sebastian Merlos scored with time expiring resulting in the 11-8 defeat to King Power.