England's men failed to match their female counterparts and win a medal in Melbourne as they were beaten 2-0 by Malaysia in the third-place play-off.

It was a familiar story for England of enjoying a lot of possession without really threatening as they struggled to find the decisive touch in the circle.

And their shortcomings were highlighted by Malaysia, below them in the world rankings, whose goals came from the only two shots they had on target.

England's fourth place was one better than their performance in Manchester four years ago but one worse than in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

The side must now quickly forget their disappointment as they move on to the far more important World Cup qualifying tournament in China next month which has greater significance for their international future.

However, they would be wise to learn a lesson from their defeat to Malaysia as they managed to control large parts of the game without making a breakthrough.

Matt Daly won a ninth-minute penalty corner but he flicked straight at Ibrahim Nasihin and although the goalkeeper was beaten for pace the shot deflected off his helmet to safety.

England's second penalty corner in the 22nd minute saw Simon Mantell's powerful flick superbly batted away by Megat Azrafiq from just inside the right-hand post.

Barry Middleton and Cannock team-mate Martin Jones then combined in the circle but the latter rolled his cross from the left behind Mantell, loitering just a few yards out at the far post.

But after having the better of the play England went behind to a sucker punch six minutes before half-time when Tengku Ahmad latched onto a defence-splitting through-ball to slam a reverse-stick shot underneath goalkeeper Jon Ebsworth.

Mantell's own undercut reverse-stick shot, however, seven minutes into the second half from a narrow angle was turned behind by the Malaysia goalkeeper.

Things worsened for England moments later when from Malaysia's first penalty corner Rahim Amin's goalbound flick hit James Tindall on the line and Amin converted from the spot.

England won a penalty corner with six minutes remaining but when Nasihin stuck out a foot to deny Mantell their hopes of a comeback ended.

Meanwhile, hosts Australia beat England's semi-final conquerors Pakistan 3-0 in the gold-medal match.