Great Britain women's handball coach Jesper Holmris hailed a "fantastic performance" from his side in their Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to Russia on Sunday.
While the 31-22 scoreline looks like a heavy loss for GB, they caused Russia, who were 2009 world champions and 2008 Olympic silver medallists, problems throughout and once again proved they can compete on the world stage.
Marie Gerbron top-scored for GB with six goals, while Holly Lam-Moores added four as Holmris's side made further strides in the game.
"It was a fantastic performance," said Holmris. "It was a very motivated Russian team with all their best players available who started the game.
"The second half was really positive in the way that we stuck to our game plan, we did not run out of steam and we scored more goals on fast breaks than Russia. All players contributed to a really strong GB performance against one of the best teams in the world."
The result will give GB added confidence for the forthcoming London Games, where they will meet the Russians again after they were drawn together in the group stages last week.
And captain Lynn McCafferty knows they have to start competing for the full 60 minutes on a regular basis.
"We just have to step up in the second half of games and make less mistakes," she said. "It's really easy, we just have to fix it.
"That's something we need to work on. We need to have more depth and confidence in our team. We have to bring a bit more spirit to our game.
"We have got spirit, but we need just a couple of extra per cent and then we have got it. We're doing the right things. We create so many chances, it's about making the right decisions and finishing the chances."