GREAT Britain women beat Finland 17-14 in the first leg of their European Handball Championship clash in Helsinki on Wednesday afternoon.
Great Britain led for much of the game, but in a low-scoring match it was the performance of goalkeeper Sarah Hargreaves which shone.
The Danish-based player had a save ratio of 65 per cent, prompting head coach Jesper Holmris to say: “Sarah was world class today, and with that save rate Finland were really struggling.”
Other good contributions came from Nina Heglund and Sophia Cannon who both scored three, while the other goals were spread across the team with ten players on the scoresheet.
However, despite the win Holmris was not happy.
“I’m pleased with the result. To have a three goal lead and home advantage on Saturday is great. It was much more than we expected.
“But we didn’t play well. We had awesome fighting spirit and our defence was very strong, but we made a lot of mistakes.
“We missed a lot of easy chances, including three penalties, so we’re looking forward to a better performance in Liverpool.”
Captain Lynn McCafferty started superbly with her trademark unforgiving defensive style, while in attack Heglund and Cannon punished Finland with some good fast-break goals.
The GB performance proves just how much they have developed since they last met in Cyprus in March 2008, when Finland beat GB 29-16 on their way to victory in the European Challenge Trophy.
Saturday’s second leg is at the Echo Arena in Liverpool at 6pm. Tickets are still available from www.BritishHandball.com.
GB Scorers: Nina Heglund 3, Sophia Cannon 3, Holly Lam-Moores 2, Lynn McCafferty 2, Jeanett Andersen 2, Kelsi Fairbrother 1, Britt Goodwin 1, Kathryn Fudge 1, Lyn Byl 1, Amondine Webb 1.
