The curtains came down on the Guyana Hockey Board’s (GHB) first division men’s and women’s leagues on Sunday night under lights at the Providence National Stadium on the East Bank of Demerara, as Old Fort and GCC were crowned the 1st Division men’s and women’s champions, respectively.
At the end of the night’s play, it was a tale of two contrasting finals, with the GBTI GCC women showing their dominance in an 8-0 demolition of the Woodpecker Hikers to claim the title once more, while the Bounty GCC men lost their thriller of a final to a resurgent YMCA Old Fort via a penalty shootout after regulation time ended 2-2.
The GCC men, who went undefeated throughout the league stages, faced Old Fort in what was always going to be an intriguing final, and it did not disappoint.
In the opening 15 minutes, both sides took time to settle into the game before applying their respective tactics. Old Fort pressed the boys from Bourda but ended up conceding a well-taken field goal off the stick of Shaquille Leung to open proceedings for GCC.
The rest of the first half saw no other goals, with both sides locked in a midfield battle; however, the second half would produce fireworks. First, Omar Hopkinson found a timely equaliser for Old Fort in the 40th minute, and then youngster Nandalall Persaud sent them ahead just four minutes later, much to the delight of his team and their supporters.
However, four minutes out from fulltime, Meshach Sergeant capitalised on a penalty corner to drag GCC back into the contest. The remaining four minutes were full of frenzied hockey, with the ball switching possession at regular intervals. When the whistle blew, the game went into extra time at 2-2, and that too failed to produce a winner.
It was down to a good old-fashioned penalty shootout to determine the champion of the Farfan & Mendes men’s first division league. GCC took the first strike, and Kareem McKenzie duly obliged with a well-taken penalty to calm GCC’s nerves. But Mark Sergeant could not do the same, missing his penalty before Meshach Sergeant scored to make it two out of three attempts. GCC’s fourth penalty taker, Steven Xavier, stepped up and missed.
It was then Old Fort’s turn, with Warren Williams’s opening proceedings for his side. Williams made no mistake, rounding the GCC custodian to convert his penalty. Up next was Jael Gaskin, who matched Williams to put Old Fort at two out of two. When Omar Hopkinson stepped up and scored the third, it was confirmed, but Jason DeSantos slammed the fourth penalty home to shut up shop and spark wild celebrations amongst the Old Fort faithful.
On the distaff side, the Woodpecker Products women’s final earlier in the night was all one-way traffic in favour of the GBTI GCC ladies.
They were led by a hat-trick from Princessa Wilkie in their 8-0 win. They set the tone from the get-go, and it clearly showed that GCC would dominate things with Ashley De Groot-Khalil netting in the fourth minute from a penalty corner. Princessa would score the second in the 22nd minute, with her other two goals coming in the 37th and 56th minutes, respectively. Makeda Harding (42’), the ever-dependable Kerensa Fernandes (48’), Sandy Roopnarine (53’), and skipper Tricia Fiedtkou (58’) would all get in on the act as the Hikers ladies cut a desolate picture, helpless to stop the rampaging GCC women.
Speaking to Stabroek News Sports after the finals, GHB President Philip Fernandes expressed pleasure at the quality of hockey that was played throughout the tournament, something he pointed out was due largely to the exceptional pitch at the National Stadium. He told this publication that there was a need for first-division action amongst the clubs and revealed that the leagues were a breath of fresh air in the hockey fraternity.
Meanwhile, at the presentation ceremony, accolades were given out for Most Valuable Players, with GCC’s Abosaide Cadogan scooping up the women’s award while veteran GCC player Dwayne Scott was adjudged the MVP of the men’s league. Cadogan also copped an award for the most goals scored in the women’s league, with Warren Williams receiving that award for the men.
The hockey season nearing its end will now see indoor action with the Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival slated for November 30th at the National Gymnasium.
