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It was a courageous Indian side that fell 1-0 to Australia in the women's hockey finals at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday. It was hard fought match between the current champions and the top seeded Australian side with very little to choose from between the two.

The Australian skipper, Nicole Hudson scored the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute and crowned Australia as the new Commonwealth Games Women's Hockey champions.

With more than 6000 supporters behind them, the Australian side started strongly forcing a penalty corner within the first 90 seconds of the start. The home side would have registered their first goal had it not been for a great save by the Indian keeper, Helen Mary who dived just in time to deflect a powerful shot by Angela Skirving.

Both sides moved the ball quickly and created some good chances. The Australian defence looked a bit shaky bu t luckily for them the Indian forwards seemed to be having an off day. One of the best chances of the game fell to Saba Anjum in the 13th minute but she failed to connect a cross from the right even as the beaten Australian goalkeeper went the other way.

Australia soon set into a good rhythm with India's defence allowing the Aussie forwards a lot of room. A goal however remained elusive despite plenty of good movement and pressure. A rare spark of brilliance, saw India innovate from its second penalty corner which would have worked had Rajwinder's effort not gone wide.

The wastage of penalty corners in the match will be a fact rued by both the sides with the home team forcing no less than seven penalty corners and India four.

Australia continued their strong play in the second half despite India's best efforts to keep possession with short and quick passes. But it seemed only a matter of time before the "Hockeyroos" found a chink in India's defensive armour. And they did in the 62nd minute as Nicole Hudson netted from a Sarah Taylor assist. Taylor's pass bamboozled the Indian defence as she played the ball in from the left to Hudson whose powerful strike gave Indian goalkeeper Helen Mary absolutely no chance to make a save. The home side hung onto the one goal advantage as the referee blew the final whistle to tumultuous applause by the (home) fans.

A disappointed Indian coach M.K. Kaushik commented: "We could have won today. We have a very good team and the girls played very well throughout the tournament,".

The winning team's coach Frank Murray summed up the match, saying: "Today was a matter of taking opportunities when they came. Both teams had opportunities but we came out on top."

The Australian captain and goal scorer Hudson added, "I'm so proud of the (Australian) girls. We're really in disbelief at the moment. India is a top team but we just played better on the day."

"I just wanted to give it a real go. It's been a long time since we've got a gold medal. We're tired but ecstatic."

Earlier in the morning, in the bronze medal clash, England defeated New Zealand in a long tussle that went into two periods of extra time. The game was eventually decided in a penalty shootout, which England won 3-1.