London's Peter Bakare plays for the GB men's volleyball squad

After a slow start Team GB’s late rally not enough as Italy ease to win with workmanlike performance with 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 win.

Italy were always on top in this encounter as the men’s GB volleyball team fell to their third straight set defeat in the early hours of this morning.

Canning Town’s Peter Bakare and former London Docklands duo Andrew Pink and Nathan French were named in the starting line-up by coach Harry Brokking.

Team GB got off to a solid if unspectacular start, keeping pace with their sixth-ranked opponents and taking an 8-7 lead at the opening technical time-out, only to find themselves 11-8 down

A spike from Peter Bakare brought their deficit back to 11-9 but Italy showed their true quality to move back in front by five at 16-11.

Service errors were again the problem for GB as they conceded five out of the Italians 20 points at that stage.

The Italians called a time-out after two consecutive points for the Brits left the scores at 21-16, and a spike from Pink boosted spirits once again, albeit briefly as Italy took the set 25-19.

There was a positive start to the second set for the hosts as they took a 4-1 lead early on and once again held an 8-7 lead at the time-out.

However the strength of the Italians shone through once again, as they pushed ahead for a five-point advantage at 20-15 and eventually sealed the second set 25-16.

The third started like the two previous had for the Brits, with early optimism leading them to six points apiece.

That soon became an 8-6 deficit at the technical time-out and GB couldn’t lift themselves out of the rot.

Tooting’s Dami Bakare was brought on and immediately helped Brokking’s side pull it back to a within five points at 13-8but two consecutive points left GB 15-8 down and facing their third straight sets defeat of the Olympics.

The never-say-die spirit of the Brits was in evidence as they managed to claw their way back into the set at 18-14 before a service error handed the initiative back to Italy.

And they eventually made sure of the win with a 25-20 final set victory.