Monday, 11 February 2013

Winter Olympic dream over for Welsh ice hockey stars

A wrist injury suffered by Phil Hill added to the woes of Team GB’s ice hockey side, whose hopes of making their first Winter Olympics appearance since 1948 ended over the weekend.

Following an opening 6-2 loss to hosts Latvia last week, they went down 4-2 to France on Friday (February 8) afternoon, before losing 6-0 to Kazakhstan on Sunday (February 10).

The wrist injury suffered by Hill ruled him out of the Kazakhstani tie, with fellow Cardiff-born stars Jonathan Phillips and Matthew Myers unable to help their side to victory against sides ranked above them in the current world rankings.

Cardiff-born netminder Stevie Lyle was left out of the final match so that Hull Stingrays’ Ben Bowns could make his international debut for GB.

The French (14th) and Kazakhstani (17th) sides both place higher than Team GB in 21st, and the French match in particular saw them put in a good account of themselves with a terrific third period comeback.

But it was again ill-discipline that cost Team GB, with two of their four goals coming on power plays, with Hill’s first-period injury also limiting their chances.

Against Kazakhstan, GB fell behind after just 30 seconds, with their opponents never looking back.

Ill-discipline cost them again, with one of Kazakhstan’s goals coming from a five-on-three after penalties against Phillips and team-mate Rod Sarich.

However, there is good news for Devils fans regarding Hill’s injury, with GB head coach Tony Hand saying: “Phil went for an x-ray and the good news is that this showed there was no break.”

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