Greenwich I men and Big Apple Flickers women capture NEFHA 2003-2004 titles

By Jawwad Qamar

New York, June 20: Greenwich I men and Big Apple Flicker women captured the North-East Field Hockey Association's 2003-2004 playoff crowns at Dewitt Clinton HS pitch on a perfect weather day.

Greenwich I men defeated the Michael Grannum Trophy regular season league winners Tri-state Falcons 5-2 on the strength of a three goal hat trick by Karl Sprules in the men's final to capture the John Greer Cup. Sprules started the scoring early by pouncing on an errant clearance by Falcon's defense. However, Tri-state bounced right back with goals from Hugh Thompson and Dennis Lallo for a 1-2 lead. This lead was short lived as a stunned Greenwich went into attack mode with a sense of urgency resulting into a penalty stroke from Neil Stratford's penalty corner attempt. Brett Gillmon converted the penalty stroke easily to level score at 2-2. The first half ended leveled after a few good opportunities missed by Leroy Mayers for the Falcons.

After a number of missed chances by both sides, Greenwich put the game away with three unanswered goals in the second half. Sukhwinder (Sukh) Singh scored on a fine penalty corner variation to put Greenwich up 3-2. An unmarked Sprules found the net from the left of the circle for a two goal cushion and followed by completing an excellent fast break give-and-go with Robert Stapf to conclude the scoring for a 5-2 victory. This men's final between two veteran teams was an entertaining match. The outcome however was never really in doubt, even when the score was tied at 2-2. Karl Sprules seemed to be at the right place at the right time for Greenwich and was well supported by an international cast that included the always reliable former Olympians Manzar Iqbal and Ahmed Al Mughraby. Tri-state Falcons on the other hand were missing a few starters; including their star forward Godfrey (Randy) Christie, out with a broken foot courtesy of an opponent's hockey stick during USA Club Championships in Virginia.


In the first semifinal, Tri-state Falcons were fortunate to narrowly escape with a 1-0 win over a gutsy Greenwich II and their very determined goalkeeper Graham Rowbottom, after squandering ten penalty corners. As things got heated late in the second half and the Falcons found themselves down two men thanks to the yellow cards, a calm and collective Kesley (Fawzey) Stephenson struck, finally, on the 11th penalty corner with a low shot to the left, much to the relive of his teammates. The second semifinal match between Greenwich I and the New York Islanders was not as exciting. Andre Boyce, Barbados national team goalkeeper in net for the Islanders, received a good workout as Greenwich toyed with his team with an 8-2 hammering.

The women's playoff final for the Anthony 'Pudding' Clarke Cup was a tightly marked, at times sloppy, but evenly played match between Big Apple Flickers and the New York Islanders. The Flickers however prevailed 1-0 on a penalty corner conversion late in the game by Jennifer Osborne to claim the championship in their second season in NEFHA. In the first semifinal, the New York Islanders defeated the Jeffrey Grosvenor Trophy league winners Greenwich 4-2. The Islanders took an early 3-0 lead on goals from Corrine Newello, Michele Howard and Robin Carrington. Christina Hunsicker scored for Greenwich to narrow the gap before the first half. Genisa Babb added a goal for the Islanders in the second half for a 4-1 comfortable lead and Karen Robinson answered late in the game for Greenwich to make the final score 4-2. In the other semifinal, the Big Apple Flickers scored four unanswered goals against Malvern after a scoreless first half to move in the finals. Christine Hutchinson started the onslaught with two goals followed by Sandra Cook and Sue Bing for a 4-0 result.