Tuesday evening at the National Gymnasium saw the LUCOZADE Indoor Hockey Tournament kick off in its
Aderemi Simon
entire splendor. The first match between Bounty’s GCC and the Old Fort Knockers showed real promise initially, but ended up being a one sided affair in favor of GCC.
The final tally was 20-0 and critics say that this was attributed to the Knockers playing without a goalie. The stars for the winning team were National Junior Player Daniel Hooper scoring a total of 7 goals and Kevin Spencer scoring 6. Hooper scored 4 of the 7 goals before halftime and that set the Knockers back on their heels. However, rumor has it that the Old Fort Knockers are not swayed, and are ready for battle again.
The second contest saw the Old Fort Stallions face up against the Hikers. The Hikers managed to clinch a 7-5 win but the Stallions showed that they were no push over, despite not having a goal keeper as well. Hikers’ Captain Robert France opened the scoring in the 4th minute and then Aroydy Brandford netted a double in the 11th and 12th minutes respectively. Old Fort’s Aderemi Simon responded to the Hikers’ lead with a Field Goal (FG) in the 18th minute, but Hikers’ Andrew Stuart then netted a Penalty Corner (PC) in the 20th minute, just before the half time buzzer bringing the score to 4-1. In the second half, Chris Low-Khan of the Stallions came out with fervor and scored a double in the 22nd and 25th minutes bringing the game to 4-3.
National Junior Player Andrew Stuart then netted his second goal at 32 minutes coming in the form of a Penalty Stroke (PS). However, Old Fort’s Asokfu Simon would make sure the game would stay in striking distance by scoring a 35th minute FG bring the scores to 5-4. Just when patrons were on the edges of the seats with half-bitten finger nails, however, Randy Hope of the Hikers put the final gap between the teams after netting his double in the 36th and 38th minutes, respectively. Aderemi Simon’s second goal on the buzzer would only come as a mere consolation since the Hikers were already standing proud at the game’s end.
The LUCOZADE League action continues tomorrow June 17 with Saints Men vs GCC Vintage and GCC Pitbulls taking on Hikers Men. The first game begins at 17:00hrs.
