Team Guyana created history on April 1, 2024, securing silver in the Men’s Over-45 division of the 2024 Indoor Hockey Masters World Cup.
After an incredible unbeaten run in the pool round and semi-final, the Guyanese fell just shy of securing gold when they lost for the very first time in the tournament by one goal (4-5) in a rematch against hosts England.
The previously unknown South Americans, who were making their debut at the Masters World Cup, had defeated Canada, England, Wales and France to secure their well-deserved spot in the final.
Eight minutes into a high-paced final, striker Devin Hooper stunned the English crowd by slamming home the opening goal of the match for Guyana.
The speedy Hooper would receive the ball on the left, dribble the ball across the English circle to outpace his marker and finish with a swift shot in the English net.
The second quarter would be all England as striker Andy Langlands managed to catapult England ahead with a pair of identical penalty corners in the 14th and 19th minutes.
After having two penalty corners denied by the advancing Guyanese goalkeeper Gregory Garraway, the English resorted to making two swift passes around the left to get around Garraway to score their very next.
This exact routine would be repeated just before the half to give England a 2-1 half-time lead.
The Guyanese were determined not to fade and pressed on through a hard-fought third quarter which remained scoreless, leaving just one final quarter of 10 minutes left to make up the one goal deficit.
The final quarter became a shooting match between Guyanese Dwayne Scott and Langlands as the two would be the only players to score for the remainder of the match.
With the score at 2-1 in favour of England, Scott would even the score at 2-2 through a well-placed penalty stroke one minute into the final quarter.
Scott would return four minute later to drive Guyana ahead when he latched onto the end of a clinical Jerazeno Bell pass to redirect the ball into the English goal.
With four minutes remaining in the match, Guyana earned a critical penalty corner which would provide them an opportunity to extend their lead.
As the English focused primarily on Guyanese prolific penalty corner striker, Jerazeno Bell, the Guyanese opted to redirect the ball to Scott who slammed home a rocket of a shot to give Guyana a comfortable two-goal cushion at 4-2.
What followed were perhaps the most exciting four minutes of the entire tournament, especially for the English fans.
England would show their experience and character as they clawed back into the match with their backs against the wall and time heavily against them.
Langlands repeated his feat of scoring in the 37th minute from a penalty corner which would be the third of the match completed in exactly the same manner.
The Guyanese failed to make the necessary adjustments, being concerned by the lay-off shooter, leaving the goal exposed by the second England pass to the left.
The hero for England, Langlands, made his mark again just one minute later when a defence error allowed a free pass to him across the Guyanese scoring circle.
The in-form Langlands slammed how an equaliser to bring the almost entirely British crowd to their feet.
With the clock running down, and mere seconds remaining in the match, midfielder Devin Munroe received a yellow card which relegates him to the sin bin for three minutes.
As a stunned Munroe left the floor, the wily English made a quick restart, catching the Guyanese off guard.
The quick penetrating pass by the British into the scoring circle to Langlands seemed to slow time as the bewildered Guyanese would find themselves too late in recovering and watch Langlands shot excite the goal net and British crowd as the clock ticked down the last few seconds of the game.
The final 5-4 score for England ended a wildly entertaining and very competitive final with jubilation for England and bitter disappointment for the stunned Guyanese.
Sport can be as bitter as it can be sweet, and there can never be one without the other.
The Guyanese gave their best but succumbed to a quality and experienced team, which was better in the last four minutes of the match which counter the most.
President of the Guyana Hockey Board, Philip Fernandes, commented that he was very proud of what the team was able to achieve.
Fernandes indicated that their primary objective was to make the semi-final and, while the gold medal is always the ultimate goal, the Guyanese dared not carry that expectation coming into a world-class event for the very first time.
“Guyana has made a name for itself in the international hockey community” Fernandes said.
“So many teams approached us after the final asking about hockey in Guyana and inviting us to participate all over the world. Everyone wanted a piece of memorabilia from Guyana.”
The Master Indoor World Cup takes place every two years and so the Guyanese now have a clear target and will regroup to make plans for the gold next time around. (Guyana Hockey Board match report)
