TT teams sweep Guyana Indoor Hockey tourney

TT swept the Men, Women and Veteran divisions of the 2019 Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival which concluded at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Guyana, on Sunday.

Against Hikers (Guyana) in the men’s final, Queen’s Park Cricket Club’s (QPCC) Arrielle Bowen opened the scoring in 22nd minute. The hosts then conceded two field goals within the next two minutes through Shawn Lee Quay and Piers Evan Farrel.

However, Hikers’ talented midfielder Jamarj Assanah, continued to press on and was duly rewarded for his efforts by finding the back of the net in the 38th minute. Assanah then created a penalty stroke immediately after which was converted by Aroydy Branford. Just before the end of the third quarter, Guyana’s Andrew Steward slammed home a penalty corner strike to set the game even at 3-3.

With no further goals coming during regulation time, this tightly contested encounter was forced to be decided from the penalty spot. After both teams scored their first two of three attempts, Robert France, the third Hiker up, was foiled by Queens Park custodian, Reaiza Hosein. Marcus Pascal then stepped to the line and sealed the deal for the TT outfit.

In the ExxonMobil women’s final, TT’s George United held off a late charge by GBTI GCC Tigers (Guyana) to clinch a narrow 5-4 triumph. The visitors wasted no time as striker Brittany Hingh blasted in her team’s first goal just three minutes in. Hingh would return seven minutes later to make it 2-0 to United before tournament MVP Briana Govia, then added a double to further stun the Tigers who were now down by four.

In the 28th minute though, Guyana finally got onto the scoresheet via a Sonia Jardine penalty corner. However, TT’s Savannah de Fraitas replied immediately to push the score to 5-1 for George United.

With their backs against the wall, the Tigers came out in the fourth quarter determined to reverse their fortunes. Despite some fantastic saves by Jessica Mittelholzer in goal for George United, Princessa Wilkie, Marzana Fiedtkou and Gabriella Xavier would each score to bring the Tigers within one at 4-5. With seconds to go after Xavier’s goal however, United held firm to cement victory.

And in the Lucozade veterans category, QPCC defeated Vintage GCC 11-8 to cap off a successful tourney. The visiting team went ahead by a five-goal margin before GCC began clawing back in the third quarter. A tactical change to opt for an extra field player rather than a goalkeeper seemed to provide the spark that Vintage needed. But, it would not be enough as the TT team held their own til the end.