Great Britain 4, Japan 0

Welsh forward Matthew Myers scored two goals for Great Britain on a night of national triumph in Belfast.

Cardiff Devils player Myers scored his goals during the second period and gave GB a 4-0 lead against Japan in the World Championships.

Both teams went into the final fixture in the group boasting a 100 per cent record over the week. This was a straight shootout for the gold medal and promotion to Division One Group A next year.

GB went desperately close a year ago and suffered heartbreak, but this time they were consistently effective and won all five matches at the SSE Arena.

Coach Peter Russell and his players earned all the plaudits for a series of top quality performances.

Devils’ goalie Ben Bowns was between the pipes for Britain and he made some big saves when Japan threatened.

Myers (2), Robert Dowd and Brendan Brooks were the GB scorers.

Downs netted the first, a powerplay strike, on 17 minutes 42 seconds and that was the only goal during the first period. Britain then took control by scoring three times in the second.

Brooks fired a second powerplay goal after 24-32, while Myers netted the third on 29-19 and made it 4-0 with two minutes five seconds left in the period.

GB fans were ecstatic and the atmosphere was remarkable.

Match stats: 

Scorers, GB: Matthew Myers 2+0, Robert Dowd 1+1, Brendan Brooks 1+0, Robert Farmer 0+1, Ben O’Connor 0+1, David Clarke 0+1, David Phillips 0+1, Colin Shields 0+2, Evan Mosey 0+1.

Period scores (GB first): 1-0; 3-0 (4-0); 0-0 (4-0).

World Championship results and fixtures in Belfast:

Sunday, April 23: Netherlands 1, Japan 6; GB 4, Croatia 2; 7.30pm Estonia v Lithuania.

Monday, April 24: Japan 4, Croatia 2; Lithuania 8, Netherlands 0; GB 5, Estonia 1.

Wednesday, April 26: Japan 6 Estonia 2; Netherlands 2, Croatia 6; GB 5, Lithuania 2.

Friday, April 28: Lithuania 2, Japan 6; Croatia 3, Estonia 4; Great Britain , Netherlands .

Saturday, April 29: Lithuania 3, Croatia 1; Estonia 4, Netherlands 3; GB 4, Japan 0.