By Ollie Williams BBC Sport in Nottingham

Britain hit the post from a penalty corner in extra time

Germany struck with a golden goal to lift the Four Nations title with a 3-2 win as Britain squandered a 2-0 lead.

The hosts roared ahead as James Tindall fired home a penalty corner after Barry Middleton scored with a sublime lob.

But Linus Butt finished a well-executed penalty corner before Martin Zwicker drew Germany level in Nottingham.

Britain hit the post early in extra time but Germany, who knocked England out of the World Cup in March, scored a winner through Jan-Marco Montag.

"We went 2-0 up so early on and were dominant in the game, so to lose in the manner that we did is hard to take," Britain's Glenn Kirkham told BBC Sport.

"But we've proved we can mix it with the top teams in the world.

"We've shown here and in the last few months, or years even, that on our day we can beat anybody."

The result mirrored Wednesday's group stage victory for world number two side Germany, in an entertaining final that adds to a memorable list of recent clashes between these two groups of players.

606: DEBATE What do you make of Britain's performances?

The vast majority of the British team on show on Saturday are also part of the England squad, who stunned Germany to win the 2009 European title before being hammered 4-1 by the same opponents in the semi-finals of the World Cup in March.

But the home side looked intent on revenge as they began the game at a searing pace.

GB were already dominant before Middleton found the net with a peerless finish in the 11th minute, looping the ball gracefully over German goalkeeper Max Weinhold.

And Tindall doubled the advantage just four minutes later, rifling home a shot from a penalty corner that Weinhold may think he should have stopped.

Britain then sat back and allowed the first half to dwindle away with few incidents of note, but Germany predictably looked to up the ante after the break.

Initially they found goalkeeper James Fair in excellent form, until Butt's tap-in finished a clever German penalty corner after the stranded Fair had made an initial save.

Britain could have extended their lead as two golden opportunities were blazed wide, and were made to pay as Zwicker beat the plunging Fair with a low reverse-stick swipe from 12 yards.

The game went to two eight-minute periods of golden goal hockey, and Britain agonisingly struck the post from a penalty corner in search of a winner.

We need to make sure we keep our consistency against those top teams Britain's Glenn Kirkham

But, while Fair was able to deny the German penalty corner machine a first time at the other end, Montag's winner squeezed past him with 11 seconds of the first period remaining.

The result is a disappointment for Britain, who should have turned their dominance into a victory.

That said, their performances bode well for the men's Champions Trophy, which begins in Germany at the end of the month.

An England team will face the hosts plus Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.

"Going into the Champions Trophy, against five of the best teams in the world, we need to make sure we keep our consistency against those top teams," said Kirkham.

"If we do that, we've got a real chance of winning some medals."

In Saturday's opening men's fixture, New Zealand's men mounted a fine comeback in the bronze medal play-off, turning around a 2-0 half-time deficit to beat Japan 4-2.

The Four Nations tournament is a friendly invitational event, arranged by the hosts to coincide with the women's Champions Trophy tournament - partly to showcase the fine form of Britain's men, and partly to boost attendances.

Tournaments like this also provide a focus for the British set-up, newly launched for this four-year Olympic cycle, which sees the squad train together every week, then separate into constituent nations England, Scotland and Wales for events like the World Cup.

There is no British team at major tournaments other than the Olympic Games, so the squad must be tested in exhibitions against top opponents.

Beyond that, both of this week's tournaments in Nottingham are seen as a useful outing for the UK's hockey players in front of home fans ahead of the London Olympics.

They are also being studied by officials planning a bid to host the men's and women's Hockey World Cups in England in 2014.

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