The North East's latest international sportsman has returned home defeated but not downhearted.

Andy Finn, left, from Darlington, represented England under-13s in Ice Hockey's 45th World 'Pee Wee' Tournament in Quebec, Canada. The English side faced strong opposition throughout, and lost their first two games, against Seminaire St Francois, of Canada, and Zurich Grasshoppers, of Switzerland.

The team recovered to defeat Canada's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 5-2, but lost their fourth game to the famous Philadelphia Flyers.However, the English rallied and won their next three games in the competition.

A 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets (USA) was followed by 5-3 and 6-4 victories, against Las Vegas and Campus CRSA (Canada) respectively.

The side's brave run was ended in a 5-3 defeat by the Moncton Wildcats, of Canada.

"We should have won the game, but it wasn't to be," said Andy. "The Wildcats went on to win the tournament, so we were beaten by the best team there."

Andy and his team should be proud of their achievements: England has just 32 ice rinks; in Quebec state alone there are over 300!