THERE were spectacular feats of aerial mastery, a competitor carted away in a wheelchair and a chest cracked off the high bar as Scotland and England battled it out for gold in the Commonwealth Games men's gymnastics team competition in Glasgow.

The Scots fought with unfaltering tenacity, but were no match for a strong English side which topped the final standings by nine marks, the host nation having to settle for a historic silver medal, their highest ever placing at the Games.

Drama unfolded in the opening rotation at The Hydro as England's Sam Oldham suffered an ankle injury on vault, the pain visible on his face as soon as he hit the landing mat. He was unable to continue and exited the arena in a wheelchair, leaving Louis Smith, Max Whitlock, Kristian Thomas and Nile Wilson to continue without him.

On the parallel bars, Adam Cox got the Scots off to a steady start, further bolstered by solid routines from Daniel Purvis and Frank Baines. Daniel Keatings looked strong, but a mistake on his dismount led to him sitting down on the landing, thoroughly furious at himself. A score of 14.100, while not what Keatings may have hoped, was still decent enough to keep Scottish dreams alive.

Then came the heart-stopping moment of a major error by Liam Davie on high bar, which saw his hand slip on a release-and-catch move, sending his chest crashing painfully into the bar. Heroically, the 21-year-old from Coatbridge managed to finish his routine, but afterwards the emotion was palpable as he crouched by the side of the arena clearly distraught. The high bar had marked his best chance of an individual final, that hope now extinguished.

Stellar performances from the other Scots kept things on track with Baines pulling out a top drawer routine to score 14.633 and claim his place in Friday's high bar individual apparatus final.

All the while Scotland was keeping half an eye on the Canadian team, who were only 1.86 of a mark behind coming into yesterday's competition. By the time they completed their final apparatus of vault, Scotland had increased that margin to 5.525 to secure second place on the podium. England scored 266.804, with Scotland posting 257.603 and Canada 252.078.

The Scots contingent had to wait a few more hours, however, before they were officially able to celebrate. A bizarre quirk of the draw - or poor organisation - meant that the top seeds in the men's team competition were in action in the early afternoon while those gymnasts contesting the minor placings came several hours later.

For the Scottish gymnastics, it marks a huge achievement. Until now the highest placed finish by the men in a Commonwealth Games was fourth, a result they achieved in Manchester in 2002 and repeated in Melbourne four years later.

Baines, Keatings and Purvis will return today to contest the men's individual all-around competition and were in buoyant mood after taking team silver.

"It feels amazing," said Keatings. "I can't express in words how it feels at the moment. I had a big disappointment in 2012, missing out on the Olympics through injury."

Baines added: "The crowd were behind us all the way and a first ever medal for Scotland in the team event is amazing."

For Cox, who had the anchor role in the team, it marks the fairy tale ending to his career he missed out on in Delhi four years ago. The 27-year-old from Livingston walked away from the sport he loved on the eve of the 2010 Commonwealth Games when his coach, Tan Jia En, was made redundant as they prepared to depart for Delhi and Cox felt he could not continue without him.

"This means absolutely everything to me," he said. "I came back into this two years ago because I wanted to re-write the ending to my gymnastics career and I really feel that, with the help of these boys, I've been able to do that."

But there was heartache too for Davie, the tears flowing as he described the moment his own individual ambitions came to an end. "I had a wee slip on the high bar. I was disappointed, but Adam picked me up quite well," said Davie. "I wanted to finish and hopefully do a good job for the rest of my team."

In the women's team competition, Scotland placed fifth, with England taking gold, Australia the silver and Wales bronze.

The men's individual all-around competition today should provide another edge-of-the-seat thriller with a cluster of Scots and English gymnasts at the top of the qualification rankings, including Keatings, Baines and Purvis alongside English duo Whitlock and Wilson. Amy Regan and Emma White, who placed 15th and 17th respectively in qualification, will compete in the women's all-around competition.

Five Scots, meanwhile, have confirmed their places in the individual apparatus finals which take place tomorrow and Friday. Keatings is set to compete on floor, pommel horse and high bar, Purvis on pommel horse, parallel bars and rings, Baines on high bar, parallel bars and vault, while Cox will contest the vault. White will represent Scotland in the women's vault final.