THE GCC Men’s `A’ team secured a place in the final of the Guyana Hockey Board/Mr Toppers Indoor Championships with a stunning 5-4 victory over Hikers on Wednesday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The final is billed for this evening at the same venue, but will be preceded by the men’s division two and ladies’ finals.

In the men’s `A’ final GCC `A’ will take on Hikers `A’.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, GCC Spartans ladies’ team upstaged their seniors, GCC Tigers, to secure their place in the ladies’ final, while Carib Degenerates mauled Old Fort `B’ to waltz into the men’s `B’ division final where they will meet Hikers `B’.

In the GCC versus Hikers encounter which was the feature match of the evening, the two teams played maybe the best hockey of the tournament as they attacked each other’s goal area relentlessly and scored top class goals.

Hikers started pressing from the opening whistle, but GCC were able to produce several penetrating counter-attacks which resulted in a Kevin Spencer goal just three minutes into the match.

Spencer had shot the ball to the opposition’s goal but Hikers’ custodian Azad DeAbreu did not save it cleanly which resulted in Spencer running on to rebound and slotting it home.

Six minutes later, Hikers’ marksman Jerazeno Bell drew his side level at 1-1 by chasing down a loose ball and catching the GCC defenders off-guard.

Bell added another goal less than a minute after his first with a pin-point shot in the left corner of GCC’s goal.

The 2-1 lead apparently gave the Hikers men some sort of confidence as they grabbed the momentum of the game, while GCC fought desperately to regain their confidence before Shane Samuels added a third goal for Hikers.

Devin Hooper, Hikers’ captain and Orlando Semple found themselves at the end of some quick penetrating passes to draw GCC even, just one minute later with a deflection each, but Robert Fernandes ensured Hikers got back into the lead by completing an excellent build-up by wall passing the GCC deep defence and slotting the ball into the empty goal.

The second half produced more exciting hockey as Spencer pulled GCC level in four minutes with a well-placed shot.

Hikers then earned a penalty stroke five minutes from full time but custodian Shad Fernandes, known for his football exploits, denied Bell with a fine save to his left.

Semple subsequently slammed home the game’s winning goal with a blistering shot past DeAbreu’s left shoulder to pull off a 5-4 victory for the Bourda boys.

In another exciting match, the national men’s team, duelling for a spot in the final, failed in their bid against Old Fort `A’ who are without the services of the Simon siblings Aderemi and Ascofu and it was left to the in-form John Abrams to lead his team (Old Fort) to a come-from-behind 4-4 draw.

Adams netted the final two goals for his team in the 31st and final minute of the match which followed goals from team mates Jason Desantos and Dwayne Allen in the 11th and 26th minutes respectively.

Bell netted a double for the national men’s team while Samuels and Munroe added one each.

In the other men’s `A’ division match of the evening, GCC `B’ beat Western Dragons 5-1 with goals from Rafel DeGroot, Stuart Gonsalves, Andrew Xavier and a double from Eric Hing.

Donwes Austin scored Dragons’ solitary goal.
Dominique DeGroot playing inspiring hockey, scored the lone goal in the ladies’ clash between her Spartans team and the Dragons ladies.

DeGroot’s strike upset the balance of the table, earning them a spot in the final.

The Carib Degenerates rounded out the night by securing an easy 8-2 victory against Old Fort `B’ in a Division Two fixture.

Rawle Davson led the Degenerates’ goal spree with a treble and was supported by doubles from Timothy Jonas and Marcus Fiedtkou and one from Tristan Gomes.
Colis Allen and Clarence Edwards scored for Old Fort `B’.