Birmingham — Australia set up a women’s semi-final with India as they came through a final group game against Scotland with a 2-0 victory and clean sheet of matches ahead of the knock-outs.
Goals from Grace Stewart and Shanea Tonkin saw the Hockeyroos finish as the top-ranked team in Pool B as the World Cup bronze medallists secured their passage to a seventh straight semi-final at a Commonwealth Games.
“We always knew Scotland were going to come out with lots of fire and passion and that’s exactly what they did,” said Kaitlin Nobbs. “We were just trying to match it. It was a very fun game to play.”
Amy Gibson, who put in another fine shift in Scotland’s goal in the first-half, said: “We always knew it was going to be a tough game playing against the world No.3, but we believed in ourselves after our performances in previous games in the tournament and we put it all out there. We couldn’t have put any more effort in.
“Maybe a little bit better decision-making going forward would have helped us, but we defended so hard and it was a great game.”
The likelihood is that Canada will play Scotland for fifth. Both sides will be aiming to equal their best-ever Commonwealth placing.
“We have had a good tournament,” added Gibson. “Scotland don’t often get to play on a stage like this. We don’t get to play against the best teams.
“We don’t often get to show what we can do, and us stepping up and playing against teams like this and showing what we can do, it’s a great stage for us.
“We want to be a top 10 team, and it is really difficult for Scotland.”
