Great Britain beat Poland 5-4 at a sold-out Murrayfield Ice Rink to end the IIHF European Cup of Nations with two victories from three matches.

After an opening-night 3-2 win over Ukraine, GB were beaten 4-2 by Slovenia as Pete Russell’s exciting young side finished the tournament with five points and a respectable third place.

Ben Clarke-Leach made his first senior GB start and 19-year-old Dundee Stars netminder Dominick Jaglar was called onto the roster as back-up.

It was also a special night for both Jack Hopkins and Finley Bradon who scored their first senior GB goals.

Roared on by a crowd of 2,850, GB scored twice 44 seconds to take a two-goal lead in the first period.

GB went ahead short-handed when Liam Kirk cut across between circles and went five-hole (07:23), before Sean Norris made it 2-0 from the left-circle (08:17).

Poland tied it up with two goals in 58 seconds as the start of the second session when Bartosz Fraszko scored after a quick counter-attack (20:29) and good cycling of the puck resulted in a goal for Jakub Slusarczyk (21:27).

Former Belfast Giants forward Patryk Wronka put Poland ahead with a one-timer from the right-circle (25:28).

GB hit back with goals either side of the second intermission as Hopkins forced the turnover and scored from the high slot (31:02), while Bradon went top-shelf on a rebound from the edge of the crease (42:06).

Poland weren’t done and Slusarczyk equalised with a shot from the blueline that went in off the pipes for his second goal of the game (46:23).

GB’s winner came on the powerplay as Kirk faked the shot in the mid-slot and set-up Logan Neilson on the wing who fired a one-timer into the top corner (54:08).

A thrilling end to a breathless encounter on a night of high drama as GB’s young side ended on a huge high.

Ukraine won the tournament after earlier in the day they secured a 4-2 victory over Slovenia who took second place.

European Cup of Nations Schedule
Thursday 5th February
Poland 3-4 Slovenia
Great Britain 3-2 Ukraine

Friday 6th February
Ukraine 4-2 Poland
Great Britain 2-4 Slovenia

Saturday 7th February
Slovenia 2-4 Ukraine
Great Britain 5-4 Poland