Scotland's Lynn McCafferty led by example as she skippered her side to a crucial victory in the first leg of their European Handball Championship clash in Helsinki.

McCafferty was imperious in defence while Danish-based goalkeeper Sarah Hargreaves finished with a save ratio of 65 per cent as Great Britain chalked up a 17-14 victory.

Great Britain now have the upper hand ahead of the return leg in Liverpool on Saturday, but head coach Jesper Holmris believes his side should be returning to home soil with a more comfortable cushion.

"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,? he said.

"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."

"Sarah was world class today, and with that save rate Finland were really struggling."

Other contributions came from Nina Heglund and Sophia Cannon who both netted three, while a total of ten players got on the scoresheet.