Sheffield Steelers' Davey Phillips enjoys special night as GB maintain World Championship winning momentum to set up crunch promotion decider

GREAT BRITAIN continued their unbeaten progress in their bid to return to the top tier of the world game by beating Romania 7-0 at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Thursday night.
By Phil Harrison
Published 4th May 2023, 14:03 BST

It was a particularly special appearance for Sheffield Steelers’ defenceman Davey Phillips, who won his 100th GB cap and was made captain for the night.

Following a lacklustre performance which GB coaches and players alike agreed wasn’t good enough in the previous night’s 3-0 win over Lithuania, the hosts again struggled to find their rhythm in front of an expectant home crowd.

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After drawing a blank in the first period, GB were further frustrated in the second and it wasn’t until 18 seconds past the halfway mark that the deadlock was broken when Brett Perlini was picked out by Steelers’ Robert Dowd to score at close range.

It appeared to open the floodgates somewhat, Nathanael Halbert setting up Maltby’s Liam Kirk to fire in a second from the top of the left circle on the power play just over two minutes later before Jonathan Phillips – in his penultimate appearance in a GB jersey – tipped-in Josh Tetlow’s shot 34.18.

Ben Bowns would go on to record a third shutout in the tournament, but was required to showcase his talent throughout, making a superb save to deny Matyas Kovacs before Coventry Blaze’s Johnny Curran – in his first-ever tournament for GB – extended the home team’s advantage when he deflected Evan Mosey’s shot past Zoltan Toke at 46.16.

Sam Ruopp made it 5-0 at 51.17 when converting a pass from Robert Lachowicz at the backdoor on the power play before another opportunity on the man advantage was taken at 56.27, this time Steelers’ defenceman Mosey poking home a loose puck in the crease.

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Winger Josh Waller added the finishing touch when he fired from a one-timer from the left circle in the 58thminute.

BIG NIGHT: Great Britain were able to mark Davey Phillips's 100th appearance for his country with a 7-0 win over Romania at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena in the IIHF World Championships. Picture courtesy of Dean Woolley/Ice Hockey UK.BIG NIGHT: Great Britain were able to mark Davey Phillips's 100th appearance for his country with a 7-0 win over Romania at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena in the IIHF World Championships. Picture courtesy of Dean Woolley/Ice Hockey UK.
BIG NIGHT: Great Britain were able to mark Davey Phillips's 100th appearance for his country with a 7-0 win over Romania at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena in the IIHF World Championships. Picture courtesy of Dean Woolley/Ice Hockey UK.

Afterwards, Davey Phillips acknowledged Steelers’ team-mate Jonathan Phillips’s role in handing him the ‘C’ for the game.

"It's a huge honour to wear the 'C' for this team," said the 35-year-old Hull-born D-man. "And it's very classy of Jono to hand it to me for my 100th game tonight. He's a great friend and a classy individual."

On the game, goal-scorer Ruopp added: “This was a big game for us. It took us a bit to get going there, but we stuck to our systems and it seemed to work out in the end. It gives us a bit more confidence going into the next game."

Related topics:Sheffield SteelersJonathan PhillipsGreat BritainNottingham