Great Britain miss out on medal at European B Championships

GREAT Britain were defeated by Holland to finish a disappointing fourth and miss out on a medal at the LEN European B Championships in Lugano.

EMPTY-HANDED: Great Britain register their best European Championship finish but will leave Switzerland without a medal (Getty Images)

Great Britain missed out on the gold medal match having been thumped 15-6 by Turkey in their semi-final.

They went into the clash with Holland having beaten the Dutch in their two previous encounters, including an 8-7 victory on the way to registering four wins from five in the group stages.

But Great Britain will leave the championships empty-handed after a 9-4 defeat in the bronze medal match.

The two teams were deadlocked at 4-4 at half-time and, despite having the competition's top goalscorer, Scott Carpenter, in their ranks, Great Britain failed to find the net after the break.

The fourth place finish represents Great Britain's best result at the tournament, having finished sixth in 2008.

And world class programme manager Joanna Wray insists the result will propel the team to future success.

"The tournament as a whole was successful. The team have done better than they ever have before and demonstrated that they can play well together," said Wray.

"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."