Wales women’s hockey team were unable to back-up their stunning opening victory over India at the Commonwealth Games as they went down 5-1 to England.

The second pool match of the tournament on Australia’s Gold Coast saw a battling Welsh performance against the No.2 ranked team in the world as Wales rallied spiritedly from 2-0 down to make it 2-1 through Eloise Laity.

But a clash of heads between Wales captain Leah Wilkinson and England’s skipper Alex Danson meant Wilkinson was forced to depart through injury and Wales conceded three further goals.

Giselle Ansley, Susannah Townsend, Hannah Martin, Sophie Bray and Grace Balsdon were all on target for England, who move to the top of Pool A, with three of those goals coming in the final quarter.

Wales now have a chance to recover when they face South Africa on Monday morning.