THE United Kingdom hammered the USA 5-2 to win the ICWI-sponsored Tri-Nation International Women’s Polo final at the Kingston Polo Club Caymanas Estates on Sunday.

The final, which was played over four chukkas of seven minutes each, was dominated by the team of Sophie Kyriazi, Diana Jack, Lucy Taylor and Rosie Ross.

Taylor, a lethal marksman, led the carnage with four goals after opening the scoring with a solo effort in the first minute of the first chukka.

She added three more goals, including two penalties, while Ross scored a tantalising goal in the final chukka to complete the rout.

USA captain Karen Reese and Erica Gandomcar scored field goals in the first chukka to give the USA a 2-1 lead at the end of the chukka. Cecelia Cochran and Fiona Eagle completed the USA team.

Taylor was happy with the victory, but added that that “feeling only came when we were 5-2 up and less than two minutes remaining on the clock”.

Gandomcar, who scored the second goal for the USA, did not think much of the defeat.

“In a situation like this it matters little who won or who lost; it’s a 50-5 shot that could go either way. But to play a fast and exciting game as the one we just completed on amazing horse flesh is an experience in Jamaica that is worth much more than winning or losing,” she said.

To reach the final the UK defeated Jamaica in a one-sided affair on Tuesday, but went down 5-6 to the USA on Thursday.

USA dismissed Jamaica on Saturday by a wide margin to set up the UK/USA return clash yesterday.

The game got off to a brisk start after British High Commissioner Howard Drake threw in the ball to start the match and within 30 seconds, Taylor was on the scoresheet to send a strong message to their conquerors of Thursday’s game.

The second chukka failed to produce any goals, but the next two came alive with three more goals, all scored by the British girls, to come away victors and avenge their semi-final defeat.

The tournament, which replaced the annual International Women’s fixture, sponsored by ICWI since 1988, saw Jamaica’s women playing for the first time as a national team.

Jamaica’s top two-goal female player, Lesley Ann Fong-Yee, saw the advent of a serious women’s polo team as a good move which holds far-reaching possibilities for the sport among women.

“It is the first time we have assembled a Jamaica Women’s team and it felt good to see that we have taken a positive step forward as a women’s team, and not part of somebody else’s,” she said.

The team already has invitations to play in Africa and New Zealand in September and before that, to play in Britain.