PRESTON Athletic footballer David Porcher said taking part in the Paralympic Games at Rio was "something I will never forget."

The 19-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, was among the 7-a-side team for the Games in Brazil.

He scored the team's opening goal of the competition in a 2-1 defeat to the host nation, and started all three pool matches, against top seeds Ukraine and Ireland.

Although Paralympics GB lost to both the top seeds and the hosts, Porcher was in buoyant mood as he returned to the UK last week

He told Courier Sport: "Rio was unbelievable, genuinely the best experience of my life and it's something I will never forget.

"To score against Brazil on the opening day was a surreal moment.

"I couldn't believe it at the time which is maybe why my celebration was horrendous!"

They bounced back from those defeats to beat Ireland 5-1 in their final pool match, before clinching fifth place with a 1-0 win over Argentina.

Porcher added: "Finishing fifth was our target before the games which we managed however with the squad we had we knew we were capable of a medal.

"We had the group of death with the top two ranked sides in the competition in one group after Russia were removed, which shouldn't have happened but the IPC [International Paralympic Committee] refused to do a redraw.

"We ran both Brazil and Ukraine very close when usually they're beating teams 6/7-0 so we can proud for that reason, then going on to win our last two games comfortably shows how good we were."

The teenager, who will return to Lowland League duty with Preston Athletic after a short break, said the British team were "just unlucky" to miss out on a medal.