Great Britain beat Italy 5-1 to set-up the chance of promotion at the World Championship Division I Group A in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania.
Liam Kirk scored twice and there was a goal each for Nathanael Halbert, Sam Duggan and Ben O’Connor as GB made it four wins from four after victories earlier in the tournament against Ukraine (4-3), Romania (2-1) and Japan (5-4).
Ben Bowns got the start between the pipes with Jackson Whistle as back-up on the day he won his 50th cap.
Whistle is the fourth netminder in history to hit the half-century landmark after Bowns, Stevie Lyle and Stephen Murphy.
Kirk and Halbert give GB two-goal lead
GB went ahead after only 32 seconds as Ben Lake and Brett Perlini combined to set-up Kirk who cut inside off the left-wing and fired low past Davide Fadani (00:32).
Bowns came up big with a superb close-range save to deny Luca Frigo and also stopped Marco Zanetti’s shot from the left-circle.
Kirk fed Halbert who scored on his backhand from the slot to give GB a two-goal lead at the first intermission (17:22).
Kirk scores again and Duggan also on target for GB
It took GB only 42 seconds of the second period to score their third as Perlini created room down the right and his centering feed found Kirk who drove the net to grab his second goal of the game (20:42).
The goal saw a change in the Italy net as Damian Clara replaced Fadani but he was beaten within seven minutes, as super play by Cole Shudra saw him win the puck on the boards and find Duggan who netted from close-range (27:03).
Italy closed the gap through Bryce Misley from the right-circle (30:43) and moments later, Bowns made a top-class save to deny the Italian forward when he cut inside off the left-wing.
O’Connor’s powerplay goal puts seal on win
Bowns made a good save on Nicholas Saracino from close-range early in the third session and also stopped Daniel Mantenuto’s shot from the slot.
Alexander Ierullo’s effort on the powerplay was instinctively turned away by Bowns and at the other end, Kirk shot just wide on a breakaway.
O’Connor put the seal on the win with a five-on-three powerplay goal from the top of the left-circle (58:45).
There’s no action in the tournament on Friday and GB return to action on Saturday against Poland knowing victory will guarantee promotion to the 2026 World Championship in Switzerland.
GB World Championship Schedule and Results
Sunday 27th April: Ukraine 3-4 Great Britain (penalty-shots)
Monday 28th April: Great Britain 2-1 Romania (overtime)
Wednesday 30th April: Great Britain 5-4 Japan (overtime)
Thursday 1st May: Italy 1-5 Great Britain
Saturday 3rd May: Great Britain v Poland 19:30 (17:30 BST)
Click here to visit the tournament website.
