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It’s been a great tournament for GB without a doubt. The goal coming into the tournament was the same as for any team, in any sport when they get promoted: to stay up and GB have completed that task.

Getting a Bronze medal should now give the team the next push on to get to the even higher level in 2011 leading to the Qualification for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

One of the harder questions when looking at the team this year has been what exactly has made the difference between getting soundly beaten and relegated in 2004 and this year.

When playing at their best, namely against Denmark, and even the final 10 minutes against the Latvians, GB have shown a willingness to defend as a whole unit and this made them practically unbeatable.

It can be very difficult when writing the match reports to concentrate on the defensive performances when so much can happen at the other end of the ice but GB have shown tremendous maturity in the way that they played at their own end of the ice which was highly promising to see.

Against Italy, both sides made mistakes, but it was GB who capitalised on the counter attack more and this indeed was what won the Brits the game. While you would never want players to make mistakes, you can understand it when in front of a capacity and partisan crowd. For me, it also had the goal of the tournament, an Angela Taylor breakaway, minutes after Italy got it back to 3-2. After we restored the two goal lead, it completed deflated them and they never recovered.

The game against a Dutch was a throwback to Division III, scrappy, ugly hockey against a Dutch team that had the offensive firepower of a chocolate teapot. To their credit, they organised themselves well and defended hard, but after GB had scored the opener, the game was very safe.

The third match against the Danes was a wonderful game of hockey, admittedly defensive, but GB built their performance well and the most impressive part was that GB attacked and defended as a five. After the Danes had a spell of throwing everything at GB which failed to produce they looked simply outclassed and GB thoroughly deserved the victory.

The Latvian game has been one of debate around the supporters. There’s no doubt that Latvia’s 1st line and netminder played excellently, and for me the best team won on the day. Latvia had nothing outside of their 1st line but credit to the rest of their team, they were able to hold us to give their best players a rest. They were the best team at the tournament and well deserve their promotion, but they are in desperate need of young blood in the team otherwise they will come straight back down.

The final match against the North Koreans was frustrating. They outworked us and dominated the play which led to them making easy goals for them. It’s always a difficult situation also psychologically. GB came to the tournament to avoid relegation. We had a shot at the gold medal, and it’s tough to then adjust you to go for the Silver.

In the end getting the Bronze is more than anyone would have hoped for. Winning a division then medaling in the next one up is an incredibly rare feat and has only been achieved by a handful of teams in the Women’s championships.

There has to be a lot of credit to the organisers of the tournament. You could not walk more than 50 yards in the square without seeing an tournament poster or Italy hockey shirts in the window of the shops. Even at the airport, you could get a tournament programme and you really felt when watching that you were at a World Championship, not just a series of 15 hockey games held in a week.

A lot of my thoughts now the tournament is over are on the World Championships in 2011 and the road to the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

It is a massive ask to get there but after the experience of Qualification back in September in Slovenia, it’s one that is definitely worth while as if anything, the qualifying process serves as fantastic practice for teams outside the Elite to play competitive matches against the teams that play in the top Division.

It would seem unthinkable that a team could go from a Pre-Qualification tournament to the Olympic Games. But that is exactly what happened to Slovakia, seeded 2nd in their group which they won in Latvia, before upsetting France, Kazakhstan and finally Germany to qualify. Slovakia will take their place in the Olympics in Vancouver.

Is this an unlikely goal for GB? Of course. But when you break it down, to qualify for the Olympic Games, it’s about winning just six games.

If one thing is happening to women’s hockey internationally, it is becoming more competitive in the Division I/II level. Only a handful of games were blow-out’s, and this can only bode well for GB.

After the reshuffle this year in terms of Promotion and Relegation’ Division II in 2011 now consists in seeding order of: Czech Republic, France, DPR Korea, Great Britain, Italy, Denmark.

A tough division but as long as the team continues to develop as it has done over the past five years then I have no doubt that we have every chance of being towards the top at the end of the tournament.

Finally, I hope that everyone has enjoyed the match reports which are good fun to write as always. It’s a really good time to be a GB fan, and I would encourage everyone to come out to the next tournament wherever it may be.

