…Saints and SHC S’Team record wins at National Junior Indoor Hockey Championships
(Kaieteur News) – The Guyana Hockey Board’s National Junior Indoor Hockey Championships got off to an exciting start on Wednesday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, with Old Fort, Saints Hockey Club, GCC Spartans and Saints High School among the teams making winning starts across the Boys’ and Girls’ Under-17 and Under-21 divisions.
In the Girls’ Under-17 Group A, Old Fort Phantom Troupe and GCC ‘Her-ricanes’ battled to a 1-1 stalemate in an evenly contested opening encounter.
Hannah Percival put Her-ricanes ahead inside the first five minutes, but Old Fort responded through Keitanna Percival, who found the equaliser 14 minutes later to ensure the points were shared.
Hikers U21 captain, Michael Payne, about to unleash a ferocious shot at the Saints net.
Meanwhile, Old Fort Predators then secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Multi Alumni in the Boys’ Under-17 division.
Tyrese Benn struck in the third minute to give Predators an early advantage, and their defence held firm for the remainder of the contest as Multi Alumni failed to find a response.
Group B produced another commanding performance, with Saints Sensation stopping St Joseph High School Blue Bloods 4-0.
Makaylah Poole opened the scoring in the fourth minute before Isabelle Grouper doubled the advantage five minutes later.
Saints’ midfielder Clayza Bobb trying to evade the challenge of Hikers Trinity Greaves in their girls U21 clash.
Saints Hockey Club continued to dictate the contest and eventually stretched the lead to 3-0 before Grouper completed her brace with a 19th-minute strike to seal a convincing victory.
Saints Sigmas also enjoyed success for the boys, edging GCC Outlaws 2-1. Ezekiel Moses was the difference-maker for Sigmas, scoring twice from penalty corners to give his side a 2-0 lead at the halfway stage.
GCC managed a consolation goal in the 16th minute, but Sigmas remained composed to secure the narrow victory.
The U21 competition also provided its share of one-sided and closely fought encounters.
GCC Spartans edged Old Fort Bomb Squad 1-0, with Kadence Belony scoring the decisive goal to hand Spartans an important opening victory.
Saints, meanwhile, produced one of the day’s most emphatic results, dismantling Hikers 7-0.
Clayza Bobb led the scoring charge with a hat-trick, while Chiamaka Agha added two successive goals.
Africo Blackman and Isabelle Grouper also got on the scoresheet as Saints completed a comprehensive rout.
Saints S’Team also opened its campaign in impressive fashion, defeating Hikers 4-1, with Jabri Lovell producing a three-goal performance. SHC established an early 2-0 advantage through Aaron Abraham and Lovell before Lovell struck twice more to complete his hat-trick and put the outcome beyond doubt.
The championships continued yesterday through to Saturday, when the respective Boys’ and Girls’ champions in the U17 and U21 categories will be crowned.
With several teams already making strong statements in the opening exchanges, the remaining matches are expected to intensify as the competition moves towards its championship-deciding stages.
Source: Kaieteur News
