Great Britain promoted to ice hockey top flight after win over Hungary
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 28/04/18 11:14pm
Great Britain sealed promotion to the top level of the World Championship in dramatic fashion as they beat hosts Hungary 3-2 after penalty shots in Budapest.
Peter Russell's side went into the game knowing a point would guarantee them the gold medal in Division 1 Group A.
Despite trailing 2-0, GB pulled level in stunning style to clinch the point they needed before going on to win the shootout and will now take on the best sides for the first time since 1994.
Hungary took the lead on the powerplay at 3.31 through Christopher Bodo and doubled their advantage at 41.53 thanks to Csanad Erdely, the goal awarded after a video review.
Robert Dowd reduced the deficit for GB at 50.55 before netminder Ben Bowns saved a Janos Hari penalty shot with three minutes left to keep his side's hopes alive.
After calling a time-out and pulling Bowns in the last minute, GB dramatically tied the game up as Robert Farmer netted with just 15.8 seconds remaining.
GB, the lowest seed in the six-team group, then scored in the shootout through Farmer and Ben O'Connor, with Bowns standing tall again.
Russell said: "We dared to dream and we did it. I just cannot believe it. This team is very special and what we have pulled off is absolutely unbelievable.
"We did not give up and showed true British spirit to pull that one out of the bag. Our team work-rate was immense every single night and they dug deep to provide GB with one of our greatest-ever moments.
"I am so proud of every single one of them and we will now play the best teams in the world next year."
