By Paul Fletcher BBC Sport in Hull

SECOND ASHES TEST Great Britain 20 (20) Tries: Connolly, Newton, Radlinski Goals: Deacon 4 Australia 23 (12) Tries: Fitzgibbon, Kimmorley, Lockyer Goals: Fitzgibbon 5 Drop goal: Kimmorley All the action as it happened

GB 20-23 Australia

Great Britain's hopes of winning back the Ashes from Australia ended with a 23-20 defeat at the KC Stadium in Hull.

The hosts led 20-12 after a superb first-half display but failed to score after the interval and were overhauled by the world champions.

Brett Kimmorley was outstanding for Australia, threatening the home team's defence at will, scoring a try and a crucial drop goal.

Craig Fitzgibbon, with another awesome kicking display and a towering forward effort, also caused continual problems.

But the crowd were infuriated by a series of refereeing decisions from Australian official Tim Mander.

Adrian Morley, who was dismissed after 12 seconds in the narrow 22-18 defeat in the first Test, had a superb game.

He courted trouble again and was placed on report for another high tackle, but an international panel then cleared him to play in next weekend's final Test.

There were a lot of people who didn't give us a lot of opportunity to win the Ashes, but I think they underestimated the character of the guys Chris Anderson Australia coach

Paul Deacon also shone, justifying his selection ahead of Sean Long at scrum-half with a flawless kicking display.

But Great Britain's failure to build on their lead leaves them with little but pride to play for in Huddersfield

They - like Australia - started nervously, with several early handling errors.

But, after Fitzgibbon opened the scoring for Australia with a penalty, a delicate grubber kick from Andy Farrell was picked up by Morley, who superbly offloaded for Terry Newton to score the game's opening try.

Kimmorley, menacing all match, demonstrated the Kangaroos' adeptness at the grubber kick minutes later, with Darren Lockyer collecting the superbly weighted ball before crossing the GB tryline.

But the Lions held their nerve and regularly found holes in the Australia defence.

I'm very disappointed with the result, but you don't win games of football in the first half David Waite England coach

Kris Radlinski scored after kicks from Paul Sculthorpe and Deacon exposed the Kangaroos defence.

A penalty from Deacon was quickly followed by Gary Connolly's first Test try as GB extended their lead to 20-8 and threatened to overwhelm the Aussies.

But the Kangaroos closed the gap at the break to eight points when Fitzgibbon scored a try close to the left-hand touchline.

Mander did not refer to the video official, but subsequent replays suggested Fitzgibbon did not ground the ball properly.

The visitors reduced the deficit to just two points on 46 minutes, Fitzgibbon converting after a superb dummy from Kimmorley allowed the Australian stand-off to breach the Lions defence.

A poor kick from Deacon hinted at nerves within the GB camp as the Australians stepped-up the intensity of their play.

And Kimmorley was held up on the GB line minutes later after another sublime dummy had once again unlocked the home team's defence.

Breaks from Radlinski and Keith Senior showed the Lions were still capable of causing Australia problems.

But the Kangaroos dominated possession after the break, probing and piercing the Lions defence and eventually locked the scores at 20-20 when Fitzgibbon converted a penalty with 13 minutes left.

A Kimmorley drop goal in the closing minutes was followed by another penalty conversion from Fitzgibbon as Australia took an insurmountable lead in the series.

Great Britain: Radlinski (Wigan); Carney (Wigan), Connolly (Leeds), Senior (Leeds), Horne (Hull); Sculthorpe (St Helens), Deacon (Bradford); Fielden (Bradford), Newton (Wigan), McDermott (Leeds), Morley (Sydney Roosters), Peacock (Bradford), Farrell (Wigan, capt). Subs: Anderson (Bradford), Sinfield (Leeds), Long (St Helens), Forshaw (Bradford).

Australia: Lockyer (Brisbane, capt), Minichiello (Sydney Roosters), De Vere (Brisbane Broncos), Wing (Sydney Roosters), Sing (North Queensland), Gower (Penrith), Kimmorley (Cronulla), Webcke (Brisbane), Buderus (Newcastle), Kearns (Melbourne), Fitzgibbon (Sydney Roosters), Simpson (Newcastle), Ricketson (Sydney Roosters). Subs: Civoniceva (Brisbane), Waterhouse (Penrith), Mason (Canterbury), Crocker (Sydney Roosters).

Referee: Tim Mander (Australia).