GCC Tigers maul Hikers, Spice school U-19s

THE GEORGETOWN Cricket Club (GCC) Tigers and Spice maintained perfect records Wednesday night as play in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T)-sponsored Indoor Hockey tournament continued at the National Gymnasium.

It was a perfect night for Team GCC as the first division and veteran teams also recorded victories, even as the Tigers dismantled Hikers 9-0, while Spice outplayed the National Under-19s to come away with a 7-0 victory in the opening match of the evening.
Tigers, recorded the biggest margin of victory in this year’s play, thanks to a helmet-trick from Kerensa Fernandes and hat-trick of goals from Aliyah Gordon.
Fernandes first found the back of the box in the 11th minute and seconds later, she sent Tigers clear with her second goal, before adding her third in the 13th minute and Hikers were up against it when Gordon scored her first, one minute after Fernandes recorded her hat-trick to make it 4-0 at the interval.
On the resumption of play, the Tigers continued their dominance, maintaining possession and stringing together accurate passes, with their pressure paying off in the 18th minute when Fernandes sent home her fourth goal.
With no answers for the attacking Tigers from the Hikers defence, Gordon slotted home in the 22nd and 23rd minutes to make it 7-0, even as Ulrica Sutherland added her name to the score sheet in the 24th and Ashley DeGroot in the 27th.
In the opening female clash, GCC Spice taught the National Under-19s a lesson on the court, shutting them down and coming away with a comfortable win, as Sonia Jardine continued her assault on the goal in which she scored five times, while Dacia Woodroffe and Vanessa Pires accounted for the other goals.
The GCC Men’s first division team rebounded from their loss to Hikers on Monday to come away 5-4 winners over Old Fort in a hard-fought and emotionally charged battle that saw teammates argue against each other, team against team and both teams against umpiring decisions.
Old Fort opened the scoring in the 9th as Aderemi ‘Dove’ Simon caught a break from down court and as the goalkeeper came out to meet the charge, Simon looped around him and slotted home without breaking stride.
On the 11th minute Orland Semple drew level for GCC and two minutes later, John Abraham re-established the lead for Old Fort who saw Devin Hooper nullify that goal with one of his own for the eventual victors.
GCC missed a chance to go ahead when Kevin Spencer’s shot on goal was disallowed, but they managed to do so from a penalty corner, with Semple finding the net from a smart piece of stick work, but his goal was negated by John Abraham who found the equaliser for Old Fort, sending the ball past Alan Fernandes and the keeper, 3-3.
A bruising battle, loud calls across the court as both teams fought for the advantage and intense play followed; but it was GCC off the stick of Semple, his third for the night that gave them the 4-3 advantage with 8 minutes left to play.
Steven Xavier ensured the victory for GCC when Old Fort’s custodian advanced to meet him, releasing the shot with the ball whizzing past Cole and Aderemi’s attempt to block in front the goal, while Askofu Simon pulled one back for Old Fort, but it was too late.
In second division matches – the National Under-19s were 3-2 winners over Saints and Hikers destroyed Kingston 6-1, but the Hiker’s Veterans unit lost out to their GCC counterparts.
Play resumes today with action concluding on Sunday.

(By Leeron Brumell)