Commonwealth Games 2014: Alex Danson and Susannah Townsend give England impetus to go past Scotland and reach hockey semi-finals

England’s Alex Danson (right) opened the scoring in their victory over Scotland (Getty Images)

Alex Danson and Susannah Townsend fired England to a 2-1 victory over Scotland and a place in the Commonwealth Games semi-finals on Glasgow Green.

Both teams had recorded victories over Wales and Malaysia and both lost to Australia, making their encounter at the National Hockey Centre a straight face-off for a place in the last four.

Danson and Townsend struck inside the first half-hour, with Nikki Kidd finding a rapid response for the host nation before the interval.

Danson opened the scoring in the 15th minute when she took a pass from Nicola White and fired past goalkeeper Amy Gibson. Then Townsend doubled the lead after 27 minutes from a penalty corner.

Scotland halved the deficit when Kidd scored four minutes later after another penalty corner, but the home side could not find an equaliser despite putting intense pressure on England’s keeper Maddie Hinch.

Danson said: “The game was exactly what we thought it was going to be it – it was tight and Scotland had obviously done their homework.

“They won lots of corners but we are delighted, we stuck to our task and are over the moon to be building momentum for the next game.

“It’s been a big competition from day one because we had a lot to prove to ourselves. But for us it is all about building momentum and every time we have done that.”