Ice hockey star Rhodes leads Great Britain U20s to silver
Dunchurch ice hockey star Rhodes Mitchell-King captained Great Britain’s Under-20 to the silver trophy in the Division 2A World Championships Tournament in Lithuania just before Christmas.
Mitchell-King was given the honour of leading his country and GB started with a solid 4-3 victory over the home country in their first game in Kaunas.
They then suffered a 7-4 defeat to Croatia before regrouping to power to wins against Romania (9-0), Netherlands (7-0) and Spain (3-1).
The destination of the gold medal rested on the game between Croatia and Romania with the former needing to win while a draw would have sealed it for GB.
Croatia went into a 4-1 lead and the gold seemed to be slipping away for the GB team and supporters who were watching on.
However, Romania managed to level at 4-4 with 12 minutes left on the clock.
If this score had stood, regardless of what happened in overtime, GB would’ve won gold and promotion for next season.
It wasn’t to be, though, as Croatia won it with a fifth goal with five minutes to go.
Mitchell-King, however, did have the honour of collecting the silver trophy in his final game at junior level for his country.
He now returns to complete the season for his team Telford Tigers in the NIHL National League and will be looking to win some silverware in his first professional season.