Instead it proved the Diamonds' ultimate undoing after a heart-stopping 52-51 defeat in the Commonwealth Games netball final to England.

Having not dropped a single quarter all tournament, Australia faltered at the final hurdle in the face of a relentless assault from the Roses in one of the biggest upsets of the Gold Coast Games.

A handful of calamitous late errors whittled away a four-goal margin, which was finally overtaken with a penalty shot from Helen Housby in the last second of the contest after she and Joanne Harten both missed the net.

It is England's first Commonwealth title and left the crowd at Coomera absolutely stunned.

It also left the Australian players visibly gutted, after their failure to match England's intensity cost them on the biggest stage their sport has to offer.

"That was really hard to take, but it's going to be something that sticks with us for a while, let me tell you," said midfielder Gabi Simpson.

Centre Kimberly Ravaillion's failure to keep her feet inside the centre circle at the restart resulted in the critical turnover, allowing England another crack in attack as their comeback gathered steam.

Coach Lisa Alexander admitted the Diamonds were "flat" but couldn't pinpoint a reason why.

"We never got going, really, from the start," she said.

"They were not clinical when it counted in the end. We haven't been making those mistakes.

"If we don't work hard enough on attack and defence, which we did not do today, like we've done in all of the matches, that's what you're going to get."

Harten (34 from 39) and Housby (18 from 21) did the scoreboard damage for the Roses but it was a genuine effort from all over the court that successfully stifled the swift ball movement of their heavily-favoured opponents.

It was a tactical masterclass from England coach Tracey Neville but she admitted had it gone to extra time, they wouldn't have won.

"Our players were absolutely dead on their feet," she said.

"Luckily, just a careless mistake, an obstruction, gives us a second chance at the goal.

"You want (to make) the clutch shots but we had one yesterday and we put it that way and we had another put it away today.

"That's what makes them world class."

Australian Associated Press