GHB/Noble House Indoor tourney…
THE Guyana Hockey Board/Noble House Goals Galore Indoor Hockey Championship gets under way tomorrow at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The Goals Galore clash is the only local handicap tournament for hockey where teams begin with different goal tallies aimed at producing more competitive matches and pressing top teams to perform at their optimum level irrespective of the opposition.

Two divisions are being contested this year in what will be the highest number of teams in any hockey tournament for the year.

The ‘A’ Division features top teams in GCC ‘A’, GCC ‘B’, Hikers ‘A’, Old Fort ‘A’, Carib Degenerates and Western Dragons ‘A’. Old Fort ‘A’ are the defending champions of this division after knocking off all contenders and then defeating the GCC ‘A’ by an extra-time golden goal in the final.

The B Division features five ladies’ teams and four junior men’s teams comprising of players coming out of the recent schools programme. Teams in the B Division are divided into two pools with the Flora GCC Tigers, Hikers Ladies ‘A’, Hikers Ladies ‘B’ and Old Fort Men ‘B’ contending Pool one and Hikers Men ‘B’, Old Fort Ladies, Flora GCC Spartans, GCC ‘C’ and Western Dragons ‘B’ in pool two.

The Flora GCC Spartans were the upset winners of last year’s ‘B’ Division as the youthful side surprised all by upstaging several more experienced contenders to take home the gold.

The ‘A’ Division remains wide open with several teams capable of high goal tallies. Defending champs Old Fort have been brilliant at times with Aderemi Simon being among the country’s best performers on any given night, but their challenge will be to maintain consistency throughout the tournament.

The discipline and cohesion of the Hikers and the crafty moves of their playmaker Jerry Bell never fail to disappoint the crowd and their usual large supporting contingent while the GCC men remain the only team with two contending teams in the division.

The GCC ‘A’ will once again be anchored by defensive maestro Dwayne Scott while the ‘B’ is likely to challenge with their usual run-and-gun style of high tempo hockey. The experienced Carib Degenerates and the skilful Western Dragons ‘A’ round out a division too close to predict.

Keen rivalry can also be expected in the ‘B’ Division as all eyes will be on the young and promising Hikers ‘B’ men, who are the most experienced of the junior sides, led by the skilful Shaquille Assanah.

The Fiedtkou sisters, Thalia and Marzana, along with Xavier sisters, Gabriella and Alysa, are likely to lead the charge for the Flora GCC Spartans who are likely favourites to retain their crown, having one more year of experience behind them.

Leading ladies sides, Hikers and the Flora GCC Tigers both feature a number of national players and cannot be counted out while the Old Fort ladies return to action with a rebuilding side after several years of absence from competition.

Junior men’s sides Old Fort ‘B’, GCC ‘C’ and Western Dragons ‘B’ all will be looking to gain valuable experience but will be enjoying an advantageous handicap in most matches making them instant contenders.
Matches begin tomorrow at 18:00 h with Old Fort Men’s ‘B’ playing Hikers Ladies ‘B’.