Great Britain secure return to ice hockey’s elite World Championship group after victory over Italy

Great Britain returned to the top level of the World Championships in thrilling circumstances on Friday when they defeated Italy 5-3 to claim the gold medal in their second tier group and bounce back at the first attempt.

Britain faced a do or die game in their final match of the tournament they have hosted in Nottingham and responded to the pressure in a dramatic game against the Italian team who will host the next Winter Olympics.

Italy kept on pegging Britain back in an evenly matched game until an empty net goal from Cade Neilson, his second of the game, settled British nerves in the third period and sealed promotion back to the elite level next year in the Czech Republic.

It was the perfect finale for Britain captain Jonathan Phillips, who is now retiring at 40 after one of the most decorated careers in British ice hockey history and is bowing out of the sport for a new career in education on the highest possible note.

Poland’s unexpected success in this tournament had increased the pressure on both Britain and Italy, with both knowing defeat in regulation time would sentence them to another season in the second tier of the World Championships.

Captain Jonathan Phillips helped Great Britain secure promotion on his final appearance

Britain remained the favourites, even though Italy are ranked 17th in the world to their 18th and are coached by NHL legend and Stanley Cup winning coach Mike Keenan.

But GB rose to the occasion and took the lead on four occasions in the first two periods in a topsy-turvey game in front of a capacity crowd at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.

Italy’s physical approach was evident from the start and their best player Thomas Larkin was guilty of a bad hit that forced Matthew Myers off for treatment but was bafflingly unpunished by the officials.

It did not stop GB taking the lead on the power-play from Brett Perlini but Larkin responded for Italy with his fifth goal of the tournament.

That was to prove a pattern in this deciding game, with Britain making all the play and squandering numerous chances before gaining the advantage only for Italy to continually peg them back.

An action-packed second period firstly saw Cade Neilson give GB the lead with a ‘no-look’ finish before Alex Patan found a way past Ben Bowns in the Britain goal.

Then Mike Hammond put GB ahead again only for Daniel Glira to level the scores but Perlini gave Britain made it 4-3 with a second power-play goal to finish an exceptional team move and benefiting from an outstanding Hammond pass.

Britain controlled the game for much of a tense third period and when Italy made an understandable decision to pull their goalminder for an extra attacker late in the third period only to see Neilson find the net after a pass from Kirk. Cue British celebrations after another glory night for a sport very much on the up.