Raining goals: British Army women battle through Havant storms to beat the Navy

An evening full of south coast rain saw the British Army women's football team beat the Navy by a comfortable 4-1 scoreline.

Both sets of players had to battle blustery winds and non-stop rain, but it was the Army, led by Anna Birtwhistle's brace, that looked stronger.

Indiana Totty and Shannon Bradley put the Army 4-0 up before Tyler Sibbons added a Navy consolation in the final seconds.

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The Army chose to kick with the wind behind them in the first half and dominated the tempo with Ash Mills firing just wide from range within minutes. Mills should have had an assist to her name, but Katie Ellwood could only poke wide from close range.

Kate Bowden's long-distance effort was the Navy's best moment of the half, but it fell wide, and just before the break, Birtwhistle finished off a sweeping Army to move to make it 1-0.

It was the Army skipper who doubled the advantage in the second period when she cut inside and powered her effort past the helpless Eilish Brogan at the near post.

The Navy's game was lost, and as the rain continued to hurtle down, the Army created more and more chances. Mills' cross was turned into an open net by Totty before Bradley expertly curled into the top corner to add a fourth in injury time.

The goalscoring still wasn't finished though, as Sibbons' brilliant half-volley looped over the Army goalkeeper to take away their clean sheet – the one thing that will disappoint Craig Parker and his coaching team.

The RAF won the championship in match two of the tournament, but the Army have now delivered consecutive wins over the Navy in 2025 and 2026.