Showing posts with label austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label austria. Show all posts

Saturday, 29 June 2024

Soulless England frustrate as Scotland fail again


🟥 EURO 2024 GROUP STAGE ðŸŸ¥

GROUP AWDLFAGDPts
(Q) GERMANY21082+67
(Q) SWITZERLAND
12053+25
HUNGARY
10225-33
SCOTLAND01227-51

14-June
20:00GERMANY5-1SCOTLANDMunich
ITV



Wirtz 10, Musiala 19
Havertz 45+1pen
Fullkrug 68, Can 90+3

Rudiger 87og



15-June14:00HUNGARY1-3SWITZERLANDCologne
ITV


Varga 66


Duah 12, Aebischer 45
Embolo 90+3

19-June17:00GERMANY2-0HUNGARYStuttgart
BBC

Musiala 22, Gundogan 67


19-June20:00SCOTLAND1-1SWITZERLANDCologne
BBC

McTominay 13
Shaqiri 26
23-June20:00SWITZERLAND1-1GERMANYFrankfurt
BBC

Ndoye 29
Fullkrug 90+2
23-June20:00SCOTLAND0-1HUNGARYStuttgart
BBC



Csoboth 90+10

Scotland failed to get out of the group at a major tournament for a record-extending 12th time after a last-gasp defeat to Hungary consigned Steve Clarke's men to yet another bottom-placed finish in Group A. 

Germany, as expected, topped the section - though only after Niclas Fullkrug scored a late goal to equalise against Switzerland - and it was the Germans, of course, who started off this latest Scottish nightmare.

Julian Nagelsmann's Mannschaft were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and 3-0 up at half time on their way to a 5-1 hammering of the Scots on the opening night of the tournament as Ryan Porteous received a red card for a nasty foul on Ilkay Gundogan.

Scotland consoled themselves that they could not have faced a tougher start against the revved-up hosts - but their failure to get anywhere near Germany at any point during the game was a definite cause for concern.

The Germans even seemed to take pity on their opponents as a late Antonio Rudiger own goal put the Scots on the scoresheet - and own goals, along with timidity from the two British teams, have been notable themes of Euro 2024 so far.

At least Scotland started better in their second match against Switzerland - and their early pressure was rewarded when Scott McTominay smashed a shot from the edge of the box into the net off Fabian Schar.

It could have easily gone down as another own goal - but the original effort was deemed to have been on target so the Manchester United midfielder was credited.

Nevertheless, the Swiss rarely roll over nowadays and the Nati were back level before the break through a cracking strike by Xherdan Shaqiri following a terribly loose back-pass by Scotland right-back Anthony Ralston.

Both teams had chances late on to take the three points as Grant Hanley headed against the post from a McTominay free-kick - but a draw was probably a fair result.

In the meantime, Germany eased their way past Hungary to reach the Last 16 with a game to spare with a straightforward 2-0 win in Stuttgart which left the Magyars without a point.

That was enough for Scotland to feel confident heading into the third group game against the Hungarians of breaching the first phase of a major tournament for the first time in history.

But, despite dominating the ball, Scotland failed to get a single shot on target - and their lack of ambition seemed to stem throughout the competition from the coaching staff.

Head coach Clarke declared beforehand that he would be happy to scrape through with four points - and, while it obviously meant Clarke could not be accused of delusion, it hardly reeked of Braveheart and arguably belied a lack of confidence in the ability of his squad.

Of course, there was the usual dose of bad luck as neither Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini or the video assistant referee (VAR) determined Stuart Armstrong had not been fouled even though the replays suggested otherwise.

Then, as the clock ticked into stoppage time, the Scots' biggest chance fell to centre-back Hanley - before, moments later, a neat passing move on the break from the clearance of a Scotland corner reached its crescendo when Kevin Csoboth struck the ball past goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

In that moment, any remaining Scottish hopes were shattered. However, the fact is that Scotland had just 17 shots in the Euro 2024 finals overall, with no team having had fewer efforts in a group stage since groups were introduced at Euro 1980.

Now, frustratingly for the long-suffering Tartan Army, this was nothing new - in 21 matches in World Cup and European Championship finals since 1986, the Scots have won just three, and the last of those came back in 1996.

Moreover, in that time, Scotland have scored a pitiful 12 goals in total. So much indeed for Scotland the Brave...

■ GROUP BWDLFAGDPts
(Q) SPAIN30050+59
(Q) ITALY
1113304
CROATIA02136-32
ALBANIA01235-21

15-June17:00SPAIN3-0CROATIABerlin
ITV


Morata 29, Fabian Ruiz 32
Carvajal 45+2



15-June20:00ITALY2-1ALBANIADortmund
BBC
Bastoni 11, Barella 16
Bajrami 1
19-June14:00CROATIA2-2ALBANIAHamburg
ITV
Kramaric 74, Gjasula 76og
Laci 11, Gjasula 90+5
20-June20:00SPAIN1-0ITALYGelsenkirchen
ITV
Calafiori 55og


24-June20:00ALBANIA0-1SPAINDusseldorf
BBC


Ferran Torres 13
24-June20:00CROATIA1-1ITALYLeipzig
BBC
Modric 55
Zaccagni 90+8

Spain made light work of Group B as the only team in the competition to take maximum points by progressing with an unbreached defence against Croatia (3-0), Italy (1-0) and Albania (1-0). 

La Roja enjoyed an ideal start to their campaign, leading 3-0 against the Croatians at half time - before following it up with a far narrower success against the Italians in a tight affair settled by an unfortunate own goal off the knee of Riccardo Calafiori.

