Canterbury-born Grace Balsdon helped England women's hockey team win Commonwealth Games gold for the first time.

England had won a medal at every Commonwealth Games since hockey was added to the programme in 1998 - but never gold.

But 29-year-old Balsdon and co changed all that in Birmingham on Sunday in front of a boisterous home crowd.

Holly Hunt's superb strike opened the scoring for England before Tess Howard deflected in a second, minutes later.

Australia scored a consolation strike with 19 seconds remaining but they were unable to draw level.

Balsdon, who now plays for Hampstead & Westminster, finishes the tournament as joint-top scorer with six goals.

She scored a hat-trick in a big 12-0 win over Ghana and as they beat Wales 5-0 in their final group game before victories against New Zealand, in the semi-final, and Australia in the final.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Balsdon said she couldn't wait to play in front of a home crowd.

She said: "Some of my fondest memories are from playing in my first senior tournament, which was the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

"I'm really looking forward to this being up in Birmingham in our home country, something that will just exceed all expectations.

"And to have that crowd I remember from 2018 now being a home crowd will just be absolutely phenomenal and I am so excited for it."

The Commonwealth Games gold adds to Balsdon's tally of bronzes from the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.