Defending men’s first division champions, Hikers overcame a second half deficit to draw with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Barbados 6-6 when action in the Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival continued on Thursday.
Played at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue, Rohan Thomas would open the scoring for YMCA with a second minute strike. He would add a second minutes later as YMCA began to dominate the exchanges.
Robert France would narrow the gap as he pulled one back for Hikers in the seventh. However Thomas would complete his hat trick five minutes later as YMCA took a commanding 3-1 lead.
Their advantage would be further strengthened as Sean Harewood and Ryan Cowie drilled in a goal apiece as the first half ended 5-1 in YMCA’s favour.
Aroydy Branford would lead the second half charge for Hikers as he netted a double. He would be assisted by Devin Munroe, Jamarj Assanah and France as Hikers took the lead at 6-5.
Tony Cole however would deny Hikers the comeback victory as he netted the final goal of the matchup as the scores ended 6-6.
In the second men’s first division fixture, Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) demolished Old Fort 7-1 through doubles by Kevin Spencer, Mark Sergeant and Leonard George. Netting the final goal in the win was Stuart Gonsalves. On target in the loss was Aderemi Simon.
On the veteran’s side, GCC crushed Fatima of Trinidad and Tobago 6-2 compliments of an Alan Fernandes helmet trick. Solo strikes from Philip Fernandes and Damon Woodroffe sealed the win. Netting for the losers was Nicholas Wren with a double. In the second veteran’s showdown, Hikers destroyed the Trinidad Police 13-0 compliments of George Melville’s five goal haul and a hat trick from A Garnett . A double from Devin Munroe and solo conversions from Robert Fernandes, James Mentore and Brian Asregado sealed the win.
