Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer
Circus Circle's Kishawn Smith (left) dribbles away from Raiders' Larklin Christie (second left) and Gerald Richards during their Jamaica Hockey Federation Men's Premier League match at the Mona Astro Turf on Saturday. Raiders won 5-2. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
RAIDERS UNITED and defending champions Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) registered convincing victories in the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF) Men's Premier League at the Mona Astro Turf on Saturday.
In the opening encounter, Raiders defeated Circus Circle 5-2, while the JDF had to come from behind twice to overpower Sharpes Knights 5-3.
Led by a hat-trick from Nicholas Beach, Raiders dominated the first half and quickly took the lead in the first minute when Anthony Prendergast took a pass from Richard Brian and swiftly went around two Circus Circle defenders before slotting home past goalkeeper Andrew Thompson.
Circus Circle found the equalised, in the ninth minute when Leon Kerr pounced after goalkeeper Donavan Shakespeare failed to clear his lines, to make it 1-1.
LEAD RESTORED
Leonardo Camejo restored Raiders' lead in the 21st minute before Nicholas added the third in the 25th minute to give his team a 3-1 advantage at half-time.
The second stanza was keenly contested with both teams missing clear chances, but in the 44th minute, Beach scored his second goal and his team fourth when he twisted his way past three defenders and calmly rolled the ball into the back of the net.
Kerr scored his second goal of the game in the 47th minute to give his team a glimmer of hope but Beach made sure the points were safe with his third goal when he ran on to a pass from Darren Levy and easily beat substitute goalkeeper Orville McTaggart from close range to complete his hat-trick.
Coach of the Raiders team, Kingsley Thomas, said: "It was a challenging match; the discipline was superior today (Saturday) and we were able to maintain it throughout."
He continued: "I am not 100 per cent happy but the goals are coming and we are also now trying to build back our team to be the championship team we once had before," he added.
Meanwhile, Richard Wisdom, captain of Circus Circle, was very disappointed with the loss.
"We gave away too many easy balls around the defence line. The ball wasn't coming up through the midfield to reach the forwards, but this is something I think we can work on for the second and third rounds," he pointed out. In the day's other game, two goals by Horace Thomas in the 36th and 67th minutes propelled JDF to victory over a youthful Knights team.
Marlon Rowe (11th), Kevin Faloon (51st) and Wesley Walton (64th) completed the scoring for JDF. Arnold Gentles gave Knights a dream start with a goal in the first minute, while Giovanni Green (33rd) and Denroy Fisher (69th) were the other scorers for Knights.
