Great Britain were beaten 7-4 by Croatia in their second game the IIHF Under-20 World Championship Division II Group A in Kaunas.

It means they have one win and one defeat from their opening two games following a 4-3 victory over hosts Lithuania on opening day.

A superb bit of skill from Bayley Harewood to come away from his man and then go short-side on netminder Teo Janjatovic Loncar put GB ahead on the powerplay (2:00), but Croatia hit back with two powerplay goals in 77 seconds.

Niksa Juric (6:29) and Vito Idzan (7:46) turned the game on its head before Niko Cavlovic stretched Croatia’s lead at 15:18.

GB hit penalty trouble again and Ante Bebek gave Croatia a 4-1 lead (19:06) at the first intermission.

Juric scored his second powerplay goal of the game (29:00) and just over two minutes later, Idzan notched his second (31:02) as Croatia took full control – a goal which saw Ben Norton replace Daniel Crowe between the pipes.

Archie Hazeldine’s stretch pass was cleverly kept in the zone by Carter Hamill and although his shot was saved, Juha Lindgren popped home the rebound on the powerplay (42:59).

Jack Hopkins fed Hazeldine at the top of the right circle to close the gap to three (47:08) and in the closing stages, GB gambled by lifting Norton for the extra skater.

Bruno Idzan scored into an empty net (59:24) but with Norton still off the ice, Milique Martelly’s superb coast-to-coast skate set-up Oliver Endicott to score from the slot 16 seconds later (59:40) – a goal which could prove vital if goal difference is needed to separate sides later in the tournament.

GB are back in action tomorrow against Romania at 12:30 (10:30 UK time).

GB Under-20s schedule and results 
Sunday 11th December: Lithuania 3-4 Great Britain – Hopkins 2, Hamill, Harewood
Tuesday 13th December: Great Britain 4-7 Croatia – Harewood, Lindgren, Hazeldine, Endicott
Wednesday 14th December: Great Britain v Romania 12:30 (10:30 UK time)
Friday 16th December: Netherlands v Great Britain 16:00 (14:00 UK time)
Saturday 17th December: Great Britain v Spain 12:30 (10:30 UK time)