Kazakhstan have too much power for GB

GREAT BRITAIN were brought crashing back down to earth in their World Championship campaign in Hungary when they were beaten 6-1 by an impressive Kazakhstan side.

It was always going to be tough for Pete Russell’s team to follow up Sunday’s opening victory against pre-tournament favourites Slovenia, but they got off to a similar flying start when former Sheffield Steelers’ forward Luke Ferrara fired them into a thirdminute lead.

But once the world 17th seeds drew level on the powerplay in the 15th minute it proved an uphill battle for GB, particularly after the first period break.

Where the opening 20 minutes had been a relatively even affair, with GB unlucky not to add to their early opener, the second two periods belonged to their opponents, who went in 3-1 ahead after 40 minutes before adding three more goals for a comfortable victory that took them top of the Division 1A table after two rounds.

GB will take on Poland this afternoon and, despite yesterday’s setback at the Laszlo Papp Sportarena, captain Jonathan Phillips believes there were plenty of positives to take from the game.

“There is no shame in losing to Kazakhstan and I didn’t think it was a 6-1 game,” said the Sheffield Steelers forward.

“They are a really good side and they punished us on the powerplay where they were lethal. I felt we had periods where we more than matched them.

“We match up well against Poland. We always have great games with them. It will be an intense battle and we know they will come out hard, but we are ready for the fight.”