That was enough to seal top spot for Luis de la Fuente's side with a game to spare - and the head coach indulged in this freedom by making 10 changes to his starting line-up.

Ferran Torres hit an early goal to justify the shaken-up selection - but the Barcelona forward then missed a hatful of chances as Albania noticeably struggled for the first time in the tournament.

Until that point, the Red and Blacks had competed well - and, in fact, Nedim Bajrami now holds the record for the fastest goal in European Championship finals history.

Timed at 23 seconds, Bajrami intercepted a loose throw-in by Federico Dimarco before slamming a shot past the stunned Gianluigi Donnarumma.

However, the Albanians had a major weakness - they gave up a lead then fell behind in double-quick time against Italy and did exactly the same against Croatia.

At least in a chaotic encounter against Hrvatska, Albania were able to pick up only their fourth point in major tournament football as Klaus Gjasula kept his cool for a stoppage-time equaliser.

It was a case of redemption for Gjasula who had inadvertently scored in his own net less than 20 minutes earlier.

Nevertheless, Croatia v Italy always looked like the key tie in this section - and so it proved, although the first half was almost completely devoid of action.

Croatia - aware that a draw would be no good - showed their hand first and, following a series of attacks, the Azzurri eventually cracked as a clear handball by Davide Frattesi resulted in a penalty.

Up stepped 38-year-old Luka Modric - but Donnarumma made a fine save to his left and then made an even better stop from Ante Budimir in the very next attack.

Modric snaffled the rebound, however, to round off a crazy 33 seconds of football - and Croatia remained in control with the lead.

By contrast, Italy had to make-do with fleeting attacks and were not helped by the poverty of their set-plays - although, towards the end of the match, Alessandro Bastoni really should have done better with his header from a corner.

No matter. Winners always find a way - and, while Croatia maintained their remarkable all-time unbeaten record against Italy, Mattia Zaccagni's curling shot in the eighth minute of stoppage time ensured this one would be a draw.

It was virtually the last kick of the game - and a draw really was no good for Croatia.

Modric, standing helplessly on the sidelines having been substituted, cut a dejected figure as the final curtain fell on this special Croatian generation.

Holders Italy, though, march on - and, while Luciano Spalletti's charges have been far from convincing in any of their first three games, they will start their Last 16 tie against Switzerland as favourites.

 GROUP CWDLFAGDPts
(Q) ENGLAND
12021+15
(Q) DENMARK
0302203
(Q) SLOVENIA
0302203
SERBIA
02112-12

16-June17:00SLOVENIA1-1DENMARK
Stuttgart
ITV
Janza 77
Eriksen 17
16-June20:00SERBIA0-1ENGLANDGelsenkirchen
BBC

Bellingham 13
20-June14:00SLOVENIA1-1SERBIA
Munich
ITV
Karnicnik 69 
Jovic 90+6
20-June17:00DENMARK1-1ENGLANDFrankfurt
BBC
Hjulmand 34
Kane 18
25-June20:00ENGLAND
0-0SLOVENIA
Cologne
ITV




25-June20:00DENMARK0-0SERBIAMunich
ITV





England prevailed at the top of possibly the worst group ever played out at a major tournament with five of the six matches finishing as dull draws. 

In fairness, the Three Lions were the only team actually to win a match in a truly desperate section which featured three 1-1 results, two 0-0 stalemates, and only seven goals overall.

Jude Bellingham gave Gareth Southgate's men an ideal start to the campaign against Serbia, heading in a deflected cross from Bukayo Saka after just 13 minutes.

England quickly fashioned another chance down the right as Kyle Walker sent a teasing ball across the six-yard box - but, until Harry Kane clipped the bar with a late header, a much-vaunted attack showed little in the way of threat.

It was felt perhaps that England were just feeling their way into the competition - and any major criticism of the Three Lions was tempered by the three points on the board.

In the second match against Denmark, England took another relatively early lead as Kane stabbed home from close range following a couple of deflections on Walker's pull-back.

But the Danes are an all-round better team than Serbia and, by half time, were back level after Morten Hjulmand struck a long-range effort.

The results in the other matches - Slovenia v Denmark and Slovenia v Serbia, both 1-1 draws - made it possible for England to win Group C with a match to spare with a second victory.

If that was the ambition, though, the Three Lions showed little sign of fulfilling it, especially after the equaliser.

Remarkably, it was the 14th time in matches at major tournaments held since 2000 that England had taken the lead yet failed to win the match with most of the giveaways down to the adoption of the ultra-cautious approach bizarrely favoured by Southgate.

Ahead of the third match against Slovenia, results in other groups ensured England had qualified for the Last 16 - but the identity of the group winners remained unclear.

The runners-up knew they would face hosts Germany in the first knockout round, though, so there was still theoretically some level of pressure.

In practice, England infuriatingly produced yet more of the same slow, safety first football which has come to epitomise their campaign.

The balance of the team remained poor with Kieran Trippier and Phil Foden looking particularly uncomfortable down the left - although at least the experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield was thankfully ditched.

Still, though, there was no room in the starting line-up for either Cole Palmer or Anthony Gordon despite both players boasting double figures for both goals and assists in the 2023-24 Premier League season.

Palmer was eventually introduced in the 71st minute - while Gordon ridiculously kicked his heels until 88 minutes were on the clock.

Gordon, indeed, has spent many more minutes at Euro 2024 responding to questions from the media in interviews and press conferences than he has actually playing football.

