The euphoria brought about by their 7-2 win against Romania the previous day wasn’t enough to save the Great Britain Under 18’s team from crashing down to earth at the hands of group favourites Kazakstan yesterday afternoon. On the second day of play at the IIHF European Junior Championships in Maribor, Slovenia, Kazakstan – the team favoured to win Gold – came out all guns blazing and then some. In the first period of the game, GB managed to hold Kazakstan to just two goals (Nikolay Kostyukov 06-48, Viktor Alexandrov 18-37). However, in the second session, Kazakstan upped the tempo firing off three goals in the space of six minutes; Nikolay Surtayev on the powerplay at 33-06, followed by Mikhail Faizov at 35-12 and Sergey Korobeinikov at 39-05. Into the third period and the scoreboard showed 5-0 until 52-12 when Sergey Korobeinikov hit his second of the afternoon. Another goal was added at 56-09 through Nikolay Kostyukov, and then the final nail in the coffin at 58-35, a strike from Konstantin Vassilyev for 8-0. A shut-out for Kazakstan’s netminder Alexey Plotnikov, who saved all 29 shots fired his way. At the other end, Adam White from Slough, faced a total of 39 shots from sharp-shooters Kazakstan. Results, Fixtures and standings Date-Game-Result/period scores-Attendance 20th March 2000 Great Britain – Romania 7-2 (2-0, 2-1, 3-1) 350 20th March 2000 Slovenia – Kazakstan 4-6 (0-2, 3-1, 1-3) 1150 21st March 2000 Kazakstan – Great Britain 8-0 (2-0, 3-0, 3-0) 328 21st March 2000 Slovenia – Romania 9-0 (2-0, 3-0, 4-0) 1111 Rank Team GP W D L GF GA TP 1. Kazakstan 2 2 0 0 14 4 4 2. Slovenia 2 1 0 1 13 6 2 3. Great Britain 2 1 0 1 7 10 2 4. Romania 2 0 0 2 2 16 0 23rd March 10.00 hrs Romania – Kazakstan 23rd March 19.00 hrs Great Britain -Slovenia 24th March Play-off games for medal positions Tomorrow night the GB team tackle Slovenia, a team whose results so far in the Championships have been good; a narrow 4-6 defeat against Kazakstan, and an emphatic 9-0 win against Romania. For further information contact the GBIHB Media Office on 01530 838899, e-mail apollard@btconnect.com, visit our website at www.iceweb.co.uk, or visit the IIHF website at www.iihf.com