Army Reserves Footballers Fall To England Defeat

The Army Reserves have fallen to 3-1 defeat at home to the England Deaf team.

The national side were preparing for the European Championships and asked the military side to take part in the friendly at Aldershot.

In a game where the Army were given two penalties, Dylon Cross netted twice and Tommy Jackson also scored to give England a comfortable victory.

The idea behind the fixture was England’s need for a physical test ahead of the tournament in June which is being held in Greece.

They stood up to the test well though and took the lead after just two minutes. Cross weaved through a few Army defensive tackles and found himself with space in the box. His left-footed shot swept past Jim Hepworth in the Army goal to give England a perfect start.

The pressure from the away team continued. Skipper Jamie Clarke had an earlier chance to go for goal but chose to continue dribbling which meant his left-footed shot from a tighter angle was well off-target.

Minutes later, Jacob Willis blazed over from three yards as the Army failed to deal with England’s attacking abilities.

The Army did have a fantastic chance to equalise midway through the first half. Daz Bogle was tripped the area and the home side had a penalty. Keith England stepped up, but his low shot was well saved England goalkeeper Tom Boyce.

The second half saw England punish the Army for the miss as Cross lashed in his second of the game to double the away team’s lead.

A second penalty for the Army did mean a way back into the game, but it was a blunder from Boyce which gave them the goal.

Byron Down’s high boot connected with Tom Fletcher, but Wayne Duxbery’s penalty was weak and should have been saved. Boyce let it slip through his fingers and the advantage was cut in half.

For the Army, England’s ruthlessness meant the game was put to bed minutes later. Tommy Jackson got on the end of Clarke’s nice pass to side-foot into the bottom corner and give England a 3-1 lead.

England should have made it four but a miraculous save from Stewart Magowan meant it ended 3-1. It was Down who shot from six yards but a brilliant deflection off the goalkeeper meant the ball hit the crossbar.

After the game, Army Reserves captain Private Colin Brooks took the positives out of the game despite defeat.

He said: "It was a great opportunity for us to help and support them. I really enjoyed it.

"It’s a really good fixture and the better team won on the day."