Pepsi Hikers continued their unbeaten in the Lucozade Indoor Hockey Championship, downing Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Vintage 7-4 on Tuesday at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue. Tied 1-1 at the end of the first half, Hikers claimed the hard-fought contest as they recorded six goals while restricting their opponent to only three conversions.
Eric Hing briefly gave Vintage the initial lead at the start of the second half as he netted in the 21st minute. GCC’s lead proved to be short-lived as Aroydy Branford leveled proceedings two minutes onward.
Hikers then took the lead, an advantage they would not relinquish through a Randy Hope 25th minute strike. The score line ballooned to 4-2 in the 28th minute as Michael Harding made made his presence felt. Although Alan Fernandes reduced the score to 4-3 in the 31st minute, Hikers quickly restored their two goal advantage as Harding sealed his brace seconds later.
Sibling Phillip Fernandes tried to initiate another comeback for the Boundary based unit as he etched his name on the scorer’s sheet in the 33rd minute to make it 5-4.
However any hopes of a comeback was extinguished as Hikers recorded two unanswered goals. Hope secured his second of the night with a 35th minute attempt before Jamarj Assanah completed the result compliments of a 37th strike.
Prior to the second half, Branford pushed Hikers into the lead in the third minute before Vintage equalised on the stroke of halftime in the 20th minute compliments of Alan Fernandes.
Meanwhile Saints blanked Old Fort Knockers by a 4-0 margin. Joel Hunte initiated the rout with a 10 minute effort before Hilton Chester increased the lead as he netted nine minutes onward.
Yonnick Peters made it 3-0 as he found the back of the net in the 29th minute. The result was then sealed three minutes later as Peters scored his second. Action in the event is slated to continue at the same venue tomorrow with another round of matches.
