GB top man

9:26am Saturday 26th April 2008

BASINGSTOKE Bison forward Greg Chambers had a dream Great Britain debut in the world championships in Innsbruck.

The hot shot was voted the British player of the tournament and he also finished the joint top points scorer, his 11 points being matched by Austrians Dieter Kalt and Oliver Setzinger.

The Herd sniper hit the net four times and caught the eye from the first game, when he scored the opening goal in a 3-2 penalty shoot-out loss against Poland.

Chambers was again on target in the next match, which saw GB go down 10-5 to eventual winners Austria.

Victories followed over Korea (4-1) and Holland (8-1), where Chambers helped himself to 2+3, while Bison team-mate Greg Owen scored his first professional hat-trick - also in a five-point haul.

Great Britain coach Paul Thompson said after the Holland win: "The Owen-Chambers combination has worked well all week and I think, with Jonathan Phillips with them today, they got even better.

"Chambers has certainly made a difference out here. He is so creative. For Owen to score a hat-trick in such an important game is great for the lad."

The victory over Holland gave the British team a chance of winning the silver medal at this year's tournament when 12 months ago the team had to face a winner-takes-all relegation game.

After two periods, the game with Kazakhstan was locked at 1-1, with Chambers involved in the goal scored by David Clarke.

However, two goals in the final five minutes ended GB hopes and they had to settle for fourth spot, which will see them move up the world rankings.

After returning home, Owen said: "We can take a lot of confidence from our performances in Austria and Chubbs (Greg Chambers) pretty much had a hand in every goal we scored.

"The two of us really clicked, having played together all season, and against Holland our line scored six of the eight goals. Scoring a hat-trick was a great moment for me, especially being in a GB shirt."

The Great Britain forward added: "I think we surprised a few people as our team is not made up of dual nationals."

Next on the agenda for GB is the 2010 Olympic qualifiers, which are likely to take place in the autumn.

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