A proud Toronto Galaxy's captain Scott Sandison (left)
accepts the Diamond Mineral Water-sponsored men's champion trophy
from Demerara Distillers Limited's Marketing executive Alicia Kathadeen
(Lawrence Fanfair photo).

Tuesday, November 28th 2006 - The Toronto Galaxy team of Canada emerged winners of the men's final of the Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor hockey competition after securing a 4-2 win over Trinidad's Notre Dame on Sunday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Malvern defeated last year's champions Everest Hikers by a similar margin in the third place play-offs, after trailing 1-2 at the interval.

Malvern also captured the men's masters' category with a 4-3 win over counterparts Fatima after leading 3-2 at half time.

Guyana's Carib Degene-rates beat their counterparts Old Fort by a 2-0 margin with two, first-half goals in the masters' third play-offs.

Notre Dame beat Malvern 3-0 on penalty flicks in the men's semi-final after the two teams were locked at 2-2 at the end of regulation and full time, while the Toronto Galaxy defeated the Hikers by a similar margin in the other semi-final as both teams were tied at 4-4 at the end of regulation time. Everest had held a 2-1 lead at the end of the first half, but the Canadian team did well to level the score 4-4 in the second session.

The Trinidad ladies also recorded victories when Malvern retained their title in a bout with counterparts the Raiders, defeating them 2-1 in a sudden-death penalty after they were locked 0-0 at the end of the regulation and extra time.

The Trinidad Ventures also won the ladies' third place play-off when they edged Guyana's Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) by a 2-1 margin after leading 1-0 at half time.

Toronto Galaxy's Gowrishankar Premakan was judged best goal keeper in the men's category, while Fatima's Gerard Mahabir and GCC's Alicia Xavier were named best keepers in the masters' and ladies' categories respectively. Their awards were presented by former national goal keeper Winston Parris.

Guyanese Jonathan Roberts, son of former national captain and former Guyana Police Force Crime Chief Cecil `Skip' Roberts, was named Most Valuable Player in the men's category while Malvern's Kenneth Whiteman and the Raiders' Nicole Aming received similar awards in the masters' and ladies' categories respectively. These awards were presented by De Abreu Creations' Manager Rebecca Phillips.

Report by Derek Sandison, PAHF Competitions Committee