Silver for GB U21s as they lose tense Sultan of Johor final

Great Britain U21 men will return from Malaysia with a silver medal after losing to Australia 2-0 in a tense Sultan of Johor Cup final. Scotland’s Cameron Golden and Callum MacKenzie have put in excellent performances throughout the tournament, contributing several goals, and bring a well-earned silver medal home for their efforts.

GB started the game having won each of their group fixtures but came up against a side looking for revenge after losing 4-2 to GB on Wednesday.

Goals from Joel Rental and Nathan Ephraums were enough to secure the win for Australia and ensure they became only the second side to win consecutive Sultan of Johor Cups after India did it between 2013-2014.

GB pressed hard in the second half of the game but could not force a shot on the Australian goal and had to settle for a second silver medal, having also finished runners-up in 2014.

Having been blasted by their coach following the group stage loss to Britain, The Burras started the game strongly and forced the first penalty corner of the game in the fourth minute.

They entered the final with the best corner conversion rate in the tournament and proved why as Rintala slammed the ball past a helpless Chris Wyver to give his side an early lead.

The rest of the first quarter was largely uneventful as Jon Bleby’s team started to grow into the game before Wyver was forced into a good save from another penalty corner at the start of the second period.

Wyver then produced an even better save shortly after to keep out Andrew Scanlon as Australia tried to make the most of having an extra man following a yellow card for Eddie Way.

But it was the Brits who came closest to scoring next as they broke up the other end of the field, with Callum Mackenzie’s superb deflection finding Cameron Golden in the circle but he his pass was deflected behind off an Australian stick.

Australia then doubled their lead five minutes after half-time as Ephraums superbly turned away from Alex Blumfield before slotting the ball past Wyver for his ninth goal of the tournament.

After that Great Britain enjoyed much of the possession their lead but struggled to fashion any clear-cut chances, seeing their only penalty corner of the game well blocked by Koby Green with just over a minute to go as Australia held on to win.

There was some consolation for Great Britain though as captain Jack Waller, top scorer Duncan Scott and Wyver were all named in the ‘Team of the Tournament, while the latter was also named the ‘Goalkeeper of the Tournament’ having conceded just six goals in six games.

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