Ben Rhydding swapped their synthetic pitch for sand as they represented England at the BMW international Beach Hockey tournament for the second successive year.

Eight players from their first team made the trek by ferry and road to compete in the event at the seaside resort of Knokke Heist in Belgium.

And just like last year their squad of Holly Crank, Rebecca Fox, Rachelle Le Bourdon, Amy Wilson, Jess Purvis, Jodie Bridger, Kate Hesketh and Rachel Doherty. came third and won €250.

The Ben Rhydding players arrived at the beach venue late on Friday afternoon just in time to play a pre tournament warm up game against last year’s winners Belgium.

It was tough going trying to run on soft sand, but this proved to be ideal preparation for the competitive games.

However the team played extremely well, despite the heat and some questionable tackling from the French.

They had a mixed first day, beating France convincingly, drawing with Germany and Holland and losing to Spain.

They went into Sunday knowing they needed to win their last group game against Belgium to have any chance of making the final.

Unfortunately the Belgians were slightly stronger and more experienced and England lost a very close game 2-1 by a dubious goal scored in the dying seconds.

This meant a second meeting with old rivals Germany for the third and fourth play-off match.

Still feeling slightly robbed from the previous game the Ben Rhydding girls were determined to get a podium finish for England.

They totally outclassed the Germans to win the match 3-1 to secure third place behind Belgium and Holland.