Two goals in the last 81 seconds of the match ensured Great Britain women got their Winter Olympic Preliminary Qualifying Round 2 campaign off to a winning start against Mexico in Astana.
With the clock ticking down, Great Britain looked like they were going to miss out in their opening match in Kazakhstan as they trailed their opponents 2-1.
But Saffron Allen’s equaliser, followed 21 seconds later by Angela Taylor’s effort, saw them triumph 3-2.
They had earlier been trailing 2-0 after Joanna Rojas and Francia Hernandez netted but Kimberly Lane reduced the deficit in the third period following a goalmouth scramble.
And Allen and Taylor completed the turnaround, much to the delight of assistant coach James Ashton.
“These games are always hard and we had a high expectation,” he said.
“Training has been good but we made a slow start to the game and made a couple of small mistakes to allow Mexico two goals.
“We had a sharp discussion at the end of the first period, but what was good to see what that the experienced players delivered and the young players didn’t let their heads drop.
“What we had to do was stay patient as we knew the chances would come.
“Fair play to Mexico, I thought they played excellent and they put in a great performance.”
Great Britain return to the ice tomorrow when they face Poland at 9am UK time in the second of three games in four days. Only the winner of the four-team group moves into the next phase of the Olympic qualification process.
Sportsbeat 2016