Mantell slotted home Britain's first

Great Britain's fightback fell short as Germany hung on for a 3-2 win at Nottingham's Four Nations tournament.

Oskar Deecke and Moritz Furtz put the Germans in front but Simon Mantell replied for Britain before the break.

Tobias Lietz restored a two-goal margin before Ashley Jackson fired a penalty-corner home to set up a tense finish.

Another Jackson shot was tipped wide in the dying seconds as reigning Olympic champions Germany went top of the table by three points from Britain.

GB head coach Jason Lee, whose team won their opening match 6-4 against Japan on Monday, said: "Our play was a bit disjointed today, with some good and bad phases.

"There were positives though with the younger players getting another chance to play, particularly Harry Martin and Andy Bull."

Captain Barry Middleton added: "We're disappointed because we want to beat teams that are similarly placed in the rankings; the boys are a bit down because they just want to win."

Britain, containing many of the England squad who are European champions and were World Cup semi-finalists in March, could clinch a place in Saturday's final with victory over bottom-of-the-table New Zealand in their final pool match on Friday.

The Kiwis are without a point in the tournament and went down 4-3 to third-placed Japan, who have three points, on Wednesday.

The top two teams will qualify for the decider, while the bottom two will play off for third place.

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