LIFE'S a beach for a Kelty volleyball player after a last-minute decision to enter a nationwide tournament ended with medal success.

Connor Boyle, a Scottish international and former member of Kinross Volleyball Club, teamed up with Welsh star Noam Devey to take part in a UKBT (UK Beach Tour) beach volleyball event at the weekend and served and hit his way to a bronze medal.

The competition, a UKBT four-star event, was held in Worthing and attracted competitors from multiple nationalities across the UK, including Connor, who embarked on a 1,100-mile round trip for his first beach volleyball matches of the season.

He and Noam earned the nickname of 'Celtic underdogs' throughout the competition as, having never played together before, they set about making their matches in the male pairs event keenly-contested.

Although they lost to London-based Aldo Rendon Peiro and Andrea Maggio in their opener, Connor and Noam's play improved in their second match against pool favourites, and competition favourites, Harry Jones and Matthew Hunter.

The pair started positively, pushing for every point and turning it into a nail-biting contest for the favourites, losing out in the end by just two points.

The conclusion of the pool matches saw them move into a series of elimination knockout games, with their first opponents coming in the shape of Lewis Fenech and Thomas Ellis.

Connor, who is treasurer of the newly-formed Perth Beach Volleyball Club, and Noam took the first set comfortably but found themselves 16-4 down in the second, which they turned around superbly to win 21-19 and advance to the next round.

They then overcame an experienced and youthful pairing of Enrique Bello and Marcin Konpa in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four clash with Jones and Hunter.

While armed with refined tactics and momentum from their earlier successes, tiredness was also beginning to be a factor and their Bournemouth-based opponents scraped the first set, and overturned a 19-17 deficit to win the second by two points, and the match.

Despite the defeat, it meant that Connor and Noam had secured a third-place finish and a bronze medal having come together for the first time, developing a potential new partnership for future competitions.

Connor will continue his UKBT journey, this time with UKBT director, and English Commonwealth athlete, Jake Sheaf, in a four-star event at Crystal Palace this weekend.

The UK Beach Volleyball Tour is the country's premier tour for the sport, organising more than 50 events, across five different levels, for more than 1,000 competitors to take part in.