After suffering a tough defeat yesterday at the hands of Turkey, the men went into the bronze medal match against former group opponents Holland.
 
Having played and beaten the Dutch already in the group stages, with a score of 8-7, as well as at a recent training camp, they were confident going in and hoping to come away with the win.
 
They started the match strong playing their own game and taking chances when they could, and by half time the score was tied at 4-4.
 
After resuming play for the last two quarters the team looked tired and were unable to stay on top of their Dutch opponents who scored a further five goals whilst Britain were unable to find the back of the net.
 
Proving too strong on this occasion the team from the Netherlands took the bronze medal with a score line of 9-4 at the final whistle.
 
Scott Carpenter (pictured) was awarded top scorer of the competition demonstrating the strength and quality of talent that Britain boasts.
 
This is the British team’s best ever finish at a European Championships, and an improvement on last year’s sixth place finish.
 
Joanna Wray, the team's assistant manager and manager of the sport's world class programme, the said: "The tournament as a whole was successful.

"The team have done better that they ever have before and demonstrated that they can play well together.
 
"It's a shame that they were unable to take the opportunity in the semi-final but they are still a young, strong team and it was a good experience for them."
 
Britain's semi-final opponents, Turkey, were crowned champions after defeating France 8-5.
 
The team will now return home to evaluate their performance and look forward to the European qualification tournament to be held next April which could see them qualify for the European A Championships.


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