THE NATIONAL junior men’s hockey team continued their good showing at the Players Tournament, in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday with a 2-0 win against a Trinidad and Tobago national Under-21 training squad.According to reports from Trinidad, the Guyanese, who were fresh off their late comeback against Trinidad’s National Under-21 team on Monday evening, took on an Under-21 training squad selection and chose to rest two of their senior national players in Aroydy Branford and Andrew Stewart.
This meant that Guyana’s young brigade would have to step up. The youngsters had struggled to maintain possession in midfield and wasted several goal-scoring opportunities in the first quarter which ended scoreless.
In the second quarter Guyana goalkeeper Medroy Scotland made a vital reflex save to prevent his side from conceding the first goal for the fourth time in five games.
That close call seemed to trigger a sense of urgency in the Guyanese and they increased their work rate which forced the Trinidadians into making several mistakes.
In the final minute of the second quarter, some high pressure on the Trinidadian central defender by forward Keon McKenzie forced him into a wayward pass which was intercepted by Rosario Ramsammy and the counterattack was on.
Ramsammy sprinted towards the goal and played a through pass to McKenzie, whose initial shot was well saved only for rebound to be put in by Ramsammy.
Guyana started the second half with a stifling full court press and the tactic paid off just three minutes into the quarter when Keon McKenzie intercepted a pass from a Trinidadian free hit then laid off to Deheron Wilkinson before completing the return pass.
Despite several more goal-scoring opportunities the score remained 2-0 until full time.
Guyana now face the tournament leaders, Malvern Sports Club, who defeated them 5-3 on the opening night, before completing the round-robin phase of the tournament today against Queen’s Park.
The tournament is being used by the Guyanese to prepare for the Pan American junior championships, set for next year in Toronto, Canada.