Nevertheless, both made a positive impression against the Slovenians with a raking pass by Gordon finding fellow substitute Kobbie Mainoo whose flick to Kane set up Palmer in one of the very few moments of excitement across the 90 minutes.

All that was needed was a stoppage time Denmark winner in Munich to consign England to second place and a meeting with the Germans.

But the fact that it did not come - and the fact that Denmark and Slovenia were able to make it through without winning any of their games - rather summed up Group C quite neatly.

■ GROUP DWDLFAGDPts
(Q) AUSTRIA20154+16
(Q) FRANCE12021+15
(Q) NETHERLANDS1114404
POLAND01235-21

16-June14:00POLAND1-2NETHERLANDSHamburg
BBC
Buksa 16
Gakpo 29, Weghorst 83
17-June20:00AUSTRIA0-1FRANCE
Dusseldorf
ITV


Wober 38og
21-June17:00POLAND1-3AUSTRIABerlin
ITV


Piatek 30


Trauner 9, Baumgartner 66
Arnautovic 78pen

21-June20:00NETHERLANDS0-0FRANCELeipzig
BBC




25-June17:00NETHERLANDS2-3AUSTRIABerlin
BBC


Gakpo 47, Depay 75


Malen 6og, Schmid 59
Sabitzer 80

25-June17:00FRANCE1-1POLANDDortmund
BBC
Mbappe 56pen
Lewandowski 79pen

Austria caused a huge shock in Group D after beating Netherlands to finish ahead of France and the Dutch at the top of the section. 

Coming into the third set of group games, there appeared to be little scope for drama with Netherlands and France already through, and Poland already eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Austrians merely had to get a point or, at worst, ensure their goal difference did not suffer too much damage.

Straightaway, though, Ralf Rangnick's men showed greater ambition than that - picking up where they left off in their fine 3-1 win against Poland by taking an early lead as Donyell Malen slid the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Ronald Koeman's Netherlands hit back immediately after half time as a quick break concluded with Cody Gakpo curling in his second goal of the tournament.

But Austria were not disturbed out of their rhythm by the equaliser - and, just as Kylian Mbappe was putting France in front against Poland in the other game in Dortmund, Romano Schmid restored the Austrian lead in Berlin with a diving header.

The Dutch - who had started the day top on goals scored from France - dropped to third place, but then briefly went back top as Memphis Depay found a second equaliser and, concurrently, Robert Lewandowski was levelling for Poland against the French.

It was all too brief for the Oranje though, as Marcel Sabitzer finished a lovely passing move to send Austria in front for a third time and back to the top of the group with the Dutch demoted back to third again.

France - aware that, by scoring, the Dutch would need two goals to topple them - tried in vain to get a winner, as Poland completed another underwhelming campaign having at least avoided losing all three group games for the first time ever. 


Les Bleus - while never in danger of falling to progress - have also disappointed and head into the knockout stages via an own goal and an Mbappe penalty.

By contrast, an enterprising Austrian outfit found the net six times in their last two matches. 

Now, the impact of the unexpected finishing order in Group D was immediately apparent with France taking on Belgium in the Last 16 and unexpectedly falling into the side of the knockout stage bracket which also features Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Netherlands will face Romania in the Last 16 - while Austria will look to continue their excellent form against Turkey.


■ GROUP EWDLFAGDPts
(Q) ROMANIA
11143+14
(Q) BELGIUM11121+14
(Q) SLOVAKIA
1113304
UKRAINE11124-24

17-June14:00ROMANIA3-0UKRAINEMunich
BBC


Stanciu 29, R Marin 53
Dragus 57



17-June17:00BELGIUM0-1SLOVAKIAFrankfurt
ITV


Schranz 7
21-June14:00SLOVAKIA1-2UKRAINEDusseldorf
BBC
Schranz 17
Shaparenko 54, Yaremchuk 80
22-June20:00BELGIUM2-0ROMANIACologne
ITV
Tielemans 2, De Bruyne 80


26-June17:00SLOVAKIA1-1ROMANIAFrankfurt
BBC
Duda 24
R Marin 37pen
26-June17:00UKRAINE0-0BELGIUMStuttgart
BBC






None of the four teams in Group E could be easily separated as Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine all finished on four points. 

Ultimately though, Ukraine lost out on goal difference following their heavy defeat to Romania in the first round of group games.

The Romanians won their first match at a major tournament since Phil Neville injudiciously brought down Viorel Moldovan and Ionel Ganea dispatched the resultant penalty as goals from Razvan Marin, Nicolae Stanciu and Denis Dragus earned a stylish victory.

On the same afternoon, there was something of a shock as Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka kept a clean sheet despite a typically nervy performance.

Better still for the Slovakians, an early goal by Ivan Schranz gave them a wholly unexpected three points, albeit against an unsurprisingly underwhelming Belgium outfit.

Schranz scored again against Ukraine in the second round of group games - but, facing an early elimination, Serhiy Rebrov's men fought their way back through goals by Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk.

Yaremchuk's effort was outstanding as he took the ball down over his shoulder to finish, although he was helped by uncertain goalkeeping from Dubravka.

Meanwhile, Belgium recovered their form with goals from Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne at the start and end of the match enough to bring Romania back down to earth.

Those results left all four teams on three points with one win and one loss - and really should have set up a classic third round of matches.

Instead, the afternoon turned into something of a damp squib with both matches finishing in draws.

Slovakia and Romania traded first half goals through Ondrej Duda and Marin respectively - but thereafter seemed satisfied with the 1-1 score which guaranteed both teams went through.

