England’s women were left empty-handed at the Hockey World League Final after losing their bronze medal play-off to Korea in New Zealand on Sunday.

Captain Alex Danson saw a reverse-stick shot well saved by Soo Ji Yang on six minutes and Jonguen Kim netted the only goal of the game from a short corner two minutes later, sweeping the ball past Maddie Hinch’s outstretched leg after the keeper had saved Yun Kyoung Cho’s effort.

Beaten 1-0 by hosts New Zealand in their semi-final tie, England saw Anna Toman make a brilliant run late in the first quarter to beat three players before eventually being stopped.

Korea’s Yesol Cha and Youngran Kim were shown green cards in the second quarter, but England could not make them pay as the match remained in the balance.

Sophie Bray hit a post before the break, after deflecting Laura Unsworth’s corner, and England continued to dominate in the second half, as Korea looked to break on the counter.

Lily Owsley charged down a Korea corner, wihle Ji Seon Hong put another wide, before Mi Hyun Park’s cross evaded her team-mates and Cha fired wide.

Seunga Park was shown a yellow card and England went close late on as they won a short corner with only four minutes remaining.

But Giselle Ansley’s low flick was kicked away by Soo Ji Jang and Korea withstood late pressure to defend their slender lead and claim a place on the podium.

Danson said: “We are very disappointed not to come away with the win. We showed a lot of resolve and character as a squad across the tournament.

“This team has a lot moving forward. Having the sport back on home soil next year with the World Cup is very excitinng. We’re looking forward to it and it should be a great tournament.”

England have been placed in Pool B alongside India, the USA and Ireland at the 2018 Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup in London and coach The Netherlands beat New Zealand 3-0 in the gold-medal game with goals eight minutes apart from Kelly Jonker, Maria Verschoor and Laurien Leurink.

England: Hinch, Unsworth, Haycroft, Toman, Martin, Petty, Danson, Ansley, Bray, Pearne-Webb, Owsley. Subs: Paige, Sanders, Rayer, Defroand, Tennant, McCallin, Balsdon.