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LASANA LIBURD
"Okay Brian, now is the time," said Canterbury Hockey Club manager Roger Snelling, as he smiled and patted skilful Trinidad and Tobago attacker Brian Garcia on his back. "Now is the time."

Garcia gave a faint nod as he returned to the turf on Sunday afternoon for the second half of Canterbury's final England Men's Premier 1 Hockey League fixture away to Hampstead and Westminster. Canterbury, one spot ahead of ninth placed Hampstead, needed a draw to avoid the embarrassment of a playoff battle to preserve their top flight status. At that point, though, Canterbury trailed 3-1 and Snelling knew that Garcia was their best chance of a reversal. But Garcia, a Notre Dame export and ex-Queen's Royal College student, could not pull it off.

Canterbury lost 5-2 and must now overcome Premier 2 runners-up, Bath Buccaneers, in a two leg Play Off on May 7 and 8.

"Brian is very important to us," Snelling told the Daily Express, after the match. "He is always among our three most consistent players and he is our playmaker. He is very good with the ball and, as you see, he can undress (humiliate) players too."

It seemed scant consolation. As the horn sounded to declare Hampstead victors, Garcia looked as though he swallowed a bottle of Buckley's while the opponents he "undressed" pranced around the turf in celebration.

"I think the score might have been a fair reflection in the end," said Garcia, as he fiddled with the little finger on his left hand that resembled a "Slippery Road" sign.

He broke that finger this season and was ordered to take six weeks rest. Garcia skipped one game but was back within ten days and played with two pins inserted in his finger until two weeks ago. It is an indication of his appetite for the game. He has ability to match.

The encounter was just five minutes old when Garcia made his first indentation with a cracking diagonal cross-field pass that created the opening goal for Canterbury striker Matt Harper.

"I hope you got that," the beaming Snelling told this Daily Express reporter. "Brian set the goal up!" But Garcia's brilliant attacking moves came in spurts as the hosts dictated the pace with swift ball movement and aggressive wing play. A lapse in concentration by the Canterbury defence from a quick Hampstead free hit allowed Roshan Parag to deflect the ball home and pull the team's level in the 21st minute.

"What happens if we draw?" one Canterbury fan asked the manager.

"If we draw, we're okay," he replied calmly, before offering an explanation for Canterbury's precarious league position.

If they had won their last two fixtures, Snelling explained, they might have been pushing for Europe rather than trying to avoid relegation. In fact, they lost their last four successive outings. Six minutes later, Parag put Hampstead ahead while he completed his hat-trick eight minutes before the interval.

"C'mon guys! Body language! Body language!" Snelling offered, as he paced the touchline. As both teams returned for the second half, Garcia was given the freedom of the park by his manager, who still managed an air of calm defiance.

Garcia won a short corner within minutes but, not for the first time, Canterbury captain Steward Keir dragged his shot wide.

The athletic Garcia merely grew more determined and his dribbling more emphatic. His favourite party piece was hockey's answer to what football players call a "spanner".

He pushed the ball with the base of his stick hard to his right before, with one fluid movement, diverting its movement in the opposite direction with the stick's hook.

"Unbelievable!" "Jesus!" came the exclamations as Garcia bamboozled three defenders with the trick. And that was just from the opposing bench! It was Harper who won the short corner that offered Canterbury a way back, though, as Keir finally converted a set piece in the 50th minute. But Richard Ascott restored Hampstead's two-goal lead against the run of play in the 60th minute before Parag got his fourth, three minutes from time.

"Good luck, Brian," said Hampstead's Josh Smith, with a sheepish grin after the match.

Garcia, slumped on the bench, accepted his handshake and mumbled his appreciation.

"There is a big skill difference between the (Premier 1 and Premier 2) Leagues," said Snelling, "and I would expect us to come out on top. Although I expect East Grinstead with (Trinidad and Tobago star and ex-Canterbury player) Kwan Browne to give whoever they play a good game as well."

Once more, much of Canterbury's optimism is likely to rest at the hook of Garcia's stick. Failure and subsequent relegation, for a proud 104-year-old club with a history of titles is unthinkable.

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