And so, it was left to Ukraine to try to provide any drama - a win would have sent the Ukrainians through at the expense of the Belgians.

But a breakthrough by the Blue and Yellow never looked too likely - Belgium had the better chances - as yet another promising set of circumstances dissipated into a non-event.

Consequently Romania retained top spot while Belgium's less than serene progress has landed them a tie against tournament favourites France.

■ GROUP FWDLFAGDPts
(Q) PORTUGAL20153+26
(Q) TURKEY2015506
(Q) GEORGIA1114404
CZECH REPUBLIC01235-21

18-June17:00TURKEY3-1GEORGIADortmund
BBC


Muldur 25, Guler 65
Akturkoglu 90+7

Mikautadze 32


18-June20:00PORTUGAL2-1CZECH REPUBLICLeipzig
BBC
Hranac 69og, Conceicao 90+2
Provod 62
22-June14:00GEORGIA1-1CZECH REPUBLICHamburg
BBC
Mikautadze 45+4pen
Schick 59
22-June17:00TURKEY0-3PORTUGALDortmund
ITV


Bernardo Silva 21, Akaydin 28og
Bruno Fernandes 55

26-June20:00GEORGIA2-0PORTUGALGelsenkirchen
ITV


Kvaratskhelia 2
Mikautadze 57pen




26-June20:00CZECH REPUBLIC1-2TURKEYHamburg
ITV
Soucek 66
Calhanoglu 51, Tosun 90+4

Georgia will continue their wondrous adventure at Euro 2024 on their major tournament debut after sealing a landmark win over 2016 winners Portugal in Group F. 

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the Crusaders ahead inside two minutes with a good low finish before, in the second half, Luka Lochoshvili had his tapped ankle tapped by Antonio Silva, and was awarded a penalty.

Metz striker Georges Mikautadze made no mistake from the spot to become the first, and so far only, player to hit three goals in the group stages.

Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was the Georgians' other big star and he protected the lead with an important save from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Overall, though, Georgia must be commended most of all for their team spirit which has been clear from the start of the competition.

Defeat against Turkey in their first game was tough take for Willy Sagnol's men given that they were right in the game at 2-1 down and pushing for an equaliser.

But, having brought Mamardashvili up for a corner deep in stoppage time, a rapid Turkish break concluded with Kerem Akturkoglu rolling the ball into an empty net for 3-1.

It was a great start for Turkey but the Crescent Stars were unable to build on it in their second match against Portugal who moved into a higher gear in an extremely comfortable 3-0 win which could have been at least a couple more.

Of course, Roberto Martinez's men were helped along the way by an embarrassing own goal by Samet Akaydin after he blindly rolled a backpass into his own net having failed to check the position of his goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

The heavy defeat left Turkey vulnerable to being caught by Czech Republic - but another late Turkish goal on the break through former Everton and Crystal Palace striker Cenk Tosun meant it was the Czechs who bowed out early.

Ivan Hasek's Czechs finished with an extremely disappointing record of one point from nine - not that the Czechs could have really done much more to help themselves in that third game.

Reduced to 10 men after referee Istvan Kovacs made a rod for his back by booking Antonin Barak twice for a couple of fairly innocuous early fouls, large portions of the match denigrated into a nonsense.

Indeed, it finished in utter farce as the Romanian man in the middle ended up brandashing a European Championship record of 19 cards.

No doubt the Czechs will console themselves that the referee was a disaster and this may be merely a tough start for a squad with the youngest average in the tournament.

There is no place for them in the Last 16, though - and nor should there be for Kovacs. 

 THIRD-PLACED TEAMSGroup
WDLFAGDPts
(Q) NETHERLANDS[D]1114404
(Q) GEORGIA[F]1114404
(Q) SLOVAKIA[E]1113304
(Q) SLOVENIA
[C]0302203
HUNGARY[A]10225-33
CROATIA
[B]02136-32

 GOALSCORERS 81 goals in 36 matches (2.25 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia)
2 Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Razvan Marin (Romania)
1 Florian Wirtz (Germany), Kai Havertz (Germany), Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Jude Bellingham (England), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Harry Kane (England), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey)
7 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria

 RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland)
 v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey

Sunday, 12 May 2024

IIHF World Championship: Kirk holds key to Team GB survival bid


LIAM KIRK will be the man to watch as Team GB attempt to survive at the top level in the ice hockey World Championship - again.

Held in Czech Republic until 26 May, Great Britain skaters will compete against the best teams in the world for the fourth time in five years.

That in itself is a remarkable feat considering Team GB had languished in the lower divisions for exactly a quarter of a century between 1994 and 2019.

The first breakthrough in this new era actually came in 2017 before Kirk had made his debut back when Britain beat Croatia (4-2), Estonia (5-1), Lithuania (5-2), Netherlands (14-0), and Japan (4-0) to gain promotion from the third tier.

One year later, like London buses, a second successive gold medal arrived after victories against Slovenia (3-1), Poland (5-3) and Italy (4-3) set up a tie on the last night against hosts Hungary, from which Britain needed to force overtime for at least a point.

Trailing 3-2 with 15 seconds of regular time remaining, Robert Farmer scrambled in an equaliser - and, for good measure, GB then won the shootout after a goalless period of overtime.

In 2019, Team GB at times endured a tough baptism of fire in the top division in Slovakia, suffering notable thrashings against the hosts (1-7), Canada (0-8) and Denmark (0-9).

But France were also without a win ahead of what became a decider in the final round of preliminary fixtures.

