Chris Duncan frustrated as Scotland are on wrong end of controversial call against New Zealand

Scotland women’s hockey coach Chris Duncan could not hide his frustration after his team had their hearts broken by a controversial call at the Commonwealth Games.

New Zealand won the game 1-0 thanks to a Rose Tynan strike, but the talking point came near the end of the second quarter. Scotland were celebrating what appeared to be an equaliser after Jen Eadie buried the ball into the bottom corner of the net, but the effort was ruled out after the video referee judged that the ball had not left the circle from a penalty corner.

It looked an extremely harsh decision, particularly after watching footage later, and the fans in the towering terracing at Birmingham University's sports complex signalled their feelings.

The Kiwis, ranked No 8 in the world, were undoubtedly pushed to the wire by the Scots who produced a disciplined performance and were desperately unlucky not to take a share of the points.

Rose Tynan, left, scored the winner for New Zealand. Picture: Luke Walker/Getty

Duncan said: "We came here to do something special and from minute one we were in the mood and we took the game to New Zealand.

"I could not be more proud of the girls and the way they applied themselves and we looked like a top ten side, not one ranked No 17.

"We have to keep producing these type of performances and we took one of the world's top ten teams, and a side which has been in the World Cup quarter-final, all the way."

He added: "We went out to play a fair and open game but there were some pretty heavy challenges out there. Umpires have to make decisions. We all get decisions wrong sometimes and they have to reflect on theirs."

He added: "I felt New Zealand were over physical and I felt that if we had done that the other way then we would have been punished."

Scotland must re-group quickly ahead of their third match in the competition against Kenya on Monday. They are whipping boys in this group, but coach Duncan has already warned about taking the game lightly. They also face Australia in their final pool game on Wednesday.