"These are the nights we do it for'

Britain comes oh so close in a thrilling Nations Cup amid water jump controversy, and a German legend triumphs

- MARTHA TERRY , JENNIFER DONALD

World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen, Germany

BRITAIN narrowly lost out to Switzerland in a pulsating finish to the 1.60m MercedesBenz Nations Cup on Thursday evening. After two rounds in front of a 40,000-strong crowd, the Brits finished on eight faults, behind the Swiss (Steve Guerdat, Edouard Schmitz, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Martin Fuchs) on four.

But it was not without controversy. In round one, Harry Charles was given a late four faults for a foot in the water, which neither he nor the rest of the team believed he’d had. They appealed to get the penalties removed, but were unsuccessful.

This meant Harry’s eight faults had to count, which left the team languishing in seventh of the eight nations. But they stormed almost to the top in round two, courtesy of three clears from Harry, Ben Maher and Scott Brash.

“These are the nights we do it for – to come back like that and push us close, I’m very proud,” Harry said. “I was disappointed by the decision with the water jump. They saw something no one else did, so it was a hard pill to swallow.”

A DRAMATIC ASCENT

PATHFINDER Ben Maher kick-started Britain’s challenge with a neat clear on Dallas Vegas Batilly. Harry was first in the second group and had a frustrating start on Ann Thompson’s Romeo 88 when he lowered part of the double at fence three – then came the controversial water faults.

Tim Gredley (Medoc De Toxandria) also had an early pole and a water penalty, but Scott kept Britain's hopes alive with a clear on Hello Jefferson.