A tight opening period was shaded by Team GB. In the second period, though, the tie shifted decidedly in favour of the French as, devastatingly, they scored three times in four minutes and one second of play.

Two of the goals came just six seconds apart - and a previously even game had taken on a very uneven score.

Yet, remarkably, the British team kept their nerve, and began to dominate. First, Robert Dowd finished neatly from a pass by Ben O'Connor - then, three minutes later, Hammond reduced the lead down to one after O'Connor's shot had been parried.

By then, the momentum switch was obvious - and, with 14 minutes still to go, Farmer found another vital goal in his locker.

Neither team could find a winner in regulation time - but, in overtime, skipper Jonathan Phillips held off some close attention down the left and found Ben Davies in front of the net.

Davies made no mistake - and Team GB were going to Switzerland in 2020 - or so they thought.

Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived putting the whole planet, and not just the ice hockey world, on hold.

The effects were still being felt in 2021, of course - and GB were able to play in the World Championship without fear of being relegated with all of the lower divisions cancelled.

As a matter of fact, though, Britain would have stayed up in any case with their 4-3 win over Belarus - and they had improved notably on their 2019 performance, scoring more goals and conceding far fewer.

In particular, Kirk starred throughout, scoring seven goals which, along with his two assists, led to him being named among the tournament all-star players.

However, the spectre of relegation returned in 2022 - and Britain entered the Championship with a forward line truly ravaged by injury.

Kirk, Hammond and Ollie Betteridge were all ruled out - so it was no surprise that Britain could not stand the heat as they slumped to the bottom of the overall top division standings following seven defeats out of seven,  six of them coming in regular time.

Nevertheless, Pete Russell's men refused to feel too sorry for themselves - and, had the advantage of home ice for the Division 1A campaign at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham in spring last year.

There, they regained their seat at the very top table by beating South Korea (4-0), Poland (5-4 in overtime), Lithuania (3-0), Romania (7-0), and - in a decider - Italy (5-3).

Mere survival again is the order of the day this time then - and frankly those hopes will be placed heavily upon the talented young shoulders of Kirk.

The 24-year-old left wing forward from Maltby in North Yorkshire became the first player born and trained in England to be selected by an NHL team when he was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2018.

Having most recently plied his trade at HC Litvinov on the Czech-German border in the Czech Extraliga, Kirk should feel somewhat at home in Prague. 

Meanwhile, he will be supported in attack by the likes of Cade Neilson, Dowd, Davies, Betteridge and Brett Perlini.

In defence, Team GB strongly favours experience with Mark Richardson, David Phillips, Evan Mosey and O'Connor all well beyond the age of 30.

And if they lack the legs to see out a shift, head coach Russell will need his goalkeepers, first-choice Ben Bowns and back-up Jackson Whistle, to perform at the top of their game - even in the more winnable matches against 12th-ranked Norway and 16th-ranked Austria. 

So, this tournament is expected to be an uphill struggle as ever. Additionally, Britain's form heading into the main event could have been better.

Back-to-back wins over Poland were tarnished by the concession of late goals in both matches, the second of which forced GB to penalty shots - while the latest international against Kazakhstan ended in a 5-2 defeat.

Britain also face a hideous start with ties against the top two in the world rankings - Canada and Finland - on the first weekend.

Russell must hope the confidence of his squad is not too damaged by their opening foray ahead of matches against Switzerland, Denmark and Czech Republic - and the vital last two of the preliminary stage against Norway and Austria.

Nevertheless, squad togetherness has been a feature throughout Russell's 10-year tenure in charge - and that, along with Kirk obvious sparkling quality, might just be enough for Great Britain to get over the line once more.


TEAM GB SQUAD
Head coach
Pete Russell
Netminders Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils) - Lucas Brine (Dundee Stars) - Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants)
Defence Josh Batch (Cardiff Devils) - Nathanael Halbert (HC Innsbruck) - Sam Jones (Sheffield Steelers) - Evan Mosey (Cardiff Devils) - Ben O'Connor (Guildford Flames) - David Phillips (Belfast Giants) - Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils) - Sam Ruopp (Lausitzer Fuechse) - Josh Tetlow (Nottingham Panthers)
Forwards Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham Panthers) - Cam Critchlow (Manchester Storm) - Johnny Curran (Coventry Blaze) - Ben Davies (Cardiff Devils) - Robert Dowd (c) (Sheffield Steelers) - Sam Duggan (Cardiff Devils) - Liam Kirk (HC Litvinov) - Robert Lachowicz (Glasgow Clan) - Ben Lake (Belfast Giants) - Cade Neilson (Alaska Nanooks) - Sean Norris (Belfast Giants) - Brett Perlini (Saale Bulls) - Cole Shudra (Sheffield Steelers)

TEAM GB FIXTURES AND RESULTS


ScorePeriodsTeam GB goalsTeam GB assists
Sat 11-May

11:20

CANADA

L2-4

(1-1, 0-3, 1-0)

Kirk (PP)
O'Connor
Mosey, Lake
Kirk, Betteridge
Sun 12-May11:20FINLANDL0-8(0-1, 0-5, 0-2) 
Wed 15-May19:20SWITZERLANDL0-3(0-2, 0-1, 0-0)

Fri 17-May


15:20


DENMARK


L3-4


(2-2, 1-1, 0-1)


Kirk
Neilson
Halbert
Curran, Ruopp
Mosey, Lake
Lachowicz, Perlini
Sat 18-May19:20CZECH REPUBLICL1-4(0-2, 1-2, 0-0)Mosey (PP)Kirk, O'Connor
Mon 20-May

