Ice Hockey: Britain held by France

A powerplay equaliser 57 seconds from the buzzer denied Great Britain victory in their opening World Championship First Division Group B match with France in Zagreb, Croatia, yesterday. Laurent Meunier turned the pack past Britain's goaltender Mark Cavallin as the Newcastle defenceman Rob Wilson sat out a holding penalty to earn the French a 2-2 tie.

Cavallin had an outstanding game for Chris McSorley's side, turning away 51 shots against one of the tournament favourites. It was bitterly disappoint to concede so late for Britain, who, despite being heavily outshot, had gone 2-0 up. Steve Thornton and captain David Longstaff combined to set up the London forward Jeff Hoad to open the scoring after 13 minutes.

Thornton provided the chance for Jonathan Weaver, playing as an emergency defenceman, to fire home four minutes into the second session but 37 seconds later the French were back in the game as Treille tallied.

Today Great Britain face Italy, who were beaten 3-1 by Estonia yesterday in the tournament's opening game.