The exciting GCC Bingo Spartans unit last evening captured the female U – 16 title at the conclusion of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) Junior National Indoor Hockey Championships played at the National Gymnasium but lost in the U – 21 final in a hotly-contested match against Old Fort Goal Chasers.
Spartans took the U – 16 title by defeating Saints 2-0 on the back of field goals from highly-touted Sarah Klautky and Abosaide Cadogan who scored within minutes of each other to carry their side to championship honours.
The female U – 21 final, however, went Old Fort’s way after they defeated the U – 16 champions 1-0.
Spartans, who always had their way throughout the championships, found themselves trailing in the eighth minute after a defensive blunder which was converted by Carolyn Deane.
Spartans came out aggressively in the second half but failed to penetrate Old Fort’s defence which prompted a timeout from Coach Philip Fernandes with less than three minutes left on the clock.
The timeout thought didn’t change their fortunes as the Old Fort hung on for a one-nil win against the up-and-coming exciting bunch.
The boys U – 21 final was just as exciting after it ended 3-3 at the end of regular time between Old Fort and GCC Pitbulls. All that mattered in the end, however, was Pitbulls’ 2-1 penalty win to capture the title.
In the girls U – 16 semi-final, Spartans downed GCC Her-ricanes 4-0 after double strikes from Cadogan and Haley Carpenter while Saints got past Joseph Stars 2-0 on penalty shoot-out after a scoreless regular time tassel.
Stars copped third place honours after they edged past Her-ricanes 1-0.
Joseph Stars, on the other hand, copped the boys U – 16 title with a close 3-2 win over Saints after Warren Williams’ 11th minute second half goal separated the two teams and gifted his side the title. Earlier, the contest was tied at 2-2 at the half after conversions by Jonathan Williams and Warren Williams for Warriors and Quinn Tobin and Shakeem Faucett for Saints.
Meanwhile, Spartans in their female U- 21 semi-finals, defeated Her-ricanes 2-0 after conversions from Klautky and Madison Fernandes while Old Fort Goal Chasers downed Saints 3-1.
In male U- 21 semi-finals, Old Fort Top Form defeated Saints 2-0 while GCC Pitbulls survived a couple of scares to defeat Hikers 2-1 on penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 score line at the end of regular time.
Saints copped the female third place trophy with a 3-0 win over Her-ricanes while the male Saints unit also collected third place honours after a 2-1 penalty win over Hikers in the boy’s third-place match.
