Australia capitulated in a horror second quarter which has cost them a fifth Commonwealth Games gold medal, as hosts England claimed their first on the back of a 2-1 victory.

England scored twice within three minutes in the second term to stun the favourites, who up until the final had conceded just one goal for the tournament.

It means the Hockeyroos had to settle for a second-consecutive silver, having lost the final to New Zealand four years ago on the Gold Coast.

England threatened to score midway through the first term when they had a series of penalty corners, but a fantastic save by Australian goalkeeper Aleisha Power kept them at bay.

The hosts’ irresistible thirst to score was quenched in the second when Holly Hunt got on the end of a fantastic cross at the top of the circle, smashing it in the bottom right corner to put the second goal past the Hockeyroos all tournament.

Things got worse for Australia when a missed trap from Kaitlin Nobbs found their defence off guard, with a Flore Peel tomahawk finding a deflection off Tess Howard’s stick, with the ball gliding into the top of the net.

After a tense third term, the Hockeyroos went on the all-out attack, with captain Jane Claxton nearly drawing a goal back in the opening 30 seconds.

They kept pushing in the final term with a series of good forward plays, but England’s defence remained staunch in the face of multiple penalty corners.

Australian star Rosie Malone scored a cancellation goal with 20 seconds to go in the game after a deflection from a short corner, but there wasn’t enough time to find an equaliser and send the game into a shootout.