Everest Hikers, Old Fort ‘B’ continue unbeaten streaks

Oct 08, 2008 Sports

Everest Hikers First Division men continued their dominance of the Banks Night Hockey Tournament by edging GCC 1-0 in the feature encounter last Monday, at Thirst Park ground.

Aderemi Simon

Jason Hoyte

Alex Gouveia

All it took was a failed clearance by the GCC defence after 4 minutes of the game which allowed nippy forward Alex Gouveia to pounce on the loose ball and lash it into the back of the goal to put his team ahead.
After that Hikers had to survive a sustained attack from GCC for most of the night, but young goalkeeper Jason Hoyte in combination with the defence thwarted the efforts of the GCC forwards.

Hoyte, who is also a member of the national Under-21 team currently preparing for the Junior Pan American Championship in Trinidad and Tobago later this month, was simply magnificent, pulling off some spectacular saves to deny GCC the equaliser.

GCC’s late game attempts to gain the equaliser almost cost them as they piled players forward leaving goalkeeper Gregory Garraway with the arduous task of dealing with the swift Everest counter-attacks.

The final whistle, however, arrived before any further goals which kept Hikers firmly positioned at the top spot of the points table.

Old Fort was in no sporting mood as they soundly thrashed the youthful Shakatan by 6-0 in the other First Division encounter of the evening. National striker Aderemi Simon led all scorers with a hat-trick which was supported by singles from his brother Askofu, promising newcomer Teon Joaquin and the reliable veteran Dexter Wyles.

Earlier in the evening, GCC Tigers clashed with Second Division favourites Old Fort ‘B’ and they were also emphatic winners by a 4-0 margin.

The Old Fort men proved to be too fast for the GCC ladies and were able to ease the throttle mid-way in the second half after having amassed a 3 goal lead by halftime.

Old Fort’s lone female Rachel Wade opened the goal tally through a penalty corner rebound in the 5th minute which was followed two minutes later by a Dwight Williams field goal.

Teon Joaquin sealed the deal for Old Fort with a double in the 21st and 50th minutes.
The Carib Degenerates needed a win against Everest ‘B’ to secure a spot in the Second Division final, but had to settle for a hard-fought draw.

James Mentore converted a penalty stroke in the 30th minute after being brought down in the Hikers circle, but the powerful Randy Hope blasted in one of his own 15 minutes later to even the score at one apiece.

Everest Hikers lead the First Division table with 12 points followed by Old Fort on 7, while GCC is in third place with 4 points, while Shakatan remains pointless.

Old Fort leads the Second Division standings with 9 points followed by Everest and Carib Degenerates on 6 points each with the former tipping ahead by virtue of having played one less match so far.

Western Dragons and GCC Tigers will have to await their final pool clash to secure any points as they both remain on 0.

Matches continue tomorrow evening from 18:00 hrs.
Tigers vs Dragons 2nd div 18:00
Hikers “B” vs Old Fort 2nd div 19:00
Shakatan vs GCC 1st div 20:00
Old Fort vs Hikers 1st div 21:00