GTT Indoor hockey proving to be goal-fest

At the midway point in the GTT National indoor championships, fans have witnessed 171 goals in 21 action-packed matches.  The National ladies were the high-scoring team of the night of action with nine unanswered goals against the Old Fort ladies while their male counterparts, the National Black eased to a comfortable victory over Bounty GCC.

With the National Black having recorded a record 23 goals in the first two nights of play they entered their third clash against the well-known Bounty GCC.  Before GCC could settle into the rhythm of the match, the Blacks had marker the name of Hilton Chester on the scoreboard. 

The diminutive striker sprinted the full length of the pitch to complete a counterattack with a deflection past goalkeeper Michael Hing.  Hing gave a good account of himself as he saved several more attempts by the Blacks but could not deny Chester from scoring twice more, two penalty corner goals from Jamarj Assanah and singles from Robert France and Andrew Stewart.  GCC’s Dwayne Scott managed to score the first competition goal against the Blacks in the 30^th minute but the blacks already had six goals on the board by that time and would add a seventh before the final buzzer.

The Old Fort Titans battled Saints in the other men’s first division match of the night and pulled off a predictable 3-1 victory.  The youthful Saints scored first through a Yonnick Peters penalty corner and Old Fort had to dig deep to draw even through Ascofu Simon before the half.  Old Fort dominated the scoring in the second half however with a field goal and a penalty stroke conversion from Jason Clarke to end with the 3-1 win.

The National ladies scored a goal roughly every four minutes against the Old Fort Shooting Stars in their ladies matchup.  The Nationals did not seem as comfortable and fluid as their previous evening’s matches but never seemed threatened as they cruised to the comfortable 9-0 win.  The youthful Bingo Spartans got off to a surprisingly good start against tournament favourites Pizza Hut GCC. 

It took the Pizza Hut ladies 11 minutes to score their first through a Sonia Jardine penalty corner.  GCC would increase stamp their domination on the match as time went on however and rattled in four more goals before full time.  The largest cheers from the crowd came when Spartans striker Kirsten Gomes scored the final goal of the match and her first of the tournament just before full time. 

Saints pulled off a surprise victory over the GCC Pitbulls in the men’s second division competition while the Hikers defeated St Stanislaus College by 2-1.  The lone veterans match of the evening saw the Old Fort Goal Getters secure their first win by handing the Antonio’s Grill Hickers their second loss by 6-3.