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London 2012 Olympics water polo: Great Britain lose to Australia

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Great Britain 3 Australia 16: Water polo girls suffer heavy defeat after unlucky opening

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UPDATED:

23:25 GMT, 1 August 2012

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The Great Britain women's water polo team were stunned by Australia's early goals on Wednesday night and coach Szilveszter Fekete pinned the 16-3 defeat on their shocking start.

Fekete believes the side's confidence was knocked as they slumped to 6-1 down within the first 11 minutes.

He said: 'At the beginning of the game we lost two unlucky goals.

Reach: Chloe Wilcox jumps to block a shot

Reach: Chloe Wilcox jumps to block a shot

'I think if we had started the game better, the whole game would have been different. After that we lost the confidence.'

The scorer of two of Team GB's three goals, Chloe Wilcox, echoed her coach's view.

The 25-year-old from Carlisle said: “You've got to be in the game to win it, and we were never in the game.

'We needed to have picked up their pace from the start and tried to match them early on.

'It's psychological, and we've got to match them from the start and make sure they know that we're on them, and make them make mistakes.

Instructions: Great Britain coach Szilveszter Fekete sets out his orders

Instructions: Great Britain coach Szilveszter Fekete sets out his orders

'We gave them the opportunity to look good, and it was our mistakes.'

Asked if the heavy scoreline was fair, Fekete said: “I think by the end it was.

'We kind of switched off in that second half, but going into the game we definitely weren't expecting that kind of result.

'Everyone really truly believed that we could come out of there with a win and it's just gutting to have performed like that, and on this big stage we really should have held it together better.'

Wilcox said the team performed poorly going forward.

Asked what let the team down, she said: “It's got to be our attack. You can go into those games and you can let teams like that score 10 or 12 goals against you, but you've got to be matching them with the goals.

Goal: Australia's Alicia McCormack is unable to stop a shot

Goal: Australia's Alicia McCormack is unable to stop a shot

'You can't go into games like this and not take the opportunities that you're given.'

The team play Italy in their next game on Friday. Fekete expects that to be a match in which the Britain team can be more competitive.

She said: 'Italy is a different team. It will be a different day. We know them, they know us. But I think it will be more easy to play against Italy than against Australia.'

London 2012 Olympics: Great Britain 6 Russia 7 – women lose debut water polo clash

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Great Britain 6 Russia 7: Agony as women lose debut water polo clash

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UPDATED:

20:41 GMT, 30 July 2012

Olympics 2012

The Great Britain women's water polo team lost to Russia by the narrowest of margins in their first ever Olympic match.

Team GB were trailing by one or two goals for most of the game, but managed to draw level in the final quarter, only to concede with three minutes to play.

The partisan crowd of 5,000 cheered on the home side as they fought it out with the Russians, who came third in last year's world championships.

Valiant effort: Rosie Morris of Great Britain makes a save during the clash with Russia

Valiant effort: Rosie Morris of Great Britain makes a save during the clash with Russia

Centre back Francesca Painter-Snell, 25, from Manchester, sent the Water Polo Arena into a frenzy as she fired in the first goal of the game, opening the goal account for a Great Britain women's team at the Olympics.

Russia clawed one back through a counter attack by Nadezhda Fedotova and could have scored more if they had not been twice denied by the woodwork and a penalty not been saved by the outstanding British goalkeeper Rosie Morris.

Chloe Wilcox, 25, from Carlisle, scored from the left wing for the home team to take it to 2-1, before Ekaterina Prokofyeva scored twice to give the Russians a 3-2 advantage after the first period.

Russia extended their lead in the second quarter through Alexandra Antonova, before Angie Winstanley-Smith, 26, from South Shields, fired in from close range during a man-up, and Fiona McCann, 25, from Chester, cut inside on five metres to slot the ball into the top left corner, bringing the score to 4-4.

Narrow margin: Team GB lost by a single score

Narrow margin: Team GB lost by a single score

The two sides then traded man-up goals, with Olga Beliaeva and Winstanley-Smith taking advantage of a power-play situations.

Beliaeva scored the only goal of a cagey third quarter, which saw Great Britain rattle the crossbar and fail to convert man-up chances.

Winstanley-Smith claimed her hat-trick to level the scores at 6-6 after one minute of the fourth quarter, but a breakaway goal from Evgeniya Ivanova brought heartbreak to the home team and their fans.