The defending men’s and women’s champions were on the losing end on the opening night of action in the Diamond Mineral Water (DMW) International Indoor Hockey Festival Thursday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Reigning men’s champions Hikers of Guyana lost a hard-fought battle against Notre Dame of Trinidad and Tobago 3-4 while defending women’s champs Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) went down to Canadian team GOA 1-4 in an evening charged with some exciting matches.
Hikers, who has struggled in recent local indoor competitions, came up against a challenging Trinidadian side and was nipped in the end in a fast-paced encounter.
Notre Dame took the lead in the 10th minute when Trinidadian International player Kwandwane Brown found the back of the net with a field goal.
Hikers responded in the 18th minute through a penalty stroke converted by Alex Gouveia.
The Trinidadians pushed further ahead when Selwyn King netted one of two goals in the 20th minute but Hikers equalized almost immediately when Captain Devin Munroe scored a field goal almost on the stroke of half time.
Munroe pushed his team further into the lead in the 24th minute but King found the equalizer in the 29th minute.
But Nigel Providence and Brown with goals in 30th and 31st minute gave their team a two goal lead before Shane Samuels pulled one back for Hikers at the end.
GCC women started like true champions against the Canadian side when they struck first blood through a penalty stroke in the fourth minute which was converted by national player Sonia Jardine.
They had several near misses and could have taken a bigger lead but squandered the chances.
Kate Gillis scored the equaliser for the Canadians in the 10th minute from a field goal and Jenna Habib scored their second goal to give their team a 2-1 lead at half time.
Gillis netted again three minutes into the second half before K. Shier put the issue beyond doubt one minute before the final whistle.
Old Fort squeezed past current national indoor champions GCC 4-3 in the other senior men’s match after the teams were tied 2-2 at the half.
Canadian International Guyanese Jonathan Roberts sent Old Fort in the lead in the sixth minute but Dwayne Scott equalised for GCC two minutes later.
Roberts netted again in the 17th minute and once again GCC relied on the stick of Devin Hooper for the equaliser.
Stuart Gonsalves then pushed GCC into the lead before a double strike from national player Aderemi Simon in the 36th and 37th minutes of play sealed the deal.
In the other match of the evening, GCC Veterans hammered Carib Degenerates 9-2 after leading 4-0 at half time.
Jonathan Yearwood with a helmet trick of goals and Damon Woodroffe with a hat-trick and a double from Rawle “Muffy” Davson ensured victory for the Bourda side.
The scorers for Degenerates were Brian Asregado and Sheldon Corlette.
The competition continues today with matches planned for two sessions morning and evening while the finals in all three divisions will be played off tomorrow.
The fifth annual Festival is sponsored by Demerara Distillers Ltd. bottlers of Diamond Mineral Water and Ansa McAl Ltd. distributors of Carib Beer, the official sponsors of the Masters tournament.
