The Georgetown Cricket Club’s Under-17 boys’ hockey team, the GCC Outlaws, visited Trinidad over the last weekend to participate in the Paragon Indoor Hockey Tournament, which was scheduled for September 12-15, at the Woodbrook Youth Facility in Port-of-Spain.
This was the debut trip for the entire team which comprises players who have been playing the game for a few years. It coincided with a time when training facilities were difficult to access. Going into the tournament, the team, therefore, needed to learn quickly, having never competed on a floor and in a space quite like the one used for the tournament.
The GCC Outlaws split their pool A matches by winning two and losing two, but doing well enough to earn a spot in the semi-finals on Sunday. With their lesson learnt, the team regrouped to face the winners of Pool B, QRC, in their make-or-break semi-final. In one of the more exciting matches of the tournament, the underdog Outlaws managed to score a goal three minutes in through a Luke Sargeant solo effort.
GCC’s U17 boys’ hockey team
QRC had their chances, but were foiled on a couple of occasions by goalkeeper Alex Peniston for GCC. The Outlaws grew in confidence and finished strong, but were unable to add to their tally. Nevertheless, the single goal was enough to earn them a spot in the final.
In the final, despite outplaying their opponents, ProSport 2, the GCC Outlaws, now brimming with confidence, came ever so close, but failed to score a goal. With the final score remaining 0-0, the victors were decided by a penalty shootout. The first round saw some exciting defence with both teams failing to score, taking the shootout into sudden death. Sargeant finally broke the deadlock and GCC goalkeeper Peniston managed to save his clean sheet by blocking the next ProSport 2 attempt. With this final victory, the GCC Outlaws took the podium as Under-17 boys champions.
GCC striker Sargeant was named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament while Peniston was adjudged the Best Goalkeeper. Those two, along with midfielder Grant Fernandes, were named in an All-Star selection by the tournament organisers.
