England’s partially sighted squad picked up bronze at the IBSA B2/B3 European Championship in Georgia this week.
The Three Lions faced Italy in Thursday’s third place play-off game, following their narrow semi-final defeat against Russia earlier in the week.
And Ian Bateman’s side made the most of their opportunity with a hard-fought 5-2 win against the Azzurri to make it a successful trip to Tbilisi for the group.
England started the game strongly and took an early lead thanks to Paul McHugh before the Italians equalised against the run of play midway through the half.
Not to be deterred, England scored almost straight from the restart as Tom Lamb finished well to give England a deserved lead heading into the half-time break.
The second half, however, saw Italy equalise inside the opening seconds to level once again before England reasserted their dominance in and out of possession, creating a number of good chances before Lamb scored his second to give England the lead for the third time.
England’s fourth, and Lamb’s hat-trick goal was the result an excellent team move with all players on the court touching the ball before Lamb finished superbly to extend the lead further.
McHugh rounded-off the scoring in the final minutes, contributing to him ending the competition as the leading scorer with 14 goals.
“To medal at our third consecutive tournament is a tremendous achievement for the team," said Bateman after the game.
"We need to build on what we have learnt and be ready for the next championships in Italy in 2019."
The semi-final came on the back of a successful group stage, where England began the competition with a 4-0 win over Italy thanks to goals from Paul McHugh, Tom Lamb, John McDougall and Harry Gibbons.
That was followed up by a resounding 28-0 win against tournament hosts Georgia before the 3-2 reverse against Russia.
The squad: Steve Daley (captain), John McDougall, Dylan Malpas, Dan James, Jeremy Vernaeve, Harry Gibbons, Andy Cahill, Paul McHugh, Gareth Jones, Harry Macdonald, Adam Lione, Tom Lamb
