Major upsets and close calls for defending champions the order on the final day

MAJOR upsets and close calls were the order of the day when the Hikers Hockey Club’s 4th Annual Junior Indoor Inet Communications Under-16 and Woodpecker Products Under-21 categories, sponsored tournament climaxed at the National Gymnasium on Sunday. The day started with seven Under-16 boys’ teams on court in what was by far the most competitive of all the categories and although Old Fort Vikings and GCC won their groups, their respective semifinals against group runners-up Saints and Marian Academy ended in ties and had to be settled by penalties.
A 0-0 tie in regulation time was a moral victory for Marian Academy against the highly-favoured defending champions GCC, but they showed they had higher ambitions when they booked their place in the final with a 3-2 victory on penalties.
Saints’ Ezekiel Springer was the hero of his team in regulation time when he scored in the final minute to take the match to penalties after a 2-2 draw. However, the celebration was short- lived as Old Fort Vikings scored all three of their penalties while Saints missed one.
Once again Marian Academy found themselves as the underdogs in the final against the heavily favoured Vikings but Rosario Ramsammy produced one of the goals of the tournament when he dribbled his way through the entire Old Fort team at blistering pace to put his team ahead in the 4th minute.
Vikings then equalised in the 7th minute through Stephon Sprosta. With the score remaining level at full time, the final had to be settled the same way as the semifinals, but this time around Old Fort were not as efficient with only Sprosta scoring from the spot, while Marian’s Ramsammy and Eleomar Silva were dead on target to produce the most unlikely of victories for the school team.
GCC Under-16 girls were pushed to the limit against surprise finalists Old Fort, who had earlier upset Hikers in the semifinal. Repelling attack after attack, it took something special from national striker Aliyah Gordon to break through the Old Fort defence and settle the match 1-0.
In the final Under-21 girls match of the day GCC were again pushed to the limit against a spirited Hikers team, but their superior fitness and relentless pressure resulted in all three of their goals being scored in the last three minutes of the match.
The Under-21 boys’ final saw a rematch between GCC and defending champions Hikers. The two teams had played to a pulsating 2-2 draw in their round-robin encounter and the final seemed headed for the same fate with end to end action from the opening whistle.
The encounter was evenly balanced until Hikers’ Aroydy Branford took matters into his own hands and scored all five of his team’s goals in the 5-2 victory to keep the title in his club’s hands for the fourth consecutive year.
In addition to trophies and medals for the top three teams of each category, Under-13 MVPs Makeda Harding (Marian Academy) and Omari George (Old Fort) received gift certificates valued at $6 000 each. While Inet Communications Under-16 MVP’s Aliyah Gordon (GCC) and Rosario Ramsammy (Marian Academy) received certificates worth $8 000 each and Woodpecker Products Under-21 MVP’s Ashley DeGroot (GCC) and Aroydy Branford (Hikers) received similar certificates worth $10 000 – all redeemable at Woodpecker Products’ Trophy and Sports Shop.
In the Global Technology Inter-School category, champions Christ Church as well as MVPs Bushani Kaladeen (North Ruimveldt Multilateral) and Hilton Chester (Queen’s College) all received certificates valued at $45 000 each for computer classes at Global Technology.
At the closing ceremony the juniors of the club, who managed the tournament, thanked the sponsors for their support of the junior programme.
They also thanked medical personnel Patrick Fung for attending to injuries during the entire tournament and gave special thanks to all the parents and coaches of the various clubs and schools for their support.