The British women's handball team enjoyed a solid warm up for September's European Championship qualifying matches as they finished runners-up in a tournament in Italy.

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The team faced four matches in the mini-tournament against top Italian and Austrian club sides, and were narrowly beaten in the final despite strong performances.

"It was a great chance for us to prepare for the European Championship qualification matches against Finland in three weeks," said head coach Jesper Holmris. "It was also a great opportunity to play against a different style of handball."

The team beat Italian side Cassano but lost to another Italian team, Salerno, in their pool matches before ousting top-ranked Austrian team MGA Wien 23-16 in the semi-final. They then lost again to Salerno in the final.

"We didn't know anything about the opponents but our perception of the club teams from Italy, Hungary and Austria prior to the camp was that they would be at a good level," added Holmiris.

Overall, Holly Lam Moores was top-scorer with 21, while London-based Dani Sposi added 12 and Aldershot's Kelsi Fairbrother 10, while Bury's Kathryn Fudge and Denmark-based Shila Casey both scored nine.