Gibraltar men's hockey finish with silver after penalty shootout defeat against Lithuania

Gibraltar men's hockey made two comebacks before falling to Lithuania in a penalty shoot-out in the final of the EuroHockey Championship Qualifier II men's tournament held in Helsinki, Finland.
Unbeaten after the group stage, Gibraltar faced Lithuania to decide top spot in the division, with promotion at stake for the winners.
Lithuania took the early lead through a penalty corner in the ninth minute, with Danielius Petkevič scoring the opening goal.
Gibraltar saw Ian Rodriguez shown a green card in the second quarter before Lithuania also had a player temporarily suspended. Gibraltar were unable to make the most of two penalty corner opportunities before Lithuania doubled their advantage. Povilas Sinkevičius scored their second goal in the closing minute of the second quarter.
Gibraltar responded in the final seconds of the quarter, with Craig Bossano-Anes adding to his tournament tally to reduce the deficit before half-time.
Craig struck again within two minutes of the restart, converting another penalty corner to level the match at 2-2 and complete Gibraltar's first comeback.
The scores remained level only briefly as Povilas Sinkevičius netted his second goal of the match to restore Lithuania's lead.
Gibraltar refused to give up and, having earned 11 penalty corners to Lithuania's 10, forced the match into a penalty shoot-out. Julian Lopez levelled the scores at 3-3 with a goal in the 54th minute, completing Gibraltar's second comeback of the match.
Lithuania prevailed in the penalty shoot-out, converting their first and fourth attempts, while Gibraltar were only able to score with their opening effort.
Gibraltar finished with the silver medal, remaining unbeaten during normal playing time, with the title ultimately decided by the penalty shoot-out.