THE men’s first division battle between Old Fort and the National Under-19 squad capped off another highly entertaining Tuesday evening in the GT&T National Indoor Championships.

For Old Fort, National defender Aderemi ‘Dove’ Simon produced an unstoppable performance which was complemented by flashes of brilliance from the Under-19s Aroydy Branford and Andrew Stewart.

Just three minutes into the match, Simon roared down the pitch in a blistering counterattack move completing it in fine fashion with a well-placed shot to give Old Fort the lead.
Although the Under-19s executed their game-plan with great discipline, the experienced Old Fort side managed to neutralise every attack, leaving them vulnerable to the counterattack. Old Fort found the net again three minutes before the half when Chris Low was able to convert his shot giving Old Fort a 2-0 lead.
The Under-19s finally managed the breakthrough seven minutes into the second half, when a well-executed attack was finished off by Leon Bacchus, to finally beat goalkeeper Tony Cole who was having a fine performance in the Old Fort net. With the match heading into the dying moments, the Under-19 drew even with a bullet of a shot from Aroydy Branford through a penalty corner opportunity leaving the final score at 2-2.
The ladies competition saw the young Old Fort Rising Stars continue to build on their performances each tournament by holding the seasoned Hikers to within one.
While the Hikers had the upper hand for most of the match, goalkeeper Sarafina Phillips had a fine performance in the Old Fort net and was beaten just once throughout the match by a Maria Munroe strike in the fifth minute.
The other ladies’ match of the evening saw tournament favourites GCC Tigers, featuring a bevy of national players, crush defending champions Spice by 5-2. The outcome was all but over by the half as the Tigers scored 4 goals before Spice could muster a reply.
With the score line reading 4-1 at the half in favour of the Tigers, Spice would recuperate to produce a far more settled second half which was split by one goal for either side leaving the final score at 5-2.
GCC enjoyed further success on the night when their men’s second division side, unbeaten thus far in the competition, squeezed out an exuberant Saints by 4-2. GCC returned in the Veterans category to face Old Old Fort and dominated the first half in scoring two goals while Old Old Fort matched this feat in the second half to tie the game 2-2 at full time.
Matches run from Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Sunday with the four finals set for Sunday from 17:00hrs.