DPR Korea won the silver medal with a powerful and consistent 4-1 victory over GB. The Koreans looked in control from the moment of the first puck drop and fully deserved their victory.

For GB they have won the Bronze, an outstanding achievement in a division that they have been just promoted to, but will be left with the feeling that they perhaps have finished higher than they did.

GB started the game quickly as did the Koreans and it was Taylor who had the first opportunity for the Brits with shot from wide of the net which the Koreans managed to block out.

DPR Korea then had a promising passage of play, forcing some key saves out of Laura Saunders, before they opened the scoring with a shot through the five hole from Ryu.

The Koreans put together an impressive display of possession playing at their maximum for a good 8-9 minutes before the game settled down and GB started to create some attacking opportunities.

GB went onto the powerplay after an incident behind the net. Farman let rip with a cracking slot, and Taylor couldn’t find the empty net from the tightest of angles. Turner had another chance on a productive powerplay from the slot, well saved by the Koreans.

A defensive error let the Koreans dangerous Ri through on the breakaway and she made no mistake dekeing Saunders to double their lead.

Taylor took a penalty in the past couple minutes which created a penalty kill where GB had the best chance after some sporadic defending by the Koreans. The period ended on a powerplay on GB after a trip on Henry.

The 2nd period started after a short delay as the ice had failed to dry behind the GB net but GB failed to make progress against a well organised Korean defense that killed the penalty easily.

GB started to increase the intensity of the game with a series of attacks. Henry caused the Koreans a series of problems which saw GB gain a powerplay. Kavanagh had the puck come to her in open space in the slot but failed to hit the target.

It was a frustrating period for GB as nothing seemed to go their way and they were unable to find the target when presented with scoring opportunities.

GB went on another powerplay towards the end of the period which was dominated by the Korean PK and shortly after it ended DPR Korea extended their lead to three with a rebound goal after an excellent save by Saunders.

The second period also ended with a GB powerplay after Taylor was tripped when going to shoot on goal but at the start of the 3rd Korea easily killed off the penalty.

Korea scored their 4th of the game with a shot across the net which easily beat Saunders.

In the third period GB struggled to make progress against a determined Korean defence and they were unable to put together the same passing and movement that had got them within reach of the Gold medal.

After 51 frustrating minutes, GB got themselves on the scoreboard with a hard worked rebound goal from Katie Henry who fired the puck into the bottom right.

GB took a penalty and DPR Korea appeared to take too many players themselves which appeared on the clock, the off it, then a lot of debate before the powerplay finally started.

GB defended it well and easily killed it and shortly after Henry had a chance for her 2nd of the afternoon breaking down the wing and shooting narrowly wide of the net.

In the end however Korea won the game against a GB team that were in truth were a shadow of themselves over the past week and never reached the same level of hockey that made this a game for the Silver medal.

With the main prize of promotion settled four of the five remaining teams have an exciting day ahead of them to decide the Silver and Bronze medal positions as well as Relegation.

1:15pm - (3) DPR Korea (3-1) vs (6) Great Britain (3-1)

The highly anticipated Silver medal game sees GB against the North Koreans who have played an impressive style of team hockey all tournament and have won games (notably against Italy) just by working hard and running other teams into the ground.

GB on the other hand have more flair, more attacking prowess and better technical ability all round. It should be a cracking game played at a high tempo and the winners will be worthy of their silver medal.

4:45pm - (1) Latvia (4-0) vs (2) Denmark (1-3)

As far as the seedings go, this should have been the game of the tournament. In reality, it’s a dead game with nothing to play for. Latvia are champions regardless of the result here.

Denmark cannot finish higher than 4th, but could finish lower if Italy beat the Netherlands and the Danes cannot get a win here.

8:15pm - (4) Italy (1-3) vs (5) Netherlands (0-4)

Ultimate pressure on the two teams here. Both of these teams have been in Division II since it was founded back in 2003, but that record will end after this game as the loser of this game, whether it be in regulation, overtime or a shootout will be relegated.

For Italy, they are not used to performing so badly as they have done here and have not competed in a relegation battle for many years. The opposite is true of the Dutch who specialise in it.

Realistically, the Italians should win this 9 times out of 10 as the Dutch have struggled to score all tournament with only 2 goals in 4 games.

