HOCKEY: Saints, Pizza Hut GCC maintain unbeaten run

Saints and Pizza Hut GCC both continued their unbeaten run in the Bounty Paper Towels Second Division League on  Sunday, with victories over the Woodpecker Hikers and Old Fort respectively.  Meanwhile, in the Men’s division, the Sequel caught up with pool leaders Old Fort through their win against the Hikers Cadets, while Bounty GCC edged senior Saints.

With Saints improving every time they take the field, the Woodpecker Hikers would have recognised they were in for a tough afternoon from the opening whistle.  Just four minutes into the match, young speedster Charlia Webb outpaced the Hikers defence to score her team’s first goal. 

Former national striker Tekeisha Deleon added a second with a powerful strike in the 13^th minute to give Saints a comfortable 2-0 lead at the half.  With Saints continuing to exact pressure on the Hikers, and capitalising on their superior speed, Webb slammed home a second in the 28^th minute to take the Saints lead to 3-0 for the win.

Team Captain Carina Moller was all business in the other Ladies match of the afternoon.  Although the GCC Ladies enjoyed the majority of possession, junior national Tamala Glenn made several runs up the right wing for Old Fort, but failed to penetrate the scoring circle. 

Moller proved a menace for the Old Fort defence throughout the match with good support from young Sarah Klautky and Makeda Harding in midfield.  After receiving a pass from the right to smash her shot past the Old Fort goalkeeper in the 13^th minute, it was Moller again to seal the deal with her second goal three minutes from full time.  The 2-0 victory maintains Pizza Hut GCC’s position at the top of the Ladies division.

The Sequel seemed to be cruising to victory in the Men’s clash with the Hikers Cadets as striker Philip Fernandes put them up by two goals at the half.  Five minutes into the second half however, young Cadet Shomere Garnett capitalised on a defence error to slide his shot into the open Sequel goal. 

Sequel midfielder Alan Fernandes would respond immediately upon resumption with a solo run through the entire Hikers defence to score and maintain the two-goal margin for his side.  While GCC created the majority of chances in the match, their wayward shots produced no further goals while Colonel Heywood managed to score the game’s final goal four minutes from the end to move the score to 3-2 in favour of Sequel.

Bounty GCC managed to squeeze past the experienced Senior Saints 2-1 in the other Men’s Second Division game of the afternoon.  GCC would score first through captain Kareem McKenzie, but Taise Seepaul evened the score at 1-1 four minutes later.  The deciding goal came three minutes after the halftime through a Lennox Carrol field goal to give GCC the 2-1 win.

In the Men’s division, Old Fort is now tied with the Sequel on 12 points each.  Saints Under-19s and Bounty GCC follow with six points each, while the Hikers Cadets and Senior Saints are yet to secure points. 

In the Ladies competition, Pizza Hut GCC lead the table with seven points, while Saints hold second position with four points. The Bingo Spartans have three points, while Old Fort and Woodpecker Hikers bring up the rear with one point each. 

Matches continue every weekend at Saints ground until May 20.