A tough day! After a positive day against Austria, Great Britain faced off against a formidable opponent in Ukraine. Hoping to improve from last qualifiers and secure a good result Great Britain through Elliot Skinner Scored an early goal taking Ukraine by surprise and continuing their winning momentum from yesterday. Ukraine however responded quickly with both teams neck and neck to the first period break 2-2.
Immediately from the start of the second period Ukraine piled on the pressure scoring quickly with 4 unanswered goals and started to control the scoreline. Great Britain continued to push to get back into the game and were unlucky to score with 17 shots to 15 hitting the bar on a couple of occasions. The Ukrainian goalkeeper kept Great Britain at bay with a 94% save percentage however couldn’t stop a late goal again by Elliot Skinner, finishing the period 6-3.
A rally from the changeroom translated into a GB goal 7 minutes into the final period bringing the score to 6-4 and a glimmer of hope. The Ukrainian team quickly responded and kept consistently applying the pressure with 7 unanswered goals Team GB learnt a difficult lesson in World cup level Floorball. Whilst the team were disappointed with the final result they take away an understanding of the team performance needed to face off against the tournament favourites Estonia tomorrow.
GB MVP Elliot Skinner told UKFF: “It was a close game and we had lots of opportunities, we fought hard until the end but unfortunately it wasn’t our day but we’ll be back fighting tomorrow looking to beat Estonia.”
Assistant Coach Oliver Gustafsson summed up the spirit of the camp, “Tough match today with two strong competitive periods, its a tough lesson however as we learn as a team we cant change the past but we can define out future!”.
Great Britain face the hosts Estonia tomorrow at 17:00.
Photo Credit: IFF
Match report: Scott Van Wykvliet