Depleted UKAF team battle against victorious GB Teachers in the President's Cup

It was a difficult night for the UK Armed Forces rugby league team who were resoundingly beaten by GB Teachers in Goole, winning the President's Cup for the first time in their history.

Head coach Darren Bamford arrived at Victoria Pleasure Ground in Goole with a depleted UKAF team, who were having to do without some fine players, missing due to deployments, injuries or commitments, in the Inter Service Championships in rugby union.

The GB Teachers had never won the