LIGHTNING struck twice in the Partially Sighted Quad Nations Football Championship held at the Manchester Velodrome this week.

For the second successive year, England reached the grand final where yet again they were defeated by Spain. In a thrilling contest, the hosts lost by four goals to three as a late strike by Luis Granizo proved decisive.

After being outplayed in the first-half, England, ranked sixth in the world, rallied superbly in the second period to bring the scores level at 3-3. Despite the best efforts of Preston's Ian Mackie in goal, he could do nothing about Granizo's winner four minutes from time.

However, the hosts can be satisfied with their achievements this week - victories against Republic of Ireland (3-1) and Italy (4-1) set up a repeat of the 2005 final. Bearing in mind that Spain thrashed them 9-3 in the round robin matches, the final was more competitive than many had expected.

Three Lions captain Steve Daley said: "We keep getting close but can't quite get over that final hurdle. They are a good team and that's why they are second in the world.

Turkey

"We are building for the European Championships in Turkey next year - we have a young team who just need a bit more experience.

"There are a lot of positives to come out of the tournament for us."

England's next training camp takes place in February where they are hoping to arrange a friendlies in preparation for the European Championships, held in Turkey next year.

Manager Graham Keeley added: "It was a great performance by the lads. I thought at 3-3 we had them. I think we are level with Spain at the moment and hopefully by the European Championships, we will be better than them."

In the third to fourth play-off match, Republic of Ireland beat Italy 3-2. Tweet