RHONDA Richardson notched a brace, including the game winner with under three minutes to go, to push Maritime Harvard Checkers past Defence Force 2-1 in a Trinidad and Tobago Hockey Board (TTHB) Championship Division women's clash at the National Hockey Centre (NHC) in Tacarigua last weekend.

Richardson opened the scoring for Checkers in the 20th minute to give her team a 1-0 advantage at the break. On the restart, the army/sailor combination came more into the contest and were rewarded for their effort when Charlene Williams equalised in the 58th minute.

Richardson completed her double when she bundled the ball over the Defence Force's goal line in the 68th to secure all the points for Checkers, who were checking back into the winners column, following a 2-0 loss to Carib Magnolias.

It was the Army's second defeat of the season.

In the other Championship Division men's game last weekend, Corona Fatima HC hammered winless SHAPE 6-2. Colin Young was responsible for three of the half-dozen goals scored in the predictably one-sided affair.

Young netted a penalty goal in the eighth minute and a pair of field items in the 25th and 44th minutes as Fatima held a handsome 4-1 lead at the interval. 

Shane Newallo (18th), Derek Lee (35th) and Pier Van Farrell (40th) also had a goal apiece in the win for Fatima, who were registering their second victory from a handful of match-ups.

For SHAPE, who are pointless from four attempts to date, Shaquille Edwards (28th) and Jerron Frank (46th) were their goal-getters.

In Trinity Division action, Raiders shut out Top Cops 4-0 in a rescheduled women's game, with four different players hitting the net-Karen Lovelace, Tonya Marie James, C Cropper and Marina Stephens.

Raiders led 2-0 at the half- time break.

Ventures edged Paragon HC 1-0 with the goal coming off the stick of Kristine Jardine via a penalty corner as early as in the eighth minute.

Also on Sunday, Dominic Young netted three times to help Queen's Park Cricket Club overwhelm Defence Force 6-1 in a Trinity Men's match. The other goals for QPCC came through the efforts of Derek Daniel (10th), Kareem Fortune (21st) and Darren Cowie (69th).

And on Saturday in the women's top flight, Carib Magnolias stopped Paragon Hockey Club 4-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to four as they seek to improve on their second place to champions Malvern on the last campaign. Magnolias had two players scoring the goals for them through field goals.

Candice De Freitas netted in the 24th and 36 minutes, while consistent performer national player Stacey Siu Butt was on target in the 43rd and 67th minutes.

Kristin Thompson scored a penalty corner in the 17th minute to give Paragon HC an unexpected lead as the first half eventually ended level at 1-1.

Defending champions Malvern picked up their third win from the same number of matches, following a narrow 2-1 triumph over Raiders in a game from the same bracket. Carina Leigh Lezema (42nd) and Roseanne Reyes (45th) got the goals for the champs, after the first session concluded goalless. Kathy Govia was on the mark for Raiders.

Also on Saturday, Kwan Browne scored four goals for the second time in as many matches to pace the in-form Notre Dame to a comprehensive 5-1 drubbing of Paragon HC.

Browne, who notched four goals against Fatima last weekend, had two strikes on either side of the one-sided affair. Diminutive Browne netted a pair of field goals in the 19th and 23rd minutes to put his team 2-0 in front at the break, before smashing home a couple of penalty corners in the 40th and 69th minutes in the second period.

Kenneth Whiteman chipped in with the other item for the winners, while Kiel Murray netted Praragon's lone item in the 44th to make the score 2-1, before Browne and company knocked the fight out of them.

Notre Dame have now scored 11 times and conceded only once in their last couple of games, following their 6-0 whipping of Fatima the weekend before.

In another men's Championship Division encounter on the same night, a young and battling Petrotin outfit rallied following a 37th minute strike by Defence Force's Aaron McKenzie to edge an aging and out-of-shape looking Army unit 2-1 in a scrappy encounter.

Attiba Whitington, who was struck over his left eye by the stick of a Defence Force player and had to leave the pitch for ice treatment, returned to grab the equaliser in the 54th minute for the southerners, who got their winning item from Dwain Quan Chan in the 64th to seal a well-deserved win.

The victory has lengthened Petrotin's winning record to three at the beginning of the new season, while the Army, who are enduring their worst start to a season ever, are one win and three losses from four outings.

In the only Trinity women's game played last Saturday, Notre Dame squeezed past Petrotrin 3-2, while the Trinity Men's affair between Carib Hockey Club and Corona Fatima carded for the same day was put off to a date to be announced.

Meanwhile, due to the Ministry of Sport's National Sport Festival which was scheduled to run from yesterday until today at the same venue, there will be no action in the TTHB competition. Play will resume tomorrow with five matches overall in the Trinity and Championship Divisions.