Destination 1B for Team GB

Destination 1B for Team GB

20 Apr 2013 | Jon Rowson - Video reporter Tomáš Salamon
 

South Korea condemned Great Britain to relegation in the first game on the final day of the Division 1A World Championships, with the Koreans defeating the Brits 4:1.

 
 
 
 

It was winner take all in the first game on the final day of the Division 1A World Championships, as while getting the game to overtime would do for South Korea, for Great Britain, three points was necessary to keep them in the division. The urgency was certainly felt by the British, who put together their best period of hockey in the opening frame, as good work by Ben Davies would draw an early penalty against Yongjun Lee and while the much maligned British powerplay failed to score, they did create chances, with Colin Shields and Jonathan Weaver getting pucks to the net. Fifteen seconds after the powerplay expired, Great Britain would score for only the fifth time in this year’s World Championships, as Robert Dowd picked up the puck in the neutral zone from Danny Meyers, gained the zone and fired past Sungje Park stick side. It was the first goal for Robert Dowd, who was last year’s Division 1A top scorer with nine points. Britain outshot South Korea 9:4 in the first period, and they also had two shots hit the pipes, as a Matthew Myers wrist shot and a David Clarke one timer both beat Park but failed to find the back of the net. As the period continued, South Korea began to find their feet somewhat, as Murphy had to be quick with his pads to deny Wonjung Kim, while on a powerplay with Britain captain Jonathan Phillips in the box for a kneeing minor, a scramble in front of the net gave the Koreans the perfect chance to equalise, but somehow Danny Meyers got his stick to the puck to knock it away and keep Britain’s slender advantage. In the final minute of the period Great Britain had the momentum, and Jonathan Weaver went close to finding the back of the net, but Park made a good save with his shoulder.

South Korea have made a habit of falling behind early in games to then rally back with a flurry of goals. As Great Britain failed to build on the momentum of their first period, South Korea took advantage to put three past Stephen Murphy and leave the Brits with a mountain to climb. In the fourth minute of the second period, Sanghoon Shin’s shot from the right wing sailed into the top corner of the net with Woosang Park causing havoc in front of the net. Six minutes later the South Koreans had taken the lead in the game as Jiman Yoon gained the zone with speed, and with Jonathan Weaver falling back, he shot into the top corner, leaving Stephen Murphy stranded. Robert Dowd, the British offensive dynamo managed to hit the post immediately after the goal with a quick wrist shot, which was the third time Britain found iron  in the game, but they simply looked a step off the pace as South Korea swarmed in the offensive zone. A broken play in the zone with five and a half minutes left in the second period would create South Korea’s third goal, as Brock Radunske fired low and hard and Murphy was unable to get anything on it, and Radunske lit the lamp for his second goal of the tournament. Great Britain tried to create offence towards the end of the period, but a deflection off a Korean leg trickled wide.

Only a regulation win would keep Great Britain in Division 1A, which meant they would need to score three unanswered goals in the final twenty minutes. After killing an early powerplay chance, South Korea almost made it 4:1 as Yongjun Lee parted the British defence and was only kept from scoring by an Aaron Nell hook. However on the powerplay, they would make it 4:1 as good work down low opened up the play and Kim Kisung beat his man to the puck and tapped it in. Radunske would go close to securing a brace six and a half minutes into the period, but Murphy was able to glove his shot on a South Korea 2 on 1. A good spell of puck possession for Great Britain would yield nothing to the frustration of the British players, as Park flashed the leather to deny Robert Lachowicz. A Stephen Lee point shot would force Park to make a pad stop, but far too often South Korea was able to withstand the British offensive push and run down the clock. This defeat sees South Korea survive their first foray into Division 1A, while for Great Britain, fifth place in Ljubljana has been followed up by a disastrous campaign in Budapest, with the team picking up zero points.

Speaking after the game, Great Britain forward Robert Dowd said, ‘It’s very frustrating. You can’t fault the guys for effort. People who watch on TV will see but people who just read the scorelines won’t see. Guys went to the wall for each other and sometimes it just doesn’t bounce for you. We need to work on our special teams because our powerplay by far wasn’t good enough. We’ve just got to work on that next season and come back stronger next year’.



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