A Sunday of competitive hockey came to an abrupt end when the highlight men’s Premier League match between Wanderers and All Stars ended prematurely with the latter leading 1-0 at the Wildey Astro Turf.
An early goal in the sixth minute by All Stars forward Barry Clarke set the stage for a savage clash of unyielding wills. The experienced Wanderers team fell victim to a series of mishaps, brought about by bad decisions and too many solo efforts.
Despite being the better passing team on the night, Wanderers succumbed to a quicker and more youthful All Stars defence, resulting in numerous dangerous counter-attacks.
Many calls made in All Stars’ favour fuelled the frustration of Wanderers as they struggled to maintain formation in the second half. Even when All Stars went through a period when they produced a seemingly endless string of turnovers, the Wanderers offence failed to capitalise.
The final chord was struck when All Stars’ Daron Harper challenged Wanderers’ Neil Owen, resulting in Owen needing medical assistance and Harper receiving a red card. A battered and discouraged
Wanderers team made their way off the turf with over 20 minutes of game time left, conceding defeat.
Vice-president of the Barbados Hockey Federation, Roger Broomes, said that the incident had engaged the attention of the federation’s disciplinary committee. He said that any disciplinary action taken should not affect the outcome of the game, but Harper would be excluded from All Stars’ next game.
Although the evening ended on a low note, the earlier games had offered fans bang for their buck.
Empire women’s team met with little resistance from their Deacons opponents. After a 1-1 deadlock going into the second half, Empire came out gunning and outclassed Deacons 5-1.
The Deacons men found redemption for the club with a 3-0 victory over Maple, while the Empire men were unable to duplicate the victory of their female counterparts and lost to YMCA 5-0.
