Tuesday evening’s matches of the 2019 Noble House Goals Galore Indoor Hockey Championships witnessed the first showing of the mighty Pepsi Hikers, who amassed the highest total of goals for a single match with 21 to signal a real threat to their opposition.
Apart from the Hikers, GCC and Saints also had productive evenings in both male and female competitions.
The Pepsi Hikers, boasting a plethora of senior national players, seemed to be on cruise control as they crafted goal after goal against the junior YMCA OFHC Champs. With the Champs beginning on a 12-goal handicap, the Hikers would pull within two by the half and then continued their dominance in the second half en route to a victory of 21 goals to 12.
Prolific striker Aroydy Branford was the standout of the match in terms of goals as his total of 11 in a single game is unmatched for the tournament so far.
A fit and fast YMCA OFHC Top Form indeed seemed to be in top form as they took on the seasoned Hikers Generals. With Top Form beginning on a five-goal handicap to the Generals nine, they would first need to make up a four-goal deficit to draw even.
Top Form earned a penalty corner in just the second minute of play which was converted with much aplomb by marksman Omar Hopkinson in what seemed like the beginning of a long and difficult match for the Generals. The seasoned Generals however, led by former national Devin Munroe, stemmed the tide and held Top Form scoreless for the rest of the half.
The second half of play seemed a carbon copy of the first as Hopkinson slammed home a second penalty corner goal two minutes after resumption, but was unable to produce any further goals for the match. The final outcome saw the Generals stroll off with a 9-7 victory.
GCC Vintage chalked up their second win of the competition by defeating the YMCA OFHC Pacesetters by 15-13. While Vintage enjoyed a five-goal handicap, they still needed six goals just to draw even with the Pacesetters with a handicap of eleven goals. Veterans Dwayne Scott and Alan Fernandes led the charge for Vintage who made up the deficit before the end of the first half and cruised to victory in the second.
The Ladies competition saw two close matches with the unbeaten GBTI GCC Spice with zero handicap facing the Bingo Spartans with five goals. From the opening whistle, the Tigers applied pressure on their junior opponents and Dacia Woodroffe’s opening penalty corner goal in the fifth minute signalled their intent to win.
Skilful striker Gabriella Xavier added a second for the Tigers four minutes later, moving the score to 2-5 still in favour of the defensive Spartans. A surprise overlapping run however from left back Makeda Harding saw her pouncing on a rebound and scoring against the run of play for the Spartans. Macaela Harding, opponent and sister of Makeda, not to be outdone, nudged the GBTI ladies one step further with her a field goal two minutes before lemon time.
The second half saw some good counterattacks from the Spartans but the Tigers dominated the scoresheet with three more goals being a Xavier double and a single from Woodroffe. The highly contested match between the two undefeated sides saw their unbeaten records remain intact as the final score read 6-6.
The Saints ladies, with a five-goal handicap, took to the court for the first time in the other female match-up of the evening against the YMCA OFHC Bellatrix with a nine-goal handicap. Captain and national striker Tekeisha Deleon led from the front for Saints scoring a helmet-trick (four goals) for her side, while young speedster Chrlia Webb added a single.
The five unanswered goals, the last of which came in the final minute, saw Saints edge the Bellatrix by 10-9.
Results are as follows:
MALE Division
Pepsi Hikers defeats YMCA OFHC Champs by 21 – 12
Goals:
Hikers – Aroydy Branford 11, Robert France 4, Jamarj Assanah 3, Andrew Stewart 2, Joash James 1
Hikers Generals defeated YMCA OFHC Top Form by 9 – 7
Goals:
YMCA OFHC Top Form (5) Omar Hopkinson 2
GCC Vintage defeats YMCA OFHC Pacesetters by 15 – 13
Goals:
GCC Vintage (5) – Dwayne Scott 3, Alan Fernandes 3, Damon Woodroffe 2, John Phang 1, Tariq Nelson 1
YMCA OFHC Pacesetters (11) – Ronaldo Simmons 1, Stephon Sprosta 1
FEMALE Division
Bingo GCC Spartans drew with GBTI GCC Spice 6 – 6
Goals:
GBTI GCC Spice (0) – Gabriella Xavier 3, Dacia Woodroffe 2, Macaela Harding 1
Bingo GCC Spartans (5) – Makeda Harding 1
GBTI GCC Tigers defeated YMCA OFHC Wolves by 9 – 6
Goals:
GBTI GCC Tigers (3) – Marzana Fiedtkou 3, Sandy Roopnarine 2, Princessa Wilkie 1
YMCA OFHC Wolves (5) – Cassie Campbell 1
Saints defeated YMCA OFHC Bellatrix by 10 – 9
Goals:
Saints (5) – Tekeisha Deleon 4, Chalia Webb 1
Games continue all week in the evenings from 17:00h and conclude on the weekend, beginning at 14:00h on those days.
