HORSPATH Hammers claimed a podium place at the European Club Championships in Poland.

The Oxfordshire outfit took bronze at the three-day tournament in Torun, finishing just one point behind the hosts.

Unlike some of their rivals Hammers only had the minimum four riders to call on, but the team of Ben Mould, Will Jeffery, Zac Payne and Mark Carmichael more than held their own.

The 12-strong field was made up of ten Polish clubs, Horspath and Birmingham Monarchs, with the two English representatives drawn in the same qualifying meeting.

Hammers were joint-top scorers in the first event and backed it up with a solid showing to finish equal second overall and comfortably reach the semi-finals.

Only a top-two place would see them qualify for the final, but the team dug deep to put themselves in the hunt for a medal.

With Birmingham failing to get that far, Horspath were flying the flag for their country against Polish clubs MS Slask Swietochlowice, Torun and Gniezno.

Their medal hopes appeared to be fading after three rounds, when they trailed all three rivals by eight points.

But Hammers showed their quality and some excellent passing manoeuvres hauled them back into contention, with a single point between themselves, Torun and Gniezno ahead of the final ride.

World champion Ben Mould was unable to snatch silver as he finished last in his race, but he won the run-off to secure a deserved bronze medal for Horspath.

Final scores: MS Slask Swietochlowice 60, Torun 47, Horspath Hammers 46, Gniezno 46.