Ice Hockey: Hosts sunk by Britain

GREAT BRITAIN pulled off a 3-2 win last night over the hosts, the Netherlands, in Pool B of the world championships, writes Our Correspondent from Eindhoven. Britain are now in an unassailable position in the tournament, with a 100 per cent win record in the five games played.

The Netherlands took the first period by a goal and they scored their second 59 seconds into the middle session. However, brilliant minding by John McCrone kept the Dutch out for the remainder of the period and Tony Hand brought Britain back into the picture.

A power-play goal from Rick Fera gave a new complexion to the game in the third period and Tim Cranston, the hero of Britain's win over Poland, scored the winning goal with three minutes to go.

After two rest days, Britain have to play Romania and China over the weekend and, barring accidents, should complete the tournament with a clean sheet.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Pool B (Eindhoven): Poland 13 Bulgaria 2; Great Britain 3 Netherlands 2. Standings 1 GB (P 5, Pts 10); 2 Poland (5-8); 3 Netherlands (5-8); 4 Japan (4-4); 5 Denmark (4-4); 6 Romania (4-2); 7 Bulgaria (5-0); 8 China (4-0).