CHANDLER'S FORD brothers Adam and David Knott endured a baptism of fire at the London 2012 Paralympics as Great Britain's goalball campaign began with a heavy defeat - but both believe it could prove a blessing in disguise.
Adam, 17, and 15-year-old David are the two bright young things of the Great Britain team but they met their match in world champions and Beijing 2008 silver medallists Lithuania, who romped to an 11-1 victory as the curtain came up on the Paralympics.
Michael Sharkey's solitary goal in Great Britain's first goalball appearance since Sydney 2000 gave the host nation hope by reducing the arrears to just 2-1 down in the first half but Lithuania's class told after the interval.
The brothers have little time to dwell on their disappointment however with 2011 world silver medallists Turkey their next opponents later today. And Adam, who along with David attends St Peters College in Winchester , is convinced the only way is up.
"They are world champions and you have to expect that kind of performance," said Adam. "They played a great game. We played some good stuff and some not so good stuff but credit to them.
"Now we have to comeback even stronger against Turkey. We need to learn from it and put those lessons into practice.
"We're at the Paralympics so we have to expect quality opposition but we're going to be ready and we're going to be fighting and we'll see what happens."
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