GB Brush Aside Bulgaria in IIHF World Championships
24th June 2008Great Britain continued their progress at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Inline World Championships after a thoroughly convincing win against Bulgaria here in Bratislava, Slovakia.
GB were in complete control of the game and used the line of John Dolan, Mark Thomas, Simon Hehir and Chris Colegate (the leading British scorers in the tournament so far) sparingly, this meant that GB’s other lines were given the opportunity to step up and open their accounts in this final group game.
GB led by only two at half time, after Mark Hallam and Joe Wightman scored in the first two periods. In the third period GB came out flying and two goals from Remi Moses, and a first international goal for Scott Glover extended the lead with Karl Niamatali of the Blackpool Raiders opening his account for the tournament to give the British a 6-0 lead.
In the final period Niamatali added his second (assisted with by Chapman University’s Joe Bjorndal for his first international point. Joe Wightman closed the GB scoring as he doubled his personal tally.
At the other end goaltender Ben Schofield made his international debut at this level in the British net and was on top form for the limited Bulgarian chances. His shut out was spoiled with just sixteen seconds remaining in the final period leaving a final score of 8-1.
GB now face Austria in the playoff for promotion / relegation to the elite division of the tournament (GB’s fifth successive appearance in the promotion game).
“We are now focusing on the Austria game,” said GB Assistant Coach Jon Maw. “Today was an opportunity to get the other lines moving which they did….Austria will be a very tough opponent and last year we lost to them in overtime. This year they will not underestimate us so we expect a very tough game.”
In other news, GB’s progress is being featured on the main pages of the IIHF website at www.iihf.com . Images and match reports and official stats feature on these pages.
Final Score (Period Scores)
GB 8-1Bulgaria (1-0, 1-0, 4-0, 2-1)