Steelers lead the way for GB in Slovenia

JASON HEWITT admits the toughest tests are still to come after his winning strike yesterday saw Great Britain maintain their 100 per cent start to the World Championships with a 2-1 win over Korea.

The 28-year-old Sheffield Steelers forward has enjoyed his most productive season in the Elite League and showed further evidence of his improvement at international level when he slotted home in the 50th minute.

Phil Hill had given Britain the lead after pouncing on the rebound from Ben O'Connor's shot at 26.46 before the Koreans levelled in the 37th minute through Dong Hwan Song.

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But Hewitt's timely strike in the third saw head coach Paul Thompson's side make it two wins from two following Saturday's impressive 4-1 demolition of Croatia in the Division One, Group B event.

That victory – courtesy of goals from Steelers' Jonathan Phillips and Robert Dowd, along with further strikes from O'Connor and Greg Chambers – came on the back of a draining 26-hour coach trip to the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia which saw the team arrive at the rink barely two hours before face-off.

The long road trip had been necessary due to the team's Friday morning flight from Gatwick being cancelled as a result of the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

The players now have a day off before they take on hosts and pre-tournament favourites Slovenia tomorrow evening.

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Hewitt was understandably pleased to grab his first world championship goal but said plenty of hard work lay ahead.

"We deserved to win the game but we made harder work of it than we needed to," he said.

"We didn't take some of our chances and we played a bit loose. Getting here was far from ideal but it's been great for team spirit.

"Things are going as planned but there are tougher games to come. We've played the lower-end teams, but you never know what you are going to come up against – nobody's unbeatable."

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Thompson, whose team are hoping to at least repeat last year's bronze medal achievement in Poland, added: "If I'm being honest I was more worried about this game than Saturday's after the huge travel delays.

"We got through on adrenalin (against Croatia) but against Korea, I felt we could get caught out with tiredness. But the guys dug in and did a really professional job. It was a great finish from Jason (Hewitt) to win the game."