Govia unstoppable in female division

LOCAL players Aroydy Branford and Kevin Spencer finished with the most-goal trophies in the Open Men and Over-35 divisions of the Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival, which concluded on Sunday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The Pepsi Hikers’ forward Branford, who was kept to a single goal each in the semi-final against Bounty GCC and the final against QPCC, tallied 12 successful strikes over the course of the five-day event.

Against another Trinidadian side, TTDF, on Saturday afternoon, he had fired in a hat-trick.  Branford’s teammate, Robert France, finished with 10 goals, the second most in the division, while Bounty GCC’s Dwayne Scott ended with eight goals.

Spencer, who exploded in the final with six successful strikes, was a dominant force for Bounty GCC Vintage, the Runners’ up in the Lucozade Over-35 competition.

In total, Spencer scored 14 goals. Jerazeno Bell, who played for T&T’s QPCC, was second with 10 goals, while YMCA Old Fort’s Aderemi Simon and QPCC’s Raphael Govia were tied for third with six goals each.

Although the male players were instrumental with the hockey stick, George United’s skipper Brianna Govia proved the most dominant after she fired in a tournament-high 19 goals to dominate the female division. Her teammate, Brittney Hingh, finished second with 14 goals, while Guyana’s Marzana Fiedtkou (GBTI GCC Tigers) finished third with seven goals.

Govia, who scored twice in the final (5-4 win against the Tigers), also copped the Most Valuable Player trophy in the ExxonMobil-sponsored female division.  Her teammate, Jessica Mittelholzer finished with the best goalkeeper’s award.

QPCC’s Darren Cowie was voted as the MVP of the Over-35 division, while his teammate, Bryan Lee-Chow, was named the best goalkeeper in the division.

In the Men’s Open division, QPCC’s Aidan De Gannes was named MVP, while TTDF’s goalie, Karlos Stephens, nabbed the Best Goalkeeper’s award.