Under 18 (Youth)
GB vs Albania 47:19 (17:11)
Great Britain began slowly against an inexperienced Albanian team, but after 15 mins they led 7:5, which they extended to 17:11 at the half-time break, but they left the court for the changing rooms feeling that they did not work well enough in defensive situations, resulting in conceding more than they should have.
After a motivational prompt by Interim Coach Chris McDermott at the break, they scored four quick goals from excellent turnovers and that set the precedent for the half which was complimented by a consistently-strong defensive display which kept Albania frustrated, leading to them making many mistakes which were punished by Great Britain’s quick counter attacking.
Most Valuable Players: Craig Yule, Josh Dinsdale, Michael Davies
GB Men's Under 18 pivot Charlie Fletcher spoke to local TV in Pristina, following the victory.
"We weren't expecting that [result], but you've got to work hard for every win you get. We started better [than them], but let them back into the game, but we then started the second half much better than they did, and we just took off from there.
"The pressure's off of them (teammates) a little bit [to score spectacular goals] once they get to a 20-goal lead as, obviously, it's much easier to do that than when you're in a tight situation."
GB Men's U18 Interim Coach Chris McDermott also spoke to local TV after the win.
"I'm really pleased with the result and performance - especially in the later stages of the game. At first, we struggled to inject the right sort of pace and energy into the game and that's something we can look at in the next game, but overall, I'm really, really happy and the lads deserve to enjoy the success.
"Our next game (against Moldova tomorrow) is a really, really important one as it will dictate how we will finish the tournament - either competing for gold or silver, or playing for bronze, so obviously that's really important.
"Having seen them play they are a really, really good team and I think it will be a really competitive game. Both teams can win but hopefully we can prepare our lads as well as possible to try and clinch that victory."
Under 20 (Junior)
GB vs Georgia 17:35 (11:19)
Finding themselves just eight goals down at the break against the experienced Georgians (19:11), Bobby White’s GB Men’s U20 side were not able to mount a second half comeback as they eventually lost 35:17.
Top-scorers for GB were Jack Lees and Adam Latter with six goals each, followed by Oli Sutcliffe (3 goals) and Caleb Mathews (2).
“Our defence was again excellent when we had the chance to return and we improved in terms our recovery,” said GB Men’s U20 Interim Coach Bobby White. “We had some bright moments in attack, finding gaps in the Georgian defence, but we were inconsistent and wasteful, particularly towards the end of the game.”
Most Valuable Player: Jack Field
