Great Britain look to silver lining at BT Paralympic World Cup

about a year ago

Outside on the pitch, the cerebral palsy football team went down 4-2 to an inspired Brazilian team, while things went to the wire on the court, with USA just edging out GB 61-56.

Both matches were broadcast live on Channel 4 and were undoubtedly a great advert for Paralympic sport.

In the wheelchair basketball, Simon Munn top-scored with 16 for Great Britain in a game that could have gone either way.

The joint-team leader Munn, who will this summer compete in his sixth Paralympic Games, led ably from the front, but ultimately USA, inspired by top-scorer Jason Nelms who sunk 17 points, were too good on the day.

Great Britain coach Murray Treseder remained pragmatic about the defeat and says his side can feel proud of their efforts after what has been a fantastic competition of wheelchair basketball.

Treseder said: "We could have won that game, but we just had a few moments where we lost concentration and consistency. The boys showed a lot of spirit though and that is so important, they came back at the USA after the first quarter and they gave a great show.

"The British fans have been great here, really fantastic and they have been right behind the boys and it's great to see and exciting for London."

This sentiment was echoed by his team leaders, with Jon Pollock and Munn insisting that there progress this week can be seen with the four-point difference in this match, compared with the 30-point deficit seen in their last meeting earlier in the competition.

"It was a great game, much better than the first game we played against them this tournament,” said Pollock. We have learnt a lot this week that we need to work on for London. It was a shame we couldn't win today, but what a game for the crowd to watch.

"I personally love this tournament because I train in Manchester and my family live nearby so they can easily come and watch and the crowds are amazing and they get better and better every year."

Munn added: "That was a preparation game, we didn't win but we will learn a lot from this tournament and that's why it is so important to us to come here. I have lost my shooting form here, but sometimes it happens and there is no point in dwelling on it, but I am going to have to just find my form again.

"It has been a great tournament and we have improved since the first game and now we just have to work hard until London."

GB’s football 7-a-side team bravely fought hard before once again losing out to a fantastic Brazilian side, going down 4-2 to the Samba Boys for the second time this week.

Great Britain were slow coming out of the traps, with Brazil sprinting to a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to two goals from Wanderson Oliveira and a solitary strike from Fernandes Vieira.

The game was wrapped up immediately after the break when Yurig Ribeiro scored his side’s fourth, despite consolations from Alistair-Patrick Heselton and another from one of the stars of the competition, Ibrahima Diallo.

George Fletcher, who at just 17 years old is the youngest player in the GB team, was disappointed with conceding early goals to a side of such strength, but says the BT Paralympic World Cup has been the perfect preparation for their London 2012 assault.

“That was tough today,” said Everton-fan Fletcher. “We needed to step up after they started scoring and we did step up in the second half and we tried to get back into the game. We shouldn’t have let Brazil get those early goals and we were punished for them, but we have to take what we can from the match.

“We will use this process now as we look ahead to the Paralympics. Hopefully we will get Brazil back at the Games, we just need to learn to defend against teams like them. Our first game at the Paralympics is Brazil and we will be gunning for them. Bring it on!

“The tournament this week has been really good for us at the BT Paralympics World Cup, We’ve enjoyed it and have learnt a lot and it is key to our preparation for the Games.

“I’m starting to play to the potential I want to play. I am the youngest in the team and I’m just starting in my professional disability football career. I want to take full advantage of this opportunity. I believe I am the best CP5 player in the world and I need to keep working hard to prove that I am.”

GB took the silver, which is an improvement on their third place finish in the BT Paralympic World Cup two years ago. In the day’s earlier match, USA beat Republic of Ireland 2-1 to take bronze in the third/fourth playoff match.

Rene Renteria broke the deadlock for the States after seven minutes, before captain Josh McKinney doubled his side’s lead just after the break.

Luke Evans’ goal eight minutes from time proved to be just a consolation for Republic of Ireland, with USA managing to withhold the opposition’s pressure to win the match.

In the wheelchair basketball competition, Germany came third after beating Japan 59-54.

Hiroaki Kozai continued his remarkable scoring record for Japan, notching 19 points in the match, but it was not enough, as an Andre Bienek-inspired Germany took the spoils.

This afternoon, Australia and Germany go head-to-head in the women’s wheelchair basketball final, with Great Britain taking on USA in the third place game, as GB look to retain the BT Paralympic World Cup trophy.