But then again, they have always been able to stay up somehow and regardless of the odds it would not surprise me one bit if they managed to.

Latvia are champions of Division II with a solid performance which saw them beat GB 3-0 in a close game. Latvia won the game with a two minute spell of scoring a solid defensive performance throughout.

The British team however can be thoroughly proud of themselves pulling off a performance that rattled the Latvians and puts them a game away from a Silver medal, with Bronze guaranteed.

GB started the game off on the attack with a series of near chances in the opening few minutes with Kavanagh having the best chance on net well saved from the slot.

Latvia’s dangerous Koka nearly opened the scoring three minutes in after working herself into position but shooting wide.

Henry went on a powerful skate round the boards getting the puck to Ganney who’s shot was just denied by the goaltender.

GB dominated the possession in the first half of the period, but Latvia’s highly physical play meant that the Brits struggled to get quality scoring opportunities.

Newman had a great chance from the slot but again was denied.  Alice Lamb for GB shortly after made a stunning defensive take to prevent a breakaway, yet another good move from a player who has constantly developed over the past few years.

GB went on the powerplay for the first time after a bodychecking penalty was assessed on the Latvians which was spent camped down in the attacking zone but GB wasn’t able to break them down.

Towards the end of the powerplay Farman got called for tripping, an accidental but fair penalty. Herring made some excellent saves including one at full stretch to keep the scores level.

Taylor killed the rest of the penalty off almost by herself skating around the entire rink and nearly even scoring at the end of the run.

Kavanagh took a dubious interference penalty 30 seconds before the end of the period which when the period resumed GB managed to easily kill off.

The Brits started off the 2nd putting the Latvian defence under tremendous pressure and the first major chance of the period went to Kavanagh from point blank range after a perfect pass from Taylor.

Farman set up a great attack forcing the puck down the left hand side before circling the net and setting up Wiggins who was denied by another great save by the netminder.

GB kept up a very promising passage of play with a shot from the blue from Carr and they soon found themselves on a powerplay but GB gave a penalty away themselves to open up a section of 4-on-4.

Kavanagh stole the puck off a Latvian to put in a hard shot from the slot but was sell saved and both penalties ended shortly afterwards.

It was Latvia however who opened the scoring after a spell of pressure and Koka lifted the puck high right to defeat Herring.

GB reacted in the right manner and immediately went on the attack but Latvia doubled their lead within a minute with a goal from Petersone slotting the puck coolly into the bottom right corner.

Taylor nearly got one back on the powerplay for GB at the end of a wonderful move that saw GB cycle the puck from left to right setting up the Captain.

GB ended the period on a penalty kill which was well defended by the Brits and as the third started they were able to kill it off.

Latvia soaked up the early pressure before Koka was allowed through GB’s defence and made no mistake tapping the puck past Herring at the far post.

It took GB a while to get back up to speed but Kavanagh nearly got a goal back after a crisp pass from Taylor and the reverse nearly happened a few minutes later.

Latvia were able to run down the clock despite some near misses from GB, and all credit has to go to the Latvian keeper who played a blinder and won her team the game.

While the loss was disappointing, GB can be truly proud of their performance this tournament and now the focus turns to the chance for the Silver against the North Koreans.

The Dutch are in trouble. They need a win today against a solid Korean team that have impressed in the past couple of days and are now pushing for a medal.

If the Netherlands are going to spoil the party today, they will have to play attacking hockey, something that they have not done so far, prefering to play dump and chase style hockey which has not been effective so far.

4:45pm - (6) Great Britain (3-0) vs (1) Latvia (3-0)

The gold medal game.

And. It’s between the best two teams out there.

And one of those is GB.

It’s going to be brusing, physical, emotional between two sides giving absolutly everything.

GB must contain Latvia’s first line. If they do that, it’s party time for the Brits, but as much as a second without pressure on them and Latvia will strike on the transition.

8:15pm - (4) Italy (0-3) vs (2) Denmark (1-2)

In an ideal world, Denmark would have preferred to have gotten this match out of the way earlier, as when playing a team at home, there’s always a chance of a slip up. Denmark will want to rebound after their loss to GB earlier. Firstly Italy need DPR Korea to win the afternoon game to make it a straight shootout against the Dutch, another team without a win. Secondly, they are up against a team that will be out to regain their honour and for that reason you have to call the Danes favourites. It’s a big ask for Italy, and they would have to put out a stunning game to prevent the Danes from taking the three points.

