Mixed bag for teams as GTT National Indoor Hockey tips off

Each club had some measure of success and a taste of defeat as the annual GTT National Indoor Hockey Championships began at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Sunday (October 28).

The PEPSI Hikers and Old Fort Lamborghini led the men’s first division competition while, with no surprise, the GBTI GCC Tigers and Woodpecker Hikers won for the ladies.

The second division ladies saw Saints upstage the Old Fort Goal Chasers while their male counterparts, the SHC Sensations and Old Fort Top form rounded out the evening’s winners in the male second division competition.

Old Fort Lamborghini experienced an early scare in their clash against the unknown Supernova, comprised of a national Under-20 selectees.  Samuel Woodroffe’s penalty corner flick found the back of the net for Supernova with the game’s opening goal in just the third minute of play.

The Lamborghinis would find their gear however and were up 3-1 by the half with a goal from junior phenom Warren Williams and a double from Askofu Simon.  The second half would be all Simon as the striker slammed home three more unanswered goals to take his tally to four and give Old Fort a 5-1 victory.

The PEPSI Hikers meanwhile, secured a similar four goal margin in their defeat of Saints.  The Hikers star-studded line-up met a determined Saints defence and it would take 12 minutes to break the deadlock when Aroydy Branford’s penalty shot beat goalkeeper Paul D’Andrade.

Young Shakeem Fausette squeezed in a goal for Saints one minute later but the Hikers machine marched to victory with two more goals from Branford for his hatrick which was matched by a hatrick from teammate and Captain Robert France.  Hilmar Chester scored a second for Saints late in the game to salvage some pride for Saints.

The same two clubs battled in the women’s first division and ended on a similar margin of victory, 5-1, for the Woodpecker Hikers.  Maria Munroe, Latacia Chung, Captain Nicole Eastman, Michelle Mahabir and Tianna DaCosta all scored for the Hikers while Charlia Webb scored the lone goal for Saints on the final buzzer.

The GBTI GCC Tigers looked in impressive form as they dominated their match against the young ever-improving Bingo Spartans.  Sonia Jardine opened the GBTI account with a penalty corner strike in the 8^th minute while a Marzana Fiedtkou single and a double from Gabriella Xavier gave GBTI GCC a 4-0 victory.

The Saints Sensations managed a 2-1 victory over the GCC Pitbulls in the men’s second division competition while Old Fort Top Form defeated the Hikers Young Guns by 6-3.  The first ever women’s second division match of the GTT Indoor Championships finished in an entertaining draw between the Woodpecker Hikers and the Bingo Spartans 2-2 while Saints created a minor upset for the Old Fort Goal Chasers by 1-0.

Results are as follows:

MEN Division 1

Old Fort Lamborghini defeated Supernova 5–1

Goals:

Old Fort Lamborghini – Askofu Simon 4, Warren Williams 1

Supernova – Samuel Woodroffe 1

PEPSI Hikers defeated Saints 6–2

Goals:

PEPSI Hikers – Aroydy Branford 3, Robert France 3

Saints – Shakeem Fausette 1, Hilmar Chester 1

WOMEN Division 1

GBTI GCC Tigers defeated Bingo GCC Spartans 4–0

Goals:

GBTI GCC Tigers – Sonia Jardine 1, Marzana Fiedtkou 1, Gabriella Xavier 2

Woodpecker Hikers defeated Saints 5–1

Goals:

Woodpecker Hikers – Maria Munroe, Latacia Chung, Nicole Eastman, Michelle Mahabir, Tianna DaCosta

Saints – Charlia Webb

MEN Division 2

SHC Sensations defeated GCC Pitbulls 2-1

Goals:

SHC Sensations – Edmund Chinian 1, Leroy Geer

GCC Pitbulls – Samuel Woodroffe

Old Fort Top Form defeated Hikers Young Guns 6–3

Goals:

Old Fort Top Form – Omar Hopkinson 1, Jael Gaskin 4, Warren Williams 1

Hikers Young Guns – Samuel Garnett 1, Shomere Garnett 1, Baraka Garnett 1

WOMEN Division 2

Woodpecker Hikers drew with Bingo GCC Spartans 2-2

Goals:

Woodpecker Hikers – Maria Munroe 1, Latoya Fordyce 1

Bingo GCC Spartans – Makeda Harding 2

Saints defeats Old Fort Goal Chasers 2-1

Goals:

Saints – Tekeisha Deleon 1