GREAT Britain’s hopes of progressing in the 2012 European Championship ended on Friday night when they lost out 26-35 to Estonia at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London.
The GB boys battled hard and held their opponents at bay for long periods, but lacked the power to consistently break through the Estonian defence.
Playmaker Chris Mohr (pictured) was in fine form, finishing the game with 11 goals after digging through some tough tackles and picking out the corners of the goal. And he combined well with Robin Garnham - until the pivot received his third two-minute suspension and took no further part in the game.
Estonia’s talented 22-year-old Mait Patrail was their star man, scoring six goals by using his large frame and every one of his 199 centimetres to full advantage.
GB tried shot after shot but found Estonian goalkeeper Marius Aleksejev in fine form, not only making saves but twice racing out of the D and catching GB fast breaks and giving his team-mates scoring opportunities which they rarely passed up.
Afterwards, Head coach Dragan Djukic said: “We’re disappointed to lose, but we played well - better than we have before. Estonia are the top team in this group so we knew it would be tough.
“We missed our chance yesterday against Cyprus, and we lacked a bit of self-confidence. But our target has always been to win our first official game, and we will be trying to do that tomorrow.
“We fought until the last moment today, which is really important. We need more games and more experience and then we will begin to win more games.
“It is a long road in front of us, but every step is important. When you look at our performance in the World Championship in Finland in January, our progress in just a few months is clear.”
Some pictures from the match are available to view here. Many more to be added later.
The GB boys battled hard and held their opponents at bay for long periods, but lacked the power to consistently break through the Estonian defence.
Playmaker Chris Mohr (pictured) was in fine form, finishing the game with 11 goals after digging through some tough tackles and picking out the corners of the goal. And he combined well with Robin Garnham - until the pivot received his third two-minute suspension and took no further part in the game.
Estonia’s talented 22-year-old Mait Patrail was their star man, scoring six goals by using his large frame and every one of his 199 centimetres to full advantage.
GB tried shot after shot but found Estonian goalkeeper Marius Aleksejev in fine form, not only making saves but twice racing out of the D and catching GB fast breaks and giving his team-mates scoring opportunities which they rarely passed up.
Afterwards, Head coach Dragan Djukic said: “We’re disappointed to lose, but we played well - better than we have before. Estonia are the top team in this group so we knew it would be tough.
“We missed our chance yesterday against Cyprus, and we lacked a bit of self-confidence. But our target has always been to win our first official game, and we will be trying to do that tomorrow.
“We fought until the last moment today, which is really important. We need more games and more experience and then we will begin to win more games.
“It is a long road in front of us, but every step is important. When you look at our performance in the World Championship in Finland in January, our progress in just a few months is clear.”
Some pictures from the match are available to view here. Many more to be added later.
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