GCC Ladies hockey team continue to excite at T&T’s women’s national hockey league —With 2-2 draw against Malvern HC

Entering their second match of the day on Saturday last against Malvern Hockey Club, GCC must have been feeling confident of their chances as they held the highly rated Malvern Hockey Club to a 2-2 draw after defeating Checkers HC 2-0 earlier on Saturday and had already secured a 1-0 win against Malvern two weeks ago in their first round clash.No sooner had the match started that GCC seemed destined for another victory as they made several forays into the deep defence of Malvern.
Striker Kerensa Fernandes was able to break free from her marker and feed several passes across the face of the Malvern goal but the Guyanese failed to secure the opening goal despite the early pressure.
After a solid start, GCC finally made the inevitable breakthrough in the 18th minute when a penalty corner strike from Fernandes was saved by the Malvern goalkeeper before Gabriella Xavier swept the rebound into the net.
GCC continued to enjoy the majority of possession but national T&T striker Kreszia Layne made a few promising runs for Malvern which were stifled by solid defending from Tiffany Solomon and Ulrica Sutherland. GCC seemed to secure the match through a brilliant solo run from Captain Sonia Jardine six minutes before the half as she weaved past several Malvern defenders and hammered home her shot for the 2-0 lead.
Overconfidence seemed to have crept into the GCC psyche as they continued to enjoy the greater possession.
Malvern, however, refused to accept defeat without a fight and gave a more competitive effort in the second half. With GCC continuing to play aggressive hockey, Malvern adopted the strategy of pushing their strikers high up into the GCC scoring area and targeting them with long passes hoping to create one on one opportunities.
This ploy worked as Kreszia Layne managed a series of penalty corners with Layne’s resulting shot in one of them deflected off the stick of defender Sutherland into the GCC net. With the clock winding down, Layne received a pass on the high on the right wing with eight minute left on the clock.
The skilful striker managed to evade her marker and take a cracking shot at goal. GCC goalkeeper Briawna Gordon was perfectly placed to block the shot but the rebound fell kindly for Layne who slammed home the rebound.
With the game being even once again, GCC scrambled for a third goal but Malvern held firm to leave the final score at a 2-2 draw.
GCC were due to play their final match of the tournament against Ventures Hockey Club yesterday morning.

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