Murdoch's men eye semis spot

David Murdoch's British curlers moved a step closer to the Olympic semi-finals with a comfortable 8-2 victory over Germany at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

The British team dominated the contest, forcing the Germans to concede after just eight of the scheduled 10 ends and with one game left in the round robin phase, a record of five wins and three defeats has Murdoch's team in joint third with Switzerland.

Britain jumped out into a 2-0 lead after two ends. Murdoch scored a point with the hammer, the final stone of an end, in the first and stole another against the German hammer when German skip Andy Kapp missed his draw shot with the last rock of the second end.

A further two points for Britain came in the fourth end before Germany got on the board for the first time in the fifth to leave the score at 4-1 at the halfway stage.

Britain tacked on two more points in the sixth to widen their advantage and a point in reply in the seventh was not nearly enough for the Germans.

British coach David Hay introduced alternate Graeme Connal as a replacement for lead Euan Byers at the start of the eighth end and the new line-up did not skip a beat, Murdoch securing two more points for the world champions to prompt a concession from Germany.

Britain now play the already qualified Norway on Tuesday in their final group game, when a victory should see Murdoch safely into the last four.