GB promoted after unbeaten tournament!

Photo: Dean Woolley

Great Britain secured immediate promotion back to the top flight of world ice hockey after a final day win over Poland.

The 3-0 victory, with Ben Bowns logging a 40-shot shutout, saw GB finish the tournament in Romania unbeaten and win gold - as they did in Budapest in 2018 and Nottingham in 2023 - to secure promotion to the top level.

Josh Waller gave GB the lead 17:01 into the opening period after he got on a rebound from Robert Dowd's saved shot. 

Mark Richardson threw himself in front of a shot as Poland threatened an equaliser, but captain Dowd capitalised on a rebound from Joe Hazeldine's point shot to make it 2-0 with 28:20 played - Hazeldine's first point for the national team.

With just under five minutes to play in the middle period, Ollie Betteridge turned and shot off Josh Waller's feed to make it 3-0 on the powerplay.

Although GB only needed a point to secure promotion, they played out the final period excellently. Bowns came up big with an excellent stack save as Poland chased getting back into things inside the final ten minutes, but he wasn't to be beaten on the night.

Kirk almost scored a fourth in the closing stages, but it didn't matter as GB secured a fine win and earned immediate promotion back to the top group.