Former Braehead Clan forward Ben Davies scored one of the most important goals in British ice hockey history and revealed he couldn’t enjoy it with his family afterwards.

The Welshman’s overtime winner for Pete Russell’s Great Britain side in the deciding game against France in the 2019 World Championships in Kosice, Slovakia saved GB from relegation in dramatic fashion as they nicked a 4-3 win.

But Davies, who played for Guildford Flames last season, had to wait and wait before he could enjoy the moment with his family once the euphoria and initial celebration had died down and the enormity of their achievement in staying up had begun to sink in.

“My parents and my younger sister had come out to see me in a couple of games in the tournament and had to return to the UK because my sister had her final exams that week so they didn’t get the chance to watch the game live,” Davies explained.

“They flew into Heathrow around the time the game was on so only caught up with it when they got home.  They turned off their phones and watched it a couple of hours later so, by this point, I’m calming down a bit and couldn’t phone them.

“I had to wait until they had seen what had happened and when they did, they were screaming down the phone in excitement and celebration.  

“After that, we went into town after the game and ended up in a bar somewhere in Kosice, bumping into the French team, who were there commiserating.  The TV was showing highlights from the game at one point, so it was a little awkward and they left later on.”

The summer of 2019 saw three former Clan players - Davies, Robert Farmer and Mike Hammond - score seven of the nine goals scored by GB as they entered a group with ice hockey powerhouses Canada, USA and eventual winners Finland so managing to survive was a real success.

He’s hopeful the team can get back together when the tournament is scheduled to begin in Belarus capital Minsk in May after missing out earlier this year when the trip to Lausanne in Switzerland was scrapped because of coronavirus.

“It was an unbelievable experience to be part of those games, let along score in them and the teams we were up against,” he added. “I was lucky enough to score and I still have the sticks so I’m aiming to preserve them in frames or something.

“That’s not something that happens all the time so I want to be able to look back at those when my career’s over and have them as a reminder of that tournament.  Everyone talks about the overtime goal against France and what it meant, but scoring against the USA was also very special.

“The calibre of players we were up against on that roster, we didn’t really match up, but it was certainly my most enjoyable game of that tournament.  The France game was stressful, because of what was riding on it and as it transpired, it was good in its own way.

“As far as I know, things are still on the way to play the World Championships next year.  I think quite a few of the boys have beeb lucky to get out and play hockey to some degree.  There are some who haven’t, but it’s a difficult one.

“Fingers crossed, by the start of next year, everyone is playing and whoever gets picked can be involved in a camp and gets a chance of being on that plane over to Belarus and GB can put in another great performance.”