Early this morning Australia played Great Britain in their second game of this years world championships and were narrowly defeated 1 to 2 by the Brits.
Australia started extremely slow within the first minute of play Great Britain caught the Australian defense asleep and slipped a player in behind and scored. A smart move which seemed to wake Australia up and within the next few minutes Australia had equalised with a goal to Dean Dunstan.
What followed was a game of puck control by the Brits with possession and movement. Their strategy was to lure Australia's forecheckers in low and then create the odd man rush. However, Australia was vigilant and persisted in their floating box formation. However, when Australia did gain possession they rushed each opportunity rather than settling the play and constructing opportunities.
At half time the score was 1-1. Australia had plenty of opportunities with power plays but was not able to convert. A frustration part of the game from the Australian perspective and clearly an area which will need to change if Australia has aspirations of improving its world ranking.
At the resumption of play the Brits continued with their controlled play and smooth puck management. Australia again had opportunities with power plays but were not able to convert. The Brits scored their second goal but could have scored many more had it not been for the post and the dogged resistance by the Australian GK Michael Smart.
Ithin the last minute of play Australia pulled their GK and were able to secure a face off in the Brits end. They won the face off and had three opportunities in thelast 20 seconds of the game. One hit the upright, the other was wayward and the last rolled along the crease but did not cross the line.