THE PEPSI Hikers and Bounty GCC put on the most entertaining show of the tournament so far when the two male first division teams clashed in their pool round match on Wednesday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall for the GTT National Indoor Hockey Championships.

The GBTI GCC Tigers meanwhile continued their dominance of the first division ladies’ competition with their second convincing win in as many matches, this time over Old Fort Team 2.1.2.

The Bingo Spartans realised their first win of the ladies’ first division competition over Saints and duplicated their effort with a second division win over the Old Fort Goal Chasers.
GCC Vintage dominated Antonio’s Hickers in the veterans division while Old Fort Top Form remained in top form with their second win of the men’s second division competition with a victory over SHC Silencers.

In the exciting men’s matchup, which was the final game for the evening, the patient spectators were treated to an exhilarating battle between the defending Champs Bounty GCC and the side with the most titles to their name, the Pepsi Hikers.
Three minutes into a blistering start, Hikers midfielder Jamarj Assanah showed his class by weaving through the GCC defence and slipped a reverse pass to the waiting Robert France for the deflection goal.

Less than one minute later Aroydy Branford scored a second for the Hikers then France returned five minutes later to score his second, to all but bury GCC by the half with a 3-0 score line.

It seemed like GCC had all but packed up their traps to head home when Branford scored in the opening minute of the second half, but four unanswered goals made it too much of an advantage to overcome.

The Bounty boys, however, found some light through the storm clouds of despair as captain Dwayne Scott slammed home a low hard penalty corner shot in the 23rd minute then a second in similar fashion eight minutes later. GCC seemed bolstered by their goals and grew in confidence as the tiring Hikers saw their grip on the match begin to slip.
An explosive drive down the right flank, finishing with a thundering shot high into the far corner of goal by Mark Sargeant, brought the crowd to their feet and GCC within one goal of a remarkable comeback.

While the final seven minutes of play saw end-to-end action, no further goals were scored and the Hikers escaped with a 4-3 victory in a hard-fought match of great performances by both teams.
The ladies’ first division match between the GBTI GCC Tigers and Old Fort 2.1.2 showed some promise in the early stages, as Old Fort held off the defending champions for eleven minutes before striker Shebiki Baptiste scored from the right side of goal.

Trisha Woodroffe added a second field goal by the half and Old Fort, despite being down 0-2 still seemed to have some fight and determination to spring a surprise.
The second half belonged to Sonia Jardine and GBTI GCC Tigers, as she blasted home a penalty corner and two field goals to give GCC a comfortable 5-0 victory.

Young Abosaide Cadogan was unstoppable when her Bingo Spartans faced off against Saints in the other ladies’ first division fixture of the evening. Cadogan scored a match-leading hattrick for the Spartans while speedy striker Charlia Webb was the only other player to score the lone goal for Saints. The 3-1 win was the first victory in first division for newcomers Bingo Spartans.

The GCC Vintage shot into the lead against Antonio’s Hickers with three goals in as many minutes and never relinquished their lead. While the Hickers managed four goals of their own, they were unable to catch GCC who ended with a 7-4 victory.
The Spartans got the better of Old Fort Goal Chasers by 2-0 in their second division matchup while Old Fort Top Form defeated the SHC Silencers by 3-1 in the lone men’s second division game of the evening.

Results are as follows:
MEN Division 1
PEPSI Hikers edged Bounty GCC by 4–3. Robert France 2, Aroydy Branford 2; Bounty GCC – Dwayne Scott 2, Mark Sargeant 1

WOMEN Division 1
GBTI GCC Tigers trounced Old Fort Team 2.1.2 by 5-0. GBTI GCC Tigers – Sonia Jardine 3, Shebiki Baptiste 1, Trisha Woodroffe 1
BINGO GCC Spartans beat Saints 3-1. Abosaide Cadogan 3. Saints – Charlia Webb -1.

MEN Division 2
Old Fort Top Form overcame SHC Silencers 3-1. Warren Williams 2, Omar Hopkinson 1; SHC Silencers – Parmanand Dindial 1

WOMEN Division 2
BINGO GCC Spartans blanked Old Fort Goal Chasers 2-0. Abosaide Cadogan 1, Haley Carpenter 1

Over-35 Division
GCC Vintage thrashed Antonio’s Hickers by 7-4. Kevin Spencer 3, Alan Fernandes 2, Andrew Xavier 1, Devin Hooper 1. Antonio’s Hickers – Devin Munroe 3, Maria Munroe 1
Matches continue at 17:00hrs throughout the week with the finals to be contested on Sunday November 4.