Great Britain’s women’s hockey team may not be setting the medal table on fire like the cyclists, rowers and sailors, but they are within grasping distance of bettering the targets they set themselves for the Beijing Olympics.

Nonetheless, a goalless draw against the USA was a disappointing result for GB women, featuring late Scottish replacement Laura Bartlett, as it ruled out their chance to play for a medal, finishing third in their pool behind Germany and Argentina.

Instead, the women will face old rivals Australia in the 5/6th place play-off on Friday.  The women had originally set themselves a target of finishing higher than their current ranking of 9th, which they succeeded in doing.

GB Head Coach Danny Kerry said: “I am basically disappointed with our performance. But as a whole, we climbed the world rankings and beat some good teams. You have to look at the bigger picture. It was not good tonight, but overall (in the tournament) it was pretty good.”