HOLLY Lam-Moores and the Great Britain women’s handball team brought the curtain down on their Olympic campaign with a 37-14 defeat to Croatia on Sunday when they were cheered on by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.

The royal visitor met the athletes and officials afterwards, and said she loved the sport and the atmosphere inside the Copper Box.

Lam-Moores, aged 21, who grew up in Orford, scored her ninth goal of the tournament in front of the Duchess as her 29th minute strike arrested Croatia’s 11-goal run that had taken them 17-5 ahead.

GB never recovered from that against one of the world’s leading teams but they still chipped away and picked off goals right to the final whistle.

Kelsi Fairbrother finishes as GB’s top scorer with three goals following two strikes in the last five minutes.

"It's disappointing that we didn't come closer,” said GB player Louise Jukes.

“The challenge was always difficult, they scored a lot of fast break goals. Every game was a challenge, mentally and physically. We're exhausted.”

For captain Lynn McCafferty it was her last international match before retiring, and she added: “We've had an OK tournament. We've shown that we can play handball but lack experience, which is something that we can now build on, but it was everything and more.

"The Duchess told us how exciting handball was. We hope the exposure her family have given us helps for the future.

“We asked when she was going to give it a go, and she said she would love to have played at school but they didn't play it at her school!"