Great Britain's lack of penetration and totally inept finishing was once again exposed after they lost 2-0 to the three-times Olympic champions Australia in the 5th/6th play-off. GB matched the once mighty Hockeyroos in most areas of the pitch but in the searing heat Britain's inability to make the most of their chances proved decisive.

Kate Walsh, GB's captain said:"We had the lion's share of possession but couldn't score and didn't convert our [five] penalty corners." The one set-piece they put away in the 45th minute was disallowed by the third umpire who ruled the shot at goal too high, although Sarah Thomas's shot looked perfectly legal and deflected off the goalkeeper's stick.

That would have levelled the scores and possibly changed the complexion of the match. Danny Kerry, the British coach, said: "We had the momentum and were still in it at 1-0 down. I couldn't see why the goal was disallowed but we had other chances and enough penetration."

The Hockeyroos also had a penalty corner disallowed after video evidence which would have given them a 2-0 cushion eight minutes from time. The ball grazed Hope Munro's foot before she flipped in the rebound and Frank Murray, the Australia coach revealed after the game he had asked his player to own up. "We have a policy where we have to tell the truth but no-one asked her, so I did, and then told the umpires she had kicked it," Murray said.

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In a desperate gamble, Kerry replaced goalkeeper Beth Storry with an outfield player, Crista Cullen, in the final four minutes but with the British defence in disarray the Australians seized their chance to grab another and seal the result.

The next couple of years are crucial for GB's preparations for London 2012 and one of Kerry's priorities must be to find a new set of strikers, whilst hastening the retirement of at least half a dozen of the squad. Midfielder Jennie Bimson has already announcement her retirement and six of the current team have signed to play in Holland or Germany next season - a route guaranteed to improve their basic skills.

Kerry added:"Some of the younger players on the fringe will now start to push their way in and we have some exciting ones at Under-18 level. We're still behind the top five nations in technique but that's a much longer term thing."

Having improved their world ranking and qualified for next years Champions Trophy in Sydney, Sarah Thomas (Wales) and Laura Bartlett (Scotland) will miss out because England will take part in it. In a situation similar to football, Wales and Scotland have chosen not to come under the GB umbrella, preferring to try and qualify as individual countries in top events.

Kerry admits he's disappointed saying:"GB has come a huge distance and we've put a lot of things right but it's not perfect not to have GB playing at world class events."