Georgetown Cricket Club ‘A’ battered Hikers into submission to win the division one men’s final while Tigers and Carib Degenerates won their respective finals when the curtains came down on the Mr. Topper’s sponsored Six-a-side Indoor Hockey tournament Friday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
GCC mauled Hikers 6-2, Tigers scored a come from behind golden goal 2-1 victory over Spartans in an all GCC ladies final, while vintage Degenerates turned back a pugnacious challenge from the youthful Hikers to win the men’s second division final 6-1.
The much-anticipated division one final had spectators on their feet in the fast-paced showdown as GCC took the fight to Hikers who were severe on their opponents earlier in the competition.
Jerezeno Bell sent Hikers into the lead in the second minute of play with an electrical strike from a penalty corner sending his team’s supporters into a frenzy but the lead was short-lived as Alan Fernandes equalized for the Bourda side one minute later with a well placed shot that beat a diving Azad DeAbreu in goal for the Hikers.
Two quick strikes by Kevin Spencer and Dwayne Scott in the 5th and 7th minutes respectively took the wind out of the Hikers and their woes continued when Devin Hooper also hammered home a field goal to give the Bourda side a 4-1 lead at half time.
The onslaught continued in the second half when Patrick Edhill and Spencer pushed GCC further ahead before Shane Samuels pulled one back for Hikers four minutes from the final. GCC’s win was the second in as many matches as they had beaten the Hikers, the National Indoor hockey heavyweights in the preliminary competition.
The ladies final also produced a scorcher as the youthful Spartans had the Tigers on the run for most of the match but stumbled at the final hurdle.
Gabriella Xavier had sent the Spartans into the lead in the 6th minute and they held on to the lead until the final 10 minute of play when Tricia equalised for the Tigers and the score remained that way at the end of regulation time. The match was forced into extra time and two minutes into the 10 minute period available Sonia Jardine hit home the winner for the 2-1 triumph for the Tigers.
It was youth versus experience in the second division final with the youthful Hikers ‘B’ coming up against the Degenerates.
Hikers scored first in the 4th minute when Shaquelle Assanah found the back of the net with a well timed shot before Rawl Davson equalised and the score remained 1-1 at the half.
Degenerates regrouped and took control in the second half as Sheldon Corlette netted a double while the other goals came from Timothy Jonas, Marcus Fiedtkou and James Mentore for a 6-1 victory.
Earlier in the evening the GCC ‘B’, which was the only B team to be invited to play in the A division by virtue of their quality, justified their position with an upset 5-4 victory over Old Fort ‘A’.
In an evenly contested battle that went to the wire, GCC scored first through Shaka Gill in the fourth minute but would fall behind in the eleventh as Jason DeSantos and John Abrahams found the net through a penalty corner and field goal respectively. Despite taking the 2-1 lead into the half, Old Fort would manage only two more goals in the second half as both Abrahams and DeSantos produced an additional goal each in the 24th and 38th minutes. GCC however managed to up their pace in the second half and rallied with four goals of their own to pull out the victory. Chris Xavier and brother Andrew each scored one in the 24th and 37th minutes for GCC while GHB president and coach/player Philip Fernandes scored a double.
The third spot in the ladies competition was shared between the Hikers and Piranhas as their clash produced an entertaining 3-3 draw. Cora Towler, Avonda James and Amanda Garnett scored the three goals for the Hikers all in the first half while the Piranhas would squeeze the draw by evening the score with all goals in the second half through Trisha Woodroffe, Dominique DeGroot and Marzana Fiedtkou.
The Western Dragons secured third place in the men’s B division with a 5-2 victory over Old Fort ‘B’. Damian Fraser, Alex Paul, Donwes Austin, Andel Sampson and Leroy Carroll were the goal scorers for the Dragons while the Old Fort goals were scored by Kurt Thomas and Delon Williams.
The GHB thanked first-time sponsor Mr. Toppers snack foods during the closing ceremony for their support and who had their representative on-hand to present the trophies and medals to the winners.