15:20

NORWAY

L2-5

(0-3, 1-1, 1-1)

Perlini
Betteridge
Dowd, O'Connor
Lake, Mosey
Tue 21-May



11:20



AUSTRIA



W4-2



(0-0, 1-1, 3-1)



O'Connor (PP)
Perlini (PP)
Mosey
Dowd
Lake
Dowd, O'Connor
Duggan, Tetlow
Perlini

TEAM GB PLAYER POINTS
2+3 Evan Mosey
2+3 Ben O'Connor
2+2 Liam Kirk
2+2 Brett Perlini
1+2 Robert Dowd
1+1 Ollie Betteridge
1+0 Nathanael Halbert
1+0 Cade Neilson
0+4 Ben Lake
0+1 Johnny Curran
0+1 Sam Duggan
0+1 Robert Lachowicz
0+1 Sam Ruopp
0+1 Josh Tetlow

TOURNAMENT FIXTURES AND RESULTS

DateTimeGROUP A
O2 Arena, PraguePeriods
10-May15:20SWITZERLAND5-2NORWAY(1-1, 3-0, 1-1)
10-May19:20CZECH REPUBLIC1-0 GWSFINLAND(0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0 OT)
11-May11:20GREAT BRITAIN2-4CANADA(1-1, 0-3, 1-0)
11-May15:20AUSTRIA1-5DENMARK(1-2, 0-1, 0-2)
11-May19:20NORWAY3-6CZECH REPUBLIC(3-2, 0-1, 0-3)
12-May11:20FINLAND8-0GREAT BRITAIN(1-0, 5-0, 2-0)
12-May15:20DENMARK1-5CANADA(0-2, 1-0, 0-3)
12-May19:20AUSTRIA5-6SWITZERLAND(2-1, 2-3, 1-2)
13-May15:20NORWAY1-4FINLAND(0-2, 1-2, 0-0)
13-May19:20SWITZERLAND2-1 GWSCZECH REPUBLIC(1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0 OT)
14-May15:20DENMARK0-2NORWAY(0-0, 0-1, 0-1)
14-May19:20CANADA7-6 OTAUSTRIA(3-1, 3-0, 0-5, 1-0 OT)
15-May15:20CZECH REPUBLIC7-4DENMARK(1-1, 2-1, 4-2)
15-May19:20SWITZERLAND3-0GREAT BRITAIN(2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
16-May15:20FINLAND2-3AUSTRIA(2-0, 0-1, 0-2)
16-May19:20CANADA4-1NORWAY(1-0, 1-0, 2-1)
17-May15:20GREAT BRITAIN3-4DENMARK(2-2, 1-1, 0-1)
17-May19:20CZECH REPUBLIC4-0AUSTRIA(1-0, 2-0, 1-0)
18-May11:20DENMARK0-8SWITZERLAND(0-2, 0-3, 0-3)
18-May15:20CANADA5-3FINLAND(2-2, 1-1, 2-0)
18-May19:20CZECH REPUBLIC4-1GREAT BRITAIN(2-0, 2-1, 0-0)
19-May15:20NORWAY1-4AUSTRIA(0-0, 0-3, 1-1)
19-May19:20SWITZERLAND2-3CANADA(1-1, 1-2, 0-0)
20-May15:20GREAT BRITAIN2-5NORWAY(0-3, 1-1, 1-1)
20-May19:20FINLAND3-1DENMARK(0-0, 0-0, 3-1)
21-May11:20AUSTRIA2-4GREAT BRITAIN(0-0, 1-1, 1-3)
21-May15:20CANADA4-3 OTCZECH REPUBLIC(0-0, 0-0, 3-3, 1-0 OT)
21-May19:20FINLAND1-3SWITZERLAND (0-0, 1-2, 0-1)


DateTimeGROUP B
Ostravar Arena, OstravaPeriods
10-May15:20SLOVAKIA4-6GERMANY(0-0, 2-3, 2-3)
10-May19:20SWEDEN5-2UNITED STATES(1-0, 2-1, 2-1)
11-May11:20FRANCE1-3KAZAKHSTAN(1-2, 0-1, 0-0)
11-May15:20POLAND4-5 OTLATVIA(1-0, 1-1, 2-3, 0-1 OT)
11-May19:20  UNITED STATES6-1GERMANY(2-0, 2-1, 2-0)
12-May11:20SLOVAKIA6-2KAZAKHSTAN(3-0, 1-1, 2-1)
12-May15:20LATVIA3-2 OTFRANCE(0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 1-0 OT)
12-May19:20SWEDEN5-1POLAND(2-0, 1-0, 2-1)
13-May15:20UNITED STATES4-5 OTSLOVAKIA(0-2, 1-2, 3-0, 0-1 OT)
13-May19:20GERMANY1-6SWEDEN(0-3, 0-2, 1-1)
14-May15:20KAZAKHSTAN0-2LATVIA(0-0, 0-2, 0-0)
14-May19:20POLAND2-4FRANCE(0-2, 2-2, 0-0)
15-May15:20GERMANY8-1LATVIA(2-0, 5-1, 1-0)
15-May19:20SLOVAKIA4-0POLAND(2-0, 0-0, 2-0)
16-May15:20KAZAKHSTAN1-3SWEDEN(0-1, 0-1, 1-1)
16-May19:20UNITED STATES5-0FRANCE(4-0, 0-0, 1-0)
17-May15:20GERMANY8-2KAZAKHSTAN(2-1, 3-0, 3-1)
17-May19:20POLAND1-4UNITED STATES(0-0, 0-2, 1-2)
18-May11:20LATVIA2-7SWEDEN(0-2, 2-4, 0-1)
18-May15:20GERMANY4-2POLAND(0-0, 2-0, 2-2)
18-May19:20FRANCE2-4SLOVAKIA(0-1, 1-2, 1-1)
19-May15:20UNITED STATES10-1KAZAKHSTAN(4-0, 3-0, 3-1)
19-May19:20SLOVAKIA2-3 GWSLATVIA(0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 0-0 OT)
20-May15:20SWEDEN3-1FRANCE(0-0, 1-1, 2-0)
20-May19:20KAZAKHSTAN3-1POLAND(1-1, 0-0, 2-0)
21-May11:20FRANCE3-6GERMANY(1-1, 2-3, 0-2)
21-May15:20LATVIA3-6UNITED STATES(0-2, 1-1, 2-3)
21-May19:20SWEDEN6-1SLOVAKIA(1-0, 3-0, 2-1)

