THE Pepsi Hikers signalled a strong warning to all challengers with a massive 11-0 victory over Carib hockey club of Trinidad as the Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival continued on Friday evening at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.

In the final match of the evening, spectators were hopeful for an exciting matchup between the Pepsi Hikers and Carib HC but from as early as the second minute, it was obvious that Carib’s eyes would be on the click, counting down the time to stop the onslaught.
After Jamarj Assanah opened the Hikers account two minutes into the match, Carib would never get off their defensive position as the Hikers raided their goal ten more times before the final buzzer with national MVP Shane Samuels scoring a hatrick, Assanah and Robert France doubles while Jerry Bell, Reginald Harper, Colonel Heywood and Randy Hope scored one each.
The Bounty GCC versus The 6ix men’s first division match extracted the most noise from an excited crowd as the highly touted The 6ix featured several internationally known players from Pan American champions Canada.
With an impressive display of speed and skill, Bounty GCC however would remind the spectators that the competition was still wide open as the competitive match seemed able to produce a winner from either side.
Orland Semple and Kevin Spencer were once again the marksmen for GCC with Semple scoring the opener in the 12 minute of play.
Canadian international Jonathan Roberts equalised two minutes later after a find display of passing by The 6ix and a Gagan Dhanju penalty corner put the Canadians up by one after a further pair of minutes. GCC’s Spencer would respond however with a pair of goals just befopre the half to give his team a 3-2 lead at lemon time.
Spencer and Semple each scored second half goals before the 6ix could get on the board again in the 30th minute through Jugraj Kalkat and The 6ix refused to fade and seemed to threaten the GCC lead, Spencer would be on the end of a swift counterattack to seal the game with its final goal to give GCC the 5-3 win.
Newcomers Phoenix managed to produce the upset of the tournament thus far by defeating the highly regarded Old Fort by 4-2 while the under-21 showed their class by rebounding from their loss to the Hikers a day earlier with a 4-1 victory over Carib HC.
GCC continued their unbeaten streak in the veterans division with a 2-1 victory over the Carib vets while Malvern vets of Trinidad held the unbeaten YMCA of Barbados to a 1-1 draw.
Matches continue throughout the weekend with the three finals set for today from 17:00hrs.