Great Britain 13 Belgium 2

Five former Romford junior ice hockey players helped Great Britain under-16s to a comprehensive win over Belgium in their first match at a four-team international tournament in Dumfries last night.

Mason Biddulph, having been named as an assistant captain before the action got underway, netted twice and Tommy Huggett was also on target, while goalie Brad Windebank went unbeaten during the first half of the match before being replaced.

Callum Burnett and Daniel Hitchings also featured in defence as the young Brits signalled their intentions in style.

The hosts were 2-0 up inside 97 seconds and Biddulph’s first goal put them five clear in only the 12th minute.

It was 10-0 when Royal Liberty pupil Windebank made way for fellow goalie Harrison Walker, with Huggett claiming a shorthanded goal and Biddulph a superb solo effort to widen the gap to 13 after two periods.

Belgium scored two unanswered goals in the closing session and GB head coach Robert Wilkinson told icehockeyuk.co.uk: “The fact we lost the last period 2-0, it almost felt like a loss.

“We gave the boys a bit of a grilling but we’ve still won 13-2 over a team ranked around eight places below us, which is pretty close to us.”

Spain beat the Netherlands 7-1 in the opening match at the Ice Bowl and GB face the Dutch in their next fixtuer this evening at 8pm.