Great Britain got their first win of the tournament when they defeated China 10-2 to finish seventh in the Football 7-a-side tournament of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in a match played at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium, Pitch 1, on Tuesday.
It didn't take long for Great Britain to get ahead. Matthew Dimbylow opened the scoring in the very first minute.
In the 18th minute, Dimbylow was again involved in the attack. His perfect cross was met by Michael Barker, and the ball went in to make it 2-0 for Great Britain.
Two minutes later, Barker assisted Mark Robertson for the third goal of the match, and, soon after, Great Britain opened a four-goal gap when Roy Gordon's strike took a slight deflection off a Chinese defender and fooled substitute goalkeeper Dong Xinliang.
On the first half's last strike, Graeme Paterson hammered the ball from outside the box and made it 5-0.
After the break, Great Britain continued to dominate, and Matthew Ellis became the sixth scorer when he sent a lovely shot towards the far post with the outside of his left foot on 39 minutes.
China got their moment of joy when goalkeeper Jordan Raynes couldn't prevent Fan Zhichao from capitalizing on a rebound.
Michael Barker worked well with Roy Gordon and one-on-one with the goalkeeper, he coolly finished with a soft touch to the near post to make it 7-1 for Great Britain.
Captain Jonathan Paterson made sure all the outfield players from Great Britain's starting lineup wrote their names in Tuesday's scoresheet as he tapped it in in front of an empty net for his first goal in the tournament and Britain's eighth in the match.
Michael Barker got himself a hat trick shooting from outside the box and benefiting from a slight deflection on Zhu Xu's head.
It was 9-2 when Fan Zhichao scored his second goal of the match with a cool finish past the surging substitute goalkeeper Leon Taylor.
Barker made it 10-2 in the last minute with a powerful shot from outside the area.
Despite losing all their matches and finishing in the last position, the young and inexperienced Chinese team never stopped trying and was rewarded by the cheerful crowd with a standing ovation after the match.
(BOCOG?September 16, 2008)