Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 18, 2014 Sports
After a long delay due to the unavailability of grounds, the Guyana Hockey Board
managed to stage their final match of the 2013 John Fernandes Insurance Services Ltd Second Division League with the youthful Western Union Hikers claiming the championship.
On Monday 15th September, tournament point-leaders All Greys faced second place Hikers in a winner-take-all final match. The two sides had crossed swords in the first round of competition which ended in a stalemate and it would now come down to the wire in a fitting final match of competition to determine who wears the crown as 2013 second division champions.
As was predicted, the All Greys, featuring aging stars of yesteryear, sat back in defence and absorbed an onslaught of attacking manoeuvres from the youthful Western Union Hikers in the opening minutes of play. With the All Greys seemingly playing the rope-a-dope made famous by Mohamed Alli, the Hikers appeared to run out of ideas and seemed vulnerable to the occasional All Greys counter-attacks. It was a battle of attrition as a draw would see All Greys capturing the trophy and the Hikers seemed less and less likely to penetrate the tight All Greys defence marshalled by former national full back Ivor Thompson.
After 24 minutes of pressure from the Hikers however, the All Greys defence finally cracked as a loose rebound fell into the path of Aroydy Branford who smashed his shot into the high right hand corner of the goal.
The All Greys seemed to emerge with renewed enthusiasm in the second half of play and enjoyed a greater share of possession than they did in the first. After seven minutes of play in the second half, All Greys Captain would breathe new life into the game with an accurate penalty corner strike in the near post to draw the score level at 1-1.
Aroydy Branford, who produced an MVP type performance on the evening, received a pass high on the right side of the All Greys goal area in the 46th minute and swiftly dodged left before slipping the ball past the advancing goalkeeper Rawl Davson who had been having a stellar performance himself.
With the Hikers enjoying a 2-1 lead, former national captain Alan Fernandes scored possibly the goal of the match as he eluded several defenders and finished with a diving reverse stick effort to draw the score level at 2-2. Despite another well placed goal from Gavin Hope for All Greys, the top class performance from Branford would see him register two more goals in the dying minutes to pull of the Hikers victory.
The defending champions Western Union Hikers retained the trophy of the John Fernandes Insurance Services Ltd Second Division Hockey League and Mrs. Kerensa Fernandes was on-hand to make a presentation of the shield to the victors in the ceremony that followed the final match.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 29, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – After a series of outstanding performances in 2023, Tianna Springer, dubbed the ‘wonder girl’, is eagerly gearing up to compete in this year’s...Kaieteur News – Good Friday in Guyana is not what it used to be. The day has lost much of its solemnity. The one day... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, water scarcity and... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]