Saturday, 28 May 2022

Team GB lose place at ice hockey top table


GREAT BRITAIN collapsed from 3-1 up two days in a row earlier this week to suffer a painful relegation from the top flight of the ice hockey World Championships.


Team GB were beaten 5-3 by Austria on Monday, only just over 24 hours after a 4-3 defeat to Latvia at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.

Those defeats left Pete Russell's men on just one point from seven games, well short of the safety mark in Group B - but it could have been all so different if the build-up to the tournament had not been quite as disrupted by injury as it was.

Shorn of the brightest British hockey star of his generation, Liam Kirk, the team suffered further blows to the offence with the loss of Mike Hammond and Ollie Betteridge.

At least Team GB could call upon the vast experience provided by captain Jonathan Phillips who picked up a new national record by winning his 111th cap in the match against Austria.

But the lack of firepower was clearly in evidence in four warm-up matches, two each against Denmark and Italy, which finished with four defeats and an aggregate score of 1-16.

Nevertheless, in the finals themselves, Team GB acquitted themselves generally well -  and were shut out only by Sweden (0-6), hosts Finland (0-6), and the United States (0-3), the latter of which was a competitive battle.

In total, Team GB found the back of the net on 10 occasions in the four other matches, scoring one more goal than in the 2019 World Championship when Britain beat France in overtime to survive in their first season back in the top flight for 25 years.

This time, though, it was not to be - despite a stunning recovery from 3-0 down in the third period against Norway in their second game.

A trio of quickfire goals from Robert Dowd, Brett Perlini and Mark Richardson forced an unlikely period of overtime - but, while there was no further scoring in the additional five minutes, it was the Norwegians who prevailed on penalty shots for the extra point.

At the time, it still looked like a good point - but results elsewhere in Group B conspired against Team GB with Austria forcing overtime against the United States then causing a shock by beating the Czech Republic on penalty shots.

Meanwhile, Latvia beat Norway in a regulation time victory for three points - and the points from the match between the Latvians and the Austrians were split 2-1 in favour of the former after another match which went all the way.

As largely expected then, the Team GB campaign would be decided by their last two matches with Latvia (5) and Austria (4), well clear of Russell's side on a single point.

Britain looked set to close the gap on the teams above them when Lewis Hook restored a two-goal lead at 3-1 within seconds of Oskars Batna pulling one back for Latvia.

Those goals followed an opening period which was dominated by Britain and rewarded on the scoreboard with a goal from Perlini and a maiden senior international strike for Cade Neilson.

By the end of the second period, Latvia were back in it at 3-2 after scoring on the powerplay - and Britain critically failed to stay out of the penalty box in the third as the Latvians completed the turnaround with two further powerplay goals.

At least, at that point, Austria remained within reach - and any win in regulation time was enough for Team GB to survive again at the elite level on head-to-head

In a carbon copy of the Latvia game, things looked good again early on as Matt Myers and Dowd deservedly put Britain 2-0 up, and Neilson produced a quick response to an Austrian goal for a 3-1 scoreline.

The main difference this time was that, by the time Neilson scored, the match was in the third period and had less than 14 minutes left.

Nevertheless, that was still more than enough time for an Austria team who did not panic in the knowledge that a tie at the end of 60 minutes would be enough for them.

The Austrians quickly got back on level terms through Dominique Heinrich and Benjamin Nissner as Britain were overwhelmed - then went ahead for the first time through Thomas Raffl to leave Britain needing two.

Unsurprisingly, Team GB pulled the goalie - but that merely allowed Peter Schneider to slide the puck into an empty net from the very next attack.

That fifth Austrian goal arrived with an undoubtable thud of finality - the new boys had secured safety and Great Britain were going down.

Of course, right now, there is much about the future which remains uncertain.

The expulsion of Belarus and Russia from the Championships this year following the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine has left questions over the future structure of the promotion and relegation places between the top flight and the second-tier Division 1A.

Russia - if ever welcomed back into the international fold - almost certainly would be placed straight back into the Top Division with Belarus likely to go to Division 1A following their bottom-placed finish in 2021.

This year, though, there were still two promotion spots up for grabs with Hungary and Slovenia replacing Britain and Italy who were relegated after they also took just one point in Group A.

In some heartening news this week, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced Great Britain as the host of Division 1A in 2023 with the matches set to be played on home ice at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. 

Therefore, Team GB already stand an excellent good chance of ensuring that this memorable spell among the elite merely ended on a semi-colon - and not a full-stop.

