The British men's hockey team followed the women out of the Sydney Olympics after failing to beat Canada in a bad tempered, physical contest at the State Hockey Centre on Monday.

At the bottom of the pool and needing a win to have a chance of progressing to the next phase, the Brits fell behind early and could only manage to pull level through Guildford striker Danny Hall's 44th minute strike.

"Our boys played well and we dominated most of the game," said British captain Jon Wyatt.

"We created good chances in the second half and scored. I was hoping we'd pull another and win. We had chances, but their goalie did well."

Playing in a deluge of rain in cold and windy conditions resembling Milton Keynes rather than Sydney, the point was not enough to lift Britain off the bottom, leaving them sixth behind Canada on goal difference.

Ken Pereira gave the Canadians a dream start on four minutes.

He drove the ball in from close range past Simon Mason after it had rolled loose in the circle following a cross from the left wing.

The Brits responded by forcing two penalty corners which were well blocked by Mike Mahood in Canada's goal.

Mason, who had come off his line to deny Pereira in the 13th minute, dived low to his right to make another crucial save.

Britain controlled much of the game after the break, with their best chance coming three minutes after the restart when Craig Parnham fired the rebound from Tom Bertram's penalty corner strike over the bar.

Six minutes later, Bertram picked out Mark Pearn in the circle and after beating two players he picked out Hall with a reverse stick pass who swept in the equaliser from close range.

Unable to find a way past Wyatt who was superb at the back, Canada's best opportunity was thwarted by Mason three minutes from time when he raced off his line to block Scott Mosher at the circle edge.

As tempers frayed in the final minutes, Ben Sharpe and Rob Short were sent to the sin bin for retaliation and although both sides created scoring chances, neither was able to find the winner.

"Well, we're known for our aggression," said Pereira. "We always fight right up until the last minute."