DEFENDING men’s champions Dominion suffered a 5-0 opening day mauling at the hands of a slick Queen’s Park Cricket Club side, which gave notice of its own title ambitions with two victories yesterday as on-field action in the 26th Banks International Hockey Festival got under way at Kensington Oval, Police Sports Club and Banks Sports Club.
There were more encouraging results for the 2010 champions in the other divisions, with A Badd Connection (ABC) women notching two efficient victories, Rockets had mixed beginning with a 7-0 win and Maple veterans gifted full points via a default.
But the biggest noise on Day 1 was made by Queen’s Park, competing in their first festival since 1999.
They opened Zone B with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Bajans Fuh Real in the searing midday sun at Kensington before dismantling five-time winners Dominion at the same venue.
Captain Darren Cowie and Kadeem Fortune gave Queen’s Park a 2-0 half-time lead against Bajans Fuh Real, the cream of the Barbadian teenaged talent. But the young locals hit back strongly in the second half with goals from Che Roach and Mario Moore bringing the contest level.
However, Jerry Bell’s clinical flick with two minutes left secured all three points for the Trinis.
Queen’s Park were even more emphatic against a listless Dominion side, dominating throughout the match.
Despite earning a number of penalty corners and creating much goalmouth action, Queen’s Park couldn’t find a way past goalkeeper Ayoub Suttle until the final minute of the first half.
The breakthrough came via Raphael Govia, who found himself in acres of space on the right, and slotted home at the second attempt after an initial stop from Suttle.
Queen’s Park were more clinical in the second period, and Govia, the team’s player/coach, made it 2-0 soon after the restart with a mazy run and pinpoint finish from a narrow angle. Two minutes later, it was 3-0 as Fortune surged into the D and blasted a cracking strike into the roof of the net.
Dominion had few realistic chances, wasting the handful of penalty corners they earned, and their heads dropped even further in the final 15 minutes as Queen’s Park added two more.
Evan Farrell made it 4-0 before 15-year-old Keegan Dos Santos iced the victory by tapping home after fine approach play from Shane Samuels on the right.
In the other men’s zone, University of the West Indies (UWI) Blackbirds had an encouraging opening day with back-to-back wins over four-time champs, A Badd Connection (4-1) and Old Gold Roosters (4-0).
ABC women also jump-started their week with two wins in Zone B, seeing off Maple 4-1 in the morning through strikes from Maria Sealy, Dionne Clarke, Keisha Jordan and Kwylanne Jaggesar, before returning to beat Deacons 2-1 on the back of goals from Clarke and Delia Rock.
In the other zone, New York’s Big Apple scored two wins to set the early pace.
Flying Hoppers, the first-ever festival team from Switzerland, took advantage of an under-strength and goalkeeper-less All Stars to score a 10-4 win to launch their veterans’ campaign.
Yesterday’s scores:
Men
Zone A: UWI 4, ABC 1; Du Badd Crew 1, TTDF 0; UWI 4, Roosters 0.
Zone B: All Stars 5, BDF 0; Queen’s Park 3, Bajans Fuh Real 2; Bajans Fuh Real 5, BDF 0; Queen’s Park 5, Dominion 0.
Women
Zone A: Big Apple 5, All Stars 0; Roosters 4, Banks SC 2; Big Apple 3, Banks SC 0; Roosters 0, Du Badd Crew 0.
Zone B: Maple 3, UWI 1; ABC 4, Maple 1; ABC 2, Deacons 1; Deacons 5, Generation X 0.
Mixed
Zone A: All Stars 3, Queen’s Park 2; Rockets 7, BUT 0.
Zone B: Maple 0, UWI 0; UWI 3, Deacons 0.
Zone C: Du Badd Crew 4, Team Hoff 0; Roosters 2, Team Hoff 1; Du Badd Crew 3, T&T Police 1, Banks/BDF 1, T&T Police 0.
Veterans
Zone A: Queen’s Park 3, TTDF 0; CSOS/Islanders 3, ABC Cunning 0.
Zone B: Flying Hoppers 10, All Stars 4; Maple beat T&T Police by default.