Great Britain produced one of major shocks of the Olympic hockey tournament when a penalty corner goal five minutes from time by Calum Giles inspired the team to a 2-1 victory over Germany which sends the European champions crashing out of the competition.

Brought off the bench in the closing stages of a thrilling encounter, penalty corner ace Giles couldn't have chosen a better time to fire in his first goal in Sydney.

Saving their best performance until last, Britain's gutsy display helped them finish fourth in their group and keep alive their hopes of a top six placing in the event.

The result also delighted the Dutch camp who had been disconsolate after their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Pakistan.

Unable to believe GB could beat their great rivals, the Dutch now move second in the pool and qualify for the semi finals.

Britain made little impact in the first half with Germany dominating and controlling the contest.

Nine minutes before the break, Guy Fordham was sent to the sin bin for a succession of niggling fouls.

But it was a transformed GB squad which emerged after the restart. Driving rain failed to dampen their spirits, and they were back on level terms within four minutes of Tom Bertram deflecting in Christian Mayerhoffer's shot two minutes after the turnaround.

Forcing a penalty corner, Craig Parnham's initial strike took a deflection off Florian Kunz's stick and looped into the net.

Holding firm under pressure and denying the Germans at three penalty corners, Britain produced their best spell of the game with Giles sealing their first win against Germany in four years with an unstoppable flick high into the net.