The dream run continued for the Hikers men in the Guyana Hockey Board/Lucozade Indoor Hockey League as they romped past Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Vintage at the National Gymnasium on Saturday night in the final. GCC Pizza Hut was also crowned the champions in the female division after defeating GCC Spartans.
Hikers’ Shane Samuels makes the most of the penalty to register his second goal of the night
Undefeated in the tournament, Hikers stomped their way to a 6-1 victory over a tired GCC Vintage team in their 13th consecutive win.
Rayon Branford took the fight to Vintage having capitalized on a penalty to score the first goal in the second minute of play but Patrick Edghill made full use of a rare blunder by Hikers to level the score line entering the second half.
Four minutes into the second half Shane Samuels managed to secure a penalty goal before repeating that in the 30th minute. One minute later, leading goal scorer of the league, Arodyd Branford threw his stick in the game to score the fourth Hikers’ goal before Andrew Stewart took the score to 5-1 in the 32nd minute.
By then, frustration and tiredness were taking a toll on an older Vintage team letting their guard down for two more goals to be scored on them by Jamarj Assanah in the 35th minute and Randy Hope in the last minute of play.
The frustration took its toll on all players as Samuels Stewart and Phillip Fernandes were all given green cards.
Captain of the Victorious Hikers, Robert France, thanked his team for their impressive run and attributed their success to hard work and dedication.
He went on to say that the league was a great step forward for the sport citing that the game was not playing enough.
Arodyd Branford attributed his success to his stint in England where he was given the opportunity to better his game and this was displayed in the tournament with his most impressive feat being his 15 goals in one match.
In the battle of the GCC women, Pizza Hut was the superior team having carved their way to a 2-nil victory over Spartans.
Tiffany Solomon lead from the front scoring in the fourth minute of play while Kerensa Fernandes scored the second and final goal in the 23rd minute.
Captain of the Pizza Hut ladies, Solomon noted that it was a great initiative taken by the GCC Spartans and an excellent run to reach so far in the league as they were the youngest team in the competition.
During the presentation, notable mentions were made of Vintage’s goalkeeper, 19-year-old Rahim Oliver who was awarded for his hard work. Gabriella Xavier copped the most goals prize in the league for the females while Robert France was awarded the MVP for the males.
Seven male teams and four female teams started the league which began in July and the GHB was happy with the level of hockey that was played over the period. The first ever indoor league gave players much needed time on the court. The next tournament is expected to be played in October.