Great Britain have set up the most unlikely gold medal game imaginable with a thrilling 3-1 victory over Denmark with two goals from Taylor and one from Turner to leave GB in prime medal position and producing the greatest British performance since the Women’s championships were formed in 1989.

The British team put in a exceptional defensive performance to dominate the game and tomorrow will go head to head with the Latvians to decide the Gold Medal.

The first period started out end to end but neither side were able to get a solid chance on net in the opening minutes. It was Denmark who had the first quality chance with Andersen who seemed to have the entire net to shoot at before Herring made yet another quality save moving across the net.

Wiggins nearly opened the scoring with a wonderful tip-in that the netminder managed to get some part of her body to, but just before the powerplay ended Taylor picked up a rebound to open the scoring for the Brits.

GB made it two shortly after with Turner skating into the zone on another powerplay and shooting in a perfectly angled shot from the point to double the lead.

GB took their first penalty of the game, a tripping call on Lamb, which Denmark wasted no time converting into a goal with a shot from the blue line from Jacquet Melby which flew into the back of the net.

Denmark play a physical game of hockey and Ganney experienced this first hand after being slammed into the boards which put GB back on the powerplay which produced one quality chance but wasn’t converted.

The period ended on another physical note with GB’s Farman picking up a checking penalty but despite some close chances GB closed out the period in the lead two-one.

The second started at a slower pace, with Halliwell getting the first chance on a deflected shot that nearly lobbed the Danish netminder.

Line one had found themselves of being under the cosh for a few minutes being stuck in their own zone, but when GB got the puck out Taylor went on mazy run that ripped the Danish defence apart to lift it high over the shoulder of the netminder to re-establish the two goal lead.

After a fantastic pass from Wiggins, Wilkinson nearly made it four with a blue line shot that the netminder struggled to save.

GB executed a near perfect penalty kill around the half way mark with the Danes limited to one poor effort on the net.

Late on in the second, GB had the best of the period but the defence were still holding firm for the length of the period and deserve special credit.

GB went onto a penalty kill after a highly dubious tripping penalty but GB put tremendous pressure onto the Danes limiting the options and resulting in the period ending 3-1 up to the Brits.

In the final period it was more of the same with GB attacking and pushing hard. Henry had a near chance on the wrap around but well saved.

Running the clock down was the order of the day and GB played impressive possession hockey to ensure they completed their goal.

In the end the final period passed off without incident with exception of a shockingly poor tripping call which resulted in a GB penalty kill that was well defended.

GB were simply better from the netminder through defence and attack and ran the Danish into the ground with line after line of quality hockey and completely deserved the victory.

The third game day of the championship see’s three undefeated teams going into action, Latvia, Denmark and Great Britain, and the clash of the day being at 4:45 with Denmark meeting GB.

The three games today are:

(Numbers in brackets are the teams seeding coming into the tournament and their current record so far (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses))

1:15pm - (1) Latvia (2-0) vs (5) Netherlands (0-1-1)

The Netherlands really have it all to do after they started the tournament with two defeats and it’s only getting harder with a match against the number one seed Latvia. With their lack of firepower, you expect the Latvians to run out to an easy victory here.

4:45pm - (2) Denmark (2-0) vs (6) Great Britain (2-0)

Both teams are undefeated going into this match, but despite that Denmark will be favourites to take this game and set up a final day showdown with Latvia. Denmark have however dropped three points so far with an overtime win and a loss while Great Britain have started the tournament well with victories over the 5th and 4th seeds.

Denmark pose a greater threat as already shown this tournament but Great Britain have shown that they can compete at this level with they performances in the Olympic Qualifiers and they will need to reproduce the form they showed against Austria back in September in order to take this win.

8:15pm - (3) DPR Korea (1-1) vs (4) Italy (0-2)

In the primetime slot, it’s the battle between the impressive DPR Korea and struggling Italy who are in grave danger of being involved in a relegation battle. Italy must put in a better performance against the quick Koreans who have been very impressive with their speed and teamwork in this tournament.

