Hikers’ boys and GCC girls’ teams got their respective U-21 title defences off to the perfect start as they registered comprehensive wins when the Hikers Hockey Club fourth annual junior indoor tourney commenced on Friday.
Hosted at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue, Hikers defeated Old Fort and Saints 5-1 and 7-1 respectively in the 20-minute encounter while GCC brushed aside Old Fort and Hikers 9-0 and 3-1 correspondingly in the allotted time.
Programmed as the feature contest of the night, the tournament hosts would break the early deadlock in the fifth minute through an Aroydy Brandford penalty corner strike into the roof of the net.
Jamarj Assanah would then increase their lead four minutes later, slapping his effort into the right hand corner from within the right side of the shooting area.
It would then become 3-0 in the 14th of the second period as Brandford sealed his double with a brilliant solo effort.
Picking up the ball just behind the half way mark, the versatile attacker would evade all four Saints defenders and the onrushing custodian, before placing his effort into the left corner from within the centre of the arc.
The score line would continue to increase as Andrew Stewart found the back of the net one minute later with a powerfully struck shot into the left hand corner, from within the right side of the field.
Assanah would then make it 5-0 in the 16th minute, lashing his effort from inside the centre of the shooting arc right down the middle of the net.
Saints would eventually net a consolation goal in the form of a Kevin Edwards attempt one minute later as he placed his flat effort into the empty net, after pouncing on a poor clearance by the onrushing Hikers custodian.
With the fixture a forgone conclusion, Michael Harding would register a late double in the 18th and 20th minutes respectively to seal the score line for the hosts.
In other results, GCC boys defeated Saints by a 3-0 score line in their opening fixture. They would then play to 2-2 draw with Old Fort in their second matchup of the evening. On the distaff side, Hikers defeated Old Fort by a 3-0 margin.
