Great Britain's Harry Martin just missed out on a bronze medal at the London Olympics

Old Loughts youngster planning for 2016

Old Loughtonians youngster Harry Martin is already setting his sights on winning an Olympic medal in Rio, after just missing out on bronze at the Riverbank Arena today.

The 19-year-old Martin and his GB hockey teammates were beaten 3-1 by Australia in the third-place play-off, in front of another excitable 15,000 crowd.

And although disappointed to miss out on a podium place at these home Games, Ipswich-born Martin wants another chance in four years time.

He said: “We’ve made huge strides since Jason (Lee) took over, which was way before my time.

“I’ll push on for Rio and hope to get a medal there.”

GB went into today’s match still smarting after a stunning 9-2 defeat against Holland in the semi-finals on Friday night.

They had seen the women’s team secure bronze with a 3-1 win over New Zealand yesterday and, despite falling behind to a strong Simon Orchard shot midway through the first half, they fought back to level at the break in their own quest for a medal.

Martin produced a strong run through the heart of the Australian defence to win a penalty corner for his side.

And a well-worked routine paid off as Iain Lewers injected the ball to the top of the circle and, when it was returned to him by regular shooter and leading scorer Ashley Jackson, he then deflected his shot inside the post.

Martin added: “We had a point to prove and came out and gave it everything.

“We were really disappointed (after the Holland game), but we had a job to do today and tried our best.

“Whoever got the first goal in the second half would be in a strong position and they were a bit sharper than us.”

British keeper James Fair made good saves from Christopher Ciriello and Glenn Turner either side of the interval to keep GB on level terms.

But Australia regained the lead from one of several penalty corners – following a string of video referrals – as Jamie Dwyer volleyed the ball home from waist height after Fair had stopped his initial effort.

GB were left with a mountain to climb 13 minutes from time when Dwyer saw another attempt beaten out by Fair and Kieran Govers volleyed home to make it 3-1.

And despite removing Fair for an extra outfield player in the closing stages, the hosts could not impact on the scoreline and were left empty-handed.

Martin, who will start his university studies in September, added: “We’re fourth in the world, but it’s quite hard to think about it at the moment.

“We’re all feeling pretty down and probably won’t pick up a stick for a while.”