GROUP AWW-OTL-OTLFAPts
(Q) SWITZERLAND6100 341520
(Q) GERMANY5011 262016
(Q) CANADA5002 341815
(Q) SLOVAKIA4003 231912
DENMARK4003 181812
FRANCE1105 11245
KAZAKHSTAN1006 19313
(R) ITALY0016 12321

• All matches at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland
13-May14:20FRANCE2-4SLOVAKIA
13-May18:20GERMANY3-5CANADA
14-May10:20DENMARK9-1KAZAKHSTAN
14-May14:20SWITZERLAND5-2ITALY
14-May18:20SLOVAKIA1-2GERMANY
15-May10:20ITALY1-6CANADA
15-May14:20FRANCE2-1KAZAKHSTAN
15-May18:20DENMARK0-6SWITZERLAND
16-May14:20SLOVAKIA1-5CANADA
16-May18:20FRANCE2-3GERMANY
17-May14:20ITALY1-2DENMARK
17-May18:20SWITZERLAND3-2KAZAKHSTAN
18-May14:20FRANCE2-1ITALYOT
18-May18:20SWITZERLAND5-3SLOVAKIA
19-May16:00GERMANY1-0DENMARK
19-May19:30CANADA6-3KAZAKHSTAN
20-May14:20GERMANY9-4ITALY
20-May18:20KAZAKHSTAN3-4SLOVAKIA
21-May10:20DENMARK3-0FRANCE
21-May14:20CANADA3-6SWITZERLAND
21-May18:20ITALY1-3SLOVAKIA
22-May14:20KAZAKHSTAN4-5GERMANY
22-May18:20SWITZERLAND5-2FRANCE
23-May14:20KAZAKHSTAN5-2ITALY
23-May18:20CANADA2-3DENMARK
24-May10:20GERMANY3-4SWITZERLAND GWS
24-May14:20SLOVAKIA7-1DENMARK
24-May18:20CANADA7-1FRANCE

GROUP BWW-OTL-OTLFAPts
(Q) FINLAND601025519
(Q) SWEDEN5110271018
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC4012191313
(Q) UNITED STATES3202181213
LATVIA210414208
AUSTRIA112316227
NORWAY110515295
(R) GREAT BRITAIN001610331

• All matches at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland
13-May14:20UNITED STATES4-1LATVIA
13-May18:20FINLAND5-0NORWAY
14-May10:20SWEDEN3-1AUSTRIA
14-May14:20CZECH REPUBLIC5-1GREAT BRITAIN
14-May18:20LATVIA1-2FINLAND
15-May10:20NORWAY4-3GREAT BRITAIN GWS
15-May14:20AUSTRIA2-3UNITED STATES OT
15-May18:20CZECH REPUBLIC3-5SWEDEN
16-May14:20LATVIA3-2NORWAY
16-May18:20FINLAND4-1UNITED STATES
17-May14:20CZECH REPUBLIC1-2AUSTRIA GWS
17-May18:20SWEDEN6-0GREAT BRITAIN
18-May14:20NORWAY5-3AUSTRIA
18-May18:20FINLAND2-3SWEDEN GWS
19-May14:20GREAT BRITAIN0-3UNITED STATES
19-May18:20CZECH REPUBLIC5-1LATVIA
20-May14:20GREAT BRITAIN0-6FINLAND
20-May18:20LATVIA4-3AUSTRIA GWS
21-May10:20UNITED STATES3-2SWEDEN
21-May14:20AUSTRIA0-3FINLAND
21-May18:20NORWAY1-4CZECH REPUBLIC
22-May14:20GREAT BRITAIN3-4AUSTRIA
22-May18:20SWEDEN7-1NORWAY
23-May14:20UNITED STATES0-1CZECH REPUBLIC
23-May18:20AUSTRIA5-3GREAT BRITAIN
24-May10:20SWEDEN1-0LATVIA
24-May14:20UNITED STATES4-2NORWAY
24-May18:20FINLAND3-0CZECH REPUBLIC

QUARTER FINALS
26-May14:20GERMANY1-4CZECH REPUBLIC Helsinki
26-May14:20SWEDEN3-4CANADA Tampere  OT
26-May18:20SWITZERLAND0-3UNITED STATES Helsinki
26-May18:20FINLAND4-2SLOVAKIA Tampere

SEMI FINALS
28-May10:20FINLAND4-3UNITED STATES Tampere
28-May14:20CANADA6-1CZECH REPUBLIC Tampere

BRONZE FINAL
29-May13:20UNITED STATES4-8CZECH REPUBLIC Tampere

GOLD FINAL
29-May18:20FINLAND4-3CANADA Tampere OT

OVERALL RANKINGS
1 FINLAND
2 CANADA
3 CZECH REPUBLIC
4 UNITED STATES
5 SWITZERLAND
6 SWEDEN
7 GERMANY
8 SLOVAKIA
9 DENMARK
10 LATVIA
11 AUSTRIA
12 FRANCE
13 NORWAY
14 KAZAKHSTAN
15 (R) ITALY
16 (R) GREAT BRITAIN

GREAT BRITAIN TOURNAMENT POINTS
2+3  Cade Neilson
2+2  Brett Perlini
2+0  Robert Dowd
1+1  Ben Lake
1+1  Lewis Hook
1+1  Matthew Myers
1+0  Mark Richardson
0+2  Scott Conway
0+2  Josh Batch
0+1  Evan Mosey
0+1  Joshua Tetlow
0+1  Sam Jones
0+1  Ben O'Connor