It’s a rest day for all of the teams today with no matches for any of the teams. However, the teams will each get an hour and a bit practise session to keep them in shape for the remaining three games of the tournament.

Great Britain made it two out of two and are sitting pretty at the top of the table after a tense but well deserved 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.

Both teams had tiring games last night and as a result the opening passage of play slightly slower but GB quickly were on the powerplay after a check into the boards on Henry.

The Netherlands easily killed off the first penalty after a few close chances from GB including a well saved shot from Taylor at the near post.

Kavanagh nearly opened the scoring after seven minutes with a shot that the keeper saved most of it, but the puck dribbled through just wide of the far post.

Aldridge picked up the puck for Wiggins to shoot wide a few seconds later, but the deadlock remained at 0-0. Lauren Wilkinson shot across the net forcing a good save from the Dutch netminder.

Luck however, appeared to be on the side of the Brits, as Beth Kavanagh jammed the puck across the crease and some interesting netminding gave GB the lead to end the period one up.

The second period started at a much better pace by both teams and after five minutes GB had a golden opportunity to double their lead after a fantastic pass set up Taylor who shot wide on the breakaway.

Chrissy Newman took a penalty for hooking which was easily killed by GB including one opportunity when the puck fell on the breakaway to Taylor.

Herring pulled off a fantastic high left glove save during another penalty killed well by GB.

A very minor altercation lead to a spell of four on four which GB enjoyed more than their opponents creating some good chances but failing to put them away.

Emily Turner had the best chance of the period hitting the pipe from the point in a lovely move in the middle of a promising passage of play for GB.

The Dutch ended the period with a strong powerplay but in the end after three scoring opportunities, GB were able to kill it off to end the period with their slender one goal lead.

GB started the period with a debatable slashing penalty which lead to them being short handed but after 20 seconds of pressure it was easily dealt with.

Herring was called upon a few times in the final period with some critical saves from all angles as the Dutch pushed for an equaliser.

It took some time, but on the powerplay GB broke from a Dutch attack, Georgina Farman fired a tape to tape pass to Katie Henry on the wing who made no mistake putting it top right to double the lead and kill the game off for GB.

The Dutch pulled their netminder with two minutes to go to try and force the issue, but in the end GB were too strong for them and the game ended up at 2-0.

The game could at best described as scrappy, with neither team playing to their potential, but again GB came through and won the game and now have a maximum six points. Baring in mind how tired GB will be after a 11:30 finish on the ice last night, it’s some achievement and they now have a rest day to regain their strength.

In this division GB have now beaten the fourth and fifth ranked seeds. Objective one: Avoid relegation. GB can well and truly tick this box now, and the only question is how far they can go.

After yesterday’s performance against Italy in the evening slot, it’s a tough schedule for GB today, taking part in the early afternoon match against the Netherlands. It’s going to be another tough game for GB against a side which is likely going to involved in the Relegation battle which GB could be dragged into.

(Numbers in brackets are the teams seeding coming into the tournament and their current record so far (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses))

Schedule:

1:15pm - (2) Denmark (1-0) vs (3) DPR Korea (0-1)

An interesting game awaits between two teams which are different but similar. Different in terms of the type of hockey that they play, but similar in that they are both in their zone at a level that is comfortable to both teams. Denmark have shown in the years and in this tournament that they have the firepower to win them game however and I believe that this will see them home today.

4:45pm - (6) Great Britain (1-0) vs (5) Netherlands (0-1)

For both teams this is a crucial game of hockey. There’s little doubt that the loser will be the one will find themselves in a relegation battle so it’s absolutely vital that GB pick up points here. The two sides have a long history against each other dating back 20 years, but it’s been five years since the teams that met in completive play. Despite the importance of the game from watching both sides, I believe that this has the potential to be an open game, perhaps high scoring but with the speed and power that GB have displayed, they will get the three points here.

8:15pm - (1) Latvia (1-0) vs (4) Italy (0-1)

Two teams that both want to rebound from recent disappointments should make an interesting game, but I Latvia’s higher level experience and conditioning should see them home comfortably here. Last time they met, Latvia won 5-1 back in September and I’d be very surprised if the result wasn’t similar today.