UKAF concede President's Cup after bruising defeat to Dutch Armed Forces
The UK Armed Forces women's football team have suffered another heavy defeat in their 2026 campaign after a 1-5 loss against the Dutch Armed Forces in the President's Cup at Bracknell Town FC.
UKAF were chasing their third consecutive President's Cup win against the Dutch and a chance to do right through wrongs of their bruising loss against the French Armed Forces last month.
The Dutch hadn't won the President's Cup since 2023 – have endured two consecutive losses against UKAF in 2024-2025.
The Dutch Forces mercilessly scored in less than a minute after kickoff, with Melanie van Walstijn scoring a screamer to claim an early lead.
UKAF had their guard down in the eighth minute – Maura Missaglia's free kick found the foot of Daphne Janssen, who crossed into the left corner with Jamie-Lee Bamford unable to stop her.
Mistakes from UKAF handed the Dutch another free kick, which was successfully taken by Missaglia. UKAF now down 0-3, it left them with a lot of work to turn the game around.
The game entered a state of calm following the three opening Dutch goals as UKAF managed to steady their ship.
The scoreboard wouldn't change however as UKAF entered half-time 0-3 down and with a big job on their hands when they returned for the second half.
As the second half got underway, UKAF got off on the right foot with a goal from Jeorgia Carr, who scored within the opening minute.
But any glimpses of a UKAF resurgence were quickly put to bed with Lianne van Der Poel scoring the Dutch forces' fourth goal of the game to extend their lead to 1-4 and thus putting UKAF another step back.
With full-time in sight, UKAF were running out of time to make a difference in this game – but iy was a second goal by Maura Missaglia that put the Dutch firmly out of reach and into an unassailable 1-5 lead.
As the full-time whistle sounded, it was another bruising defeat for the UKAF women as they conceded the President's Cup to the Dutch Forces by 1-5.
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