Guyana once again fell agonizingly close to securing a medal at the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) Challenge losing to Uruguay in their bronze medal fixture 2-3 in a penalty shoot-out yesterday in Chicklayo, Peru.
With the score knotted 2-2, the Guyanese started the shoot-out in the ideal manner as Aroydy Branford scored while custodian Medroy Scotland denied Juan Manuel Canessa.
The score remained 1-0 in Guyana’s favour in the second round as both teams missed from the mark in the form of Robert France and Gonzalo Martinoni respectively.
It then became 2-1 in the third round as Marvin Dannett netted for Guyana whilst Diego Laborde scored for the Uruguayans. Uruguay then equalized in the fourth round as Alexis Lopez scored while Jamarj Assanah missed.
It went from bad to worse for the Guyanese as Andrew Stewart missed in the fifth round. Requiring a conversion to seal the matchup, Ignacio Costas made no mistake as he netted to earn Uruguay the bronze.
Prior to the fixture’s end, Dannett gave Guyana the early lead in the fifth minute with a penalty corner conversion. Uruguay then levelled the score in the 22nd minute as Canessa scored via a penalty corner strike.
Joaquin Rodriguez then gave Uruguay the lead as he netted one minute later through a field goal conversion. Nonetheless, the Guyanese eventually levelled the score in the 40th minute compliments of a France field goal attempt.
This international outdoor event was the first for the Guyanese men in eight years. Their last competitive outdoor showing occurred in the 2007 Caribbean Cup and ALBA Games where they acquired a bronze and silver medals respectively.
Due to Guyana’s inactivity over the period, it no longer holds a World or Pan American ranking and will have to compete alongside the teams not ranked in the top six within the region in the Pan American Challenge to qualify for the 2017 Pan American Cup in the United States of America.
