With the current inclement weather plaguing its outdoor programme, the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) will run off an indoor tournament starting today.
The annual Goals Galore Indoor tournament sponsored by Noble House will run from tomorrow to Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and will be played on a handicap basis.
The Goals Galore clash is the only local handicapped tournament for hockey where teams begin with different goal tally’s aimed at making more competitive matches and pressing top teams to perform at their optimum level irrespective of the opposition.
Two divisions are being contested this year in what will be the highest number of teams in any hockey tournament for the year.
The ‘A’ Division features top teams Georgetown Cricket Club ‘A’, GCC ‘B’, Hikers ‘A’; defending champions Old Fort ‘A’, Carib Degenerates and Western Dragons ‘A’.
Old Fort ‘A’ are the reigning champions after knocking off all contenders and then defeating the GCC ‘A’ by an extra time golden goal in the final.
The ‘B’ Division features 5 ladies teams and 4 junior men’s teams largely comprising of players coming out of the recent schools programme.
Teams in the ‘B’ division are divided into two pools with the Flora GCC Tigers, Hikers Ladies ‘A’, Hikers Ladies ‘B’ and Old Fort Men ‘B’ contending (Pool 1) and Hikers Men ‘B’, Old Fort Ladies, Flora GCC Spartans, GCC ‘C’ and Western dragons ‘B’ in (Pool 2).
The Flora GCC Spartans were the upset winners of last year’s B division as the youthful side surprised all by upstaging several more experienced contenders to take home the winner’s trophy.
The ‘A’ division will be very competitive with several teams capable of high goal tallies. Defending champs Old Fort have been brilliant at times with Aderemi Simon being among the country’s best performers on any given night but their challenge will be to maintain consistency throughout the tournament.
The discipline and cohesion of the Hikers and the crafty moves of their playmaker Jerry Bell never fail to disappoint the crowd and their usual large supporting contingent while the GCC men remain the only team with two contending teams in the division.
The GCC ‘A’ will once again be anchored by defensive maestro Dwayne Scott while the ‘B’ is likely to challenge with their usual run and gun style of high tempo hockey.
The experienced Carib Degenerates and the skilful Western Dragons “A” round out a division too close to predict.
Keen rivalry can be also expected in the ‘B’ division as all eyes will be on the young and promising Hikers ‘B’ men, who are the most experienced of the junior sides, led by the skilful Shaquille Assanah.
The Fiedtkou sisters, Thalia and Marzana along with Xavier sisters, Gabriella and Alysa, are likely to lead the charge for the Flora GCC Spartans who are likely favourites to retain their crown after having one more year of experience behind them.
Leading ladies sides, Hikers ladies and the Flora GCC Tigers both feature a number of national players and cannot be counted out while the Old Fort ladies return to action with a rebuilding side after several years of absence from competition.
Junior men’s sides Old Fort ‘B’, GCC ‘C’ and Western Dragons ‘B’ all will be looking to gain valuable experience but will be enjoying an advantageous handicap in most matches making them instant contenders.
The competition will get cracking with Old Fort Men’s ‘B’ playing Hikers Ladies ‘B’ in the opening encounter at 18:00 hours.
Meanwhile, the Farfan and Mendes men’s first division outdoor league has been suspended due to the current weather conditions with two matches remaining. .
