To progress to the semi-finals Team GB had to beat World Number One Australia 8-0. However, they managed a 3-3 draw against the reigning Olympic champions meaning they finish third in the group.

But Knossington Grange PE teacher McGregor was delighted with the experience and said it was a strong base to work on for the future.

Speaking from Beijing yesterday he said: "It has been an unbelievable experience. We can be very pleased with our performances. There is a lot to build on for the 2012 London Olympics.

"It was always going to be a difficult challenge to get into the medals but we can be pleased with our performances and the progress we made in our final group game."

GB got off to a flying start beating Pakistan 4-2 with goalkeeper McGregor putting in a string of late saves to keep their hopes alive.

But he couldn't keep European champions Netherlands at bay as his team-mates fought a rearguard action for most of the match, losing 1-0.

McGregor had more success against South Africa, keeping a clean sheet, but they struggled to get going against bottom of the pile Canada, only just scraping a 1-1 draw.

That left the Brits with the near-impossible task of beating the Kookaburras 8-0 in their final match of the group to keep hopes of a medal alive.

The team put in their best performance of the tournament, with McGregor pulling off a fine double save at the end of the first half, keeping them in front.

But he couldn't keep them out forever with the Aussies pulling level within five minutes of the restart.

Britain took the lead again thanks to a blinding shot from Rob Moore but Australia equalised three minutes from time.

Speaking after the match, McGregor said the team had done superbly to be placed third in the group.

He said: "In years to come it will be fantastic to say we were here in Beijing. Team GB have done fantastically overall and it has been a privilege to be part of the squad. Mind you, I am looking forward to getting back home. We have been away for over a month now."

* Britain now face Asian Games winners South Korea in the fifth/sixth position play-offs on Saturday at 3am BST.

Should Great Britain beat Korea they will finish the Olympics in fifth, two places above their tournament ranking, three places above their world ranking and four better than their ninth in Athens four years ago.