Saints reach two finals as Viapree inspires Outlaws comeback
Saints secured places in both men’s finals and GCC Elite advanced to the women’s title match as Day Four of the Guyana Hockey Board’s Kellogg’s National Indoor Championships produced a dramatic comeback by GCC Outlaws at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Saturday.
Saints defeated OFHC Top Form 4–0 in the Premier Men’s qualifier and overcame OFHC Gladiators 2–0 in a shoot-out after a 1–1 draw in the Open Men’s qualifier. GCC Elite edged Saints 4–3 in the Open Women’s qualifier to book their place in today’s final.
The championships conclude today with semi-finals in all three divisions and four title matches, including the Over-40 final.
Kristian Viapree delivered one of Saturday’s standout performances, scoring all four goals as GCC Outlaws recovered from 3–0 down to beat Hikers Cadets 4–3 in the Open Men’s eliminator.
Michael Payne opened the scoring for Cadets in the seventh minute, Tremaine Cole converted a penalty corner in the 10th and Keyon Todd made it 3–0 in the 12th. Viapree began the response with a penalty corner in the 19th minute, added two more in the 31st and 37th, then converted a penalty stroke in the 40th to complete the turnaround.
Outlaws will face OFHC Gladiators in today’s semi-final, with the winners meeting Saints for the title.
Saints earned their direct route to the Open Men’s final after a close qualifier against Gladiators. Ezekiel Moses broke the deadlock in the 36th minute, but Quinn Tobin equalised a minute later. Saints then won the shoot-out 2–0.
Earlier, Saints defeated Hikers Cadets 2–0, with Navid Hussain converting a penalty stroke in the 27th minute and Raoul Whittaker adding a penalty corner in the 32nd.
Gladiators had started the day with a 5–2 victory over GCC Outlaws. They led 3–0 at half-time and 4–0 after the third quarter before Outlaws scored twice in the final period.
In the Premier Men’s division, Saints’ 4–0 qualifier victory sent OFHC Top Form into a semi-final against Bounty GCC.
Top Form had earlier beaten Pepsi Hikers 7–2, helped by two early field goals from Yonnick Norton. They led 4–1 at half-time and maintained control after the break.
Pepsi Hikers’ campaign then ended with another 7–2 defeat, this time against Bounty GCC in the eliminator. Bounty led 1–0 at half-time before scoring four unanswered goals in the third quarter to take a commanding 5–0 advantage.
GCC Elite enjoyed two wins in the Open Women’s competition, first beating OFHC Rave 7–2 before edging Saints in the qualifier.
Hannah Percival scored a hat-trick against Rave, striking in the eighth, 12th and 19th minutes. Rebecca Ferreira, Abosaide Cadogan and Rebecca Bento were also among Elite’s scorers, while Carolyn Deane converted two penalty corners for Rave.
Elite led Saints 2–1 at half-time and 4–1 after the third quarter in the qualifier. Saints scored twice in the final period, but Elite held on for the 4–3 victory.
Saints will now meet Hikers in today’s women’s semi-final. Hikers kept their title hopes alive with a 4–1 win over OFHC Rave in the eliminator.
Kenisha Wills, Jasmaine Assanah and Maria Munroe gave Hikers a 3–0 half-time lead. Keitanna Percival pulled one back for Rave in the 23rd minute before Trinity Greaves restored the three-goal margin in the 25th.
GCC Vintage also recorded two victories in the Over-40 division, beating OFHC Expendables 4–3 and Antonio’s Hikers 5–3.
Dwayne Scott scored twice against Expendables, with Devin Hooper also finding the net before Kevin Spencer converted the decisive penalty corner in the 30th minute. Aderemi Simon scored twice for Expendables and Ivor Thompson added their other goal.
Against Antonio’s Hikers, Vintage built a 4–0 half-time lead and went 5–0 ahead before conceding three late goals.
Today’s programme begins at 1:00 p.m. with GCC Vintage facing OFHC Expendables in the remaining Over-40 round-robin match. Saints and Hikers contest the women’s semi-final at 1:45 p.m., followed by OFHC Gladiators against GCC Outlaws in the Open Men’s semi-final at 2:45 p.m.
OFHC Top Form meet Bounty GCC in the Premier Men’s semi-final at 3:45 p.m. GCC Vintage then play the second-placed Over-40 team in the final at 4:45 p.m., with their opponents still to be confirmed.
GCC Elite face the women’s semi-final winners at 5:45 p.m. Saints play the Open Men’s semi-final winners at 6:45 p.m., before returning for the Premier Men’s final against the winners of Top Form and Bounty GCC at 7:45 p.m.
Source: Kiskadee Watch
