GCC Ladies beat Ventures in opening match of T&T League

May 03, 2015 Sports

GCC Ladies Hockey team currently playing in the Trinidad and Tobago Outdoor Tournament got their campaign off to a positive start after scraping past Ventures of T&T 1-0 courtesy of a goal from their

GCC Captain Sonia Jardine (right) fights for possession of the ball against an opponent in a previous match.

Captain Sonia Jardine.
The GCC ladies who’ve been accepted into the tournament for the first time have a packed weekend in the Twin Island Republic, the first of three that will see them play multiple games over the period.
The Guyanese began a bit tentative as they usually are on the artificial pitch which differs considerably to grass with which they are more familiar.
With both teams regarding each other like two price fighters with a belt on the line, GCC began to step up the pace and it soon was evident that they had the quality to take control of the match.
The hard-working Shebiki Baptiste made life difficult for the Ventures deep defence, while the skills of young Aliyah Gordon and Jardine produced several threatening opportunities at goal.
The overlapping play of wing backs Rebecca Xavier and Ashley DeGroot eventually bore fruit midway in the second of four 15-minute quarters when a DeGroot early cross was met with a first time sweep by Jardine in the circle to hammer home the opening goal of the match.
GCC gained several penalty corners, but failed to convert, firing just wide on a few occasions, while the Ventures hardly threatened the GCC net, they gained a critical penalty corner in the dying minutes of play and the Bourda girls were happy to see the shot pass wide of the far post.
The Guyanese faced Magnolias in their second match yesterday, before returning to the field a second time later in the afternoon to oppose pre-tournament favourites Paragon.
Matches continue today against Notre Dame and Checkers, before the team returns home after completing their first of three visits for the competition.