Great Britain beat China 4-3 in their third game at the men’s Under-20 World Championship Division II Group A in Zagreb.
China took an early lead as Zhou Zijian got the tip on Gao Muchuan’s shot from point (1:41), before GB forward Jack Clarke forced a good glove save out of Zhang Youyi.
Zhang Youyi stopped Finn Bradon’s penalty-shot but GB equalised on the powerplay as the period drew to a close. Brodie Kay took a shot from just inside the blueline and the puck deflected into the path of Brynley Capps who reacted quickly to make it 1-1 (18:03).
Josh Shaw gave Great Britain the ideal start to the second period as he lit the lamp 41 seconds in. Dylan Lipsey played the puck to Billy Thorpe who fired a shot from the blueline with Shaw there to direct it past the netminder (20:41).
China began to apply the pressure as the period went on, but strong defending and crucial saves from Jefferis helped Britain retain their lead until Jiang Sixiong beat his man and cut inside from the right and to score the equaliser (38:03).
China went ahead again when Li Jianan played the puck to Luan Rong who fired into the roof of the net (44:44).
GB went on the powerplay and utilised their player advantage with Sam Lyne scoring to make it level once again. An initial shot from Finn Bradon was blocked by Zhang Youyi’s pads, but Lyne was on hand to capitalise on the rebound (49:01).
With 10 minutes to find the game-winning goal, the intensity increased as both sides battled for possession of the puck and China went on the powerplay forcing Britain’s defence to tighten up. They worked well to clear the puck and diffuse the attacks of the Chinese and returned to full-strength having successfully killed the penalty.
GB were rewarded for their efforts when Jack Clarke scored the game-winning goal (53:04). Oliver Knaggs took the puck from the neutral zone, working it forwards before a battle behind the Chinese net saw it fall to Clarke who slipped it past Zhang Youyi at his near-post to secure the victory.
Great Britain are back in action tomorrow against the Netherlands at 16:00 (15:00 GMT).
Great Britain schedule and results
Monday 6th January: Great Britain 1-3 Croatia
Tuesday 7th January: Lithuania 6-1 Great Britain
Thursday 9th January: Great Britain 4-3 China
Friday 10th January: Netherlands v Great Britain 16:00 (15:00 GMT) – watch on a webcast
Sunday 12th January: Great Britain v Romania 12:30 (11:30 GMT) – watch on a webcast
