The Scots came into the match sitting one point behind their opponents and knew that a win for the Kiwis would see them take on South Africa in the bronze medal decider after they had earlier booked their place following an 8-6 win over Wales.

The home side began brightly and were two-up by the end of the first quarter thanks to Mark Speed and captain Neilsen Rutherford.

The Kiwis hit back straight away at the start of the second period through Braeden Drennan and Adam Pye and a Matt Small strike kept them in touch at halftime after a James Scobie brace had restored Scotland's lead.

The tension inside the Aberdeen Aquatics Centre was ratcheted up as both sides exchanged scores, which saw another Small strike and one from Jonathan Clarke put New Zealand in the lead for the first time before Fraser Rutherford levelled the scores once again.

Rutherford restored parity once more after Matt Lewis found the net for the visitors to leave the scores tied at 6-6 going into the final quarter.

Feeding off the vocal home support, the Scots came out pumped-up for the final period and rattled three goals past New Zealand through Scobie, Andrew Woodall and Ali Campbell and despite a late strike for the visitors, the hosts held on for a crucial win.

While Scotland are still not guaranteed a place, they take on the tournament's bottom side Singapore tomorrow and are expected to claim the victory that would confirm their place in the bronze medal decider.

New Zealand take on the other winless side in the tournament, Wales, and will also be expected to record a win.

There was disappointment for the Kiwis as they lost out to hosts Scotland in a tight battle at the Aberdeen Aquatics Centre ©Scottish Swimming



The Singaporeans suffered another bad day in the pool as they were hammered by a rampant England, who racked up 20 goals to help them climb above Malta on goal difference and top the table.

Glen Robinson, Tom Curwen, Sean King and Jake Vincent were all among the scorers as the English warmed up for the gold medal showdown with Malta on Saturday.

Before then however, both sides meet in a dress rehearsal tomorrow night as the men's group games conclude.

Today was the final set of women's group games and Canada gained what could be a vital psychological advantage as they overcame their gold medal match opponents England 9-8.

Despite establishing a 3-1 lead after the first period and going in at halftime 5-4 to the good, England succumbed to the Canadians in the end by the narrowest of margins thanks in the main to the efforts of the deadly Emma Wright, who bagged a hatrick for the North Americans.

Wales suffered a fourth straight defeat to finish bottom of the table after they went down 15-1 to South Africa.

South Africa are all but guaranteed a place in the bronze medal match on Saturday but all three will take part in a small round-robin competition tomorrow with Scotland the favourites to join the South Africans in the bronze decider.

The final three group games in the men's competition take place tomorrow before the medal and play-off matches bring the tournament to a close on Saturday (April 12).

Action from both days will be streamed live on the Scottish Swimming website.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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