The junior boys’ hockey team managed to share points with host Barbados while the senior men suffered defeat to their counterparts in the four-match series which commenced Thursday.
The juniors were up first with both teams playing a half-court, weary of their opponents’ attacking skills.
It was Barbados who managed to break through first when Darren Williams scored in the 23rd minute against the run of play.
Going down, seemed to spring Guyana into action and they started pressing higher up the field which created several circle penetrations, leading to a penalty corner in the 49th minute.
Samuel Woodroffe combined with Shaquon Favorite to walk the ball into the Barbadian goal after a well-worked interchange of passes, which evened the score at 1-1.
Although Guyana pressed for victory in the final quarter, the resolute Barbados defence withstood the pressure to keep things levelled until time expired.
The senior match was more of a one-sided affair, with the skillful Barbados front line making early inroads into the Guyanese.
Barbadian Kris Holder scored his first goal in the 2nd minute, followed by Marlon Daniel converting a penalty corner in the 10th minute.
Guyana was on the back foot for most of the second quarter and would have fallen further behind if not for the heroics of goalkeeper Paul D’Andrade. Some tactical adjustments at halftime steadied the ship for most of the third quarter, but it was Holder who exhibited some silky-smooth 3D skills to score again in the 50th minute.
Barbados scored their fourth one minute from full time when Shomari Inniss converted a clinical counterattack.
Commenting on the day’s results national coach Robert Fernandes said “I was happy with the junior’s performance, we started cautiously but we grew into the game and I am pleased with the boys’ response after we conceded. We knew the senior match was going to be much tougher considering 14 of our players were making their international debut and Barbados definitely executed better than us today. We will make some tactical adjustments and I expect to see the players adapt and learn from today’s experience.”
The teams will be at it again on Friday afternoon.
Good job boys. Do keep up the good work. We are backing you.