RAF falls short of sewing up the Inter Services as title race rolls over to final game

The second under-23s Inter Services clash against the Royal Air Force and the British Army has ended in a goalless draw, leaving the under-23s title race wide open. 

The 0-0 result means the title will be decided when the Army host the Royal Navy at Winchester City FC on 18 February.

After their win against the Royal Navy a week prior to this fixture, the RAF arrived at The New Saints FC in Oswestry well positioned to sew up the under-23s title, were they to win against the Army.

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But the RAF immediately felt the pressure from the Army in the opening first half, the team in red making their intentions clear with Rory England crossing inside the box to Rashane Maxwell, whose tap sent the ball over the bar. 

It was the moment that woke the RAF up, and they began to increase the tempo of their game – and their first chance came when a loose ball inside the box ended up at the feet of Remzi Kilicaslan, whose strike bypassed goalkeeper Will Palmer – but Army skipper Alfie Rogers was on hand to deflect the ball and prevent an RAF goal.

The Army forwards were proving to be dangerous for the light blues, who were keeping RAF goalkeeper Matthew Laycock busy in this first half but, needless to say, the Army were failing to deliver on their chances at this point in the game.

Injury forced an extra five minutes of added time in the first half, but no changes for either team. As the referee called half-time, the scoreline remained level at 0-0 with no clear indication of which way this game would fall. 

As the teams returned for the second half, the Army made a change to their goalkeeper, bringing on Ben Griffiths to replace Will Palmer, who picked up a minor head injury in the first half. 

Tensions began to boil over after RAF forward George McCowie tripped over Army keeper Ben Griffiths inside the penalty area; however, referee Aiden Madden ruled no penalty following the incident. 

With the clock counting down to full time, the scoreline remained 0-0 and whilst the RAF's hopes of sewing up the title were slowly beginning to fade, so were the Army's plans to claim the initiative in this tournament. 

After no team or player found a way to break the deadlock, the full-time whistle sounded the end of a frustrating game for both the RAF and the Army, after neither team managed to find a way through both teams' collective defences. 

The title race rolls over to the final game against the British Army and the Royal Navy next week, where the Army can win the Inter Services if they beat the Navy by two goals or more.