GREAT BRITAIN’S handball tournament effectively came to an end after a 31-25 defeat to Angola in the Copper Box but for Burnley’s Holly Lam-Moores this is just the beginning for the sport in this country.

The loss spells means qualification for the knockout stages, always an unlikely prospect, is impossible with one match in Pool A still to come against Croatia tomorrow.

But for what was, by comparison, a scratch team assembled for London 2012, Great Britain more than punched above their weight none more so than 5ft 7in Lam-Moores, who finished with five goals.

And given the full houses the British teams have attracted at the Copper Box, the 21-year-old is convinced that it won’t be long before Team GB can hold their own against the sport’s giants.

“Coming into this tournament we said we have got absolutely nothing to lose and we still don’t,” she said. “No one expects anything from us because it is a new sport for us.

“We are a new team, we are the baby of the tournament. We are just learning to walk and in four years’ time hopefully we will be running and in another four years we will be winning medals. “After the response we have had from the crowds it looks like we have a bright future and something to look forward to anyway. This is just the beginning for us and I hope people understand that.”

* Holly Lam-Moores is a Lloyds TSB Local Hero and member of Team GB. Lloyds TSB is proud partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and supporter of Team GB on their journey to London 2012. lloydstsb.com/london2012