Great Britain Women’s dream of qualifying for the Winter Olympics for the first time ended with a 3-1 defeat by Kazakhstan in Astana.

GB needed to win the game by two goals in the final match of the Olympic preliminary qualifying round two tournament, but came up short.

Kazakhstan, who won all three games on home ice, will now advance to the next stage.

Galia Nurgalieva and Daria Moldabai put the hosts 2-0 ahead in the first period and they kept GB at bay until the 54th minute when Katie Henry pulled one back on the powerplay.

GB lifted netminder Nicole Jackson late on for the extra skater, but Tatyana Likhaus wrapped the game up into an empty net inside the final minute.

Head Coach Cheryl Smith said: “As a squad they have so much to be proud of but it just hasn’t gone our way.

“We played against two teams ranked higher than us in the world and ran them both close. The team did a lot right over the week but there are also things we know we have to work on.

“We have a very young side and their time will come in the future. The World Championship in Korea is not that far away and this has been great preparation for that tournament.”

(Image permission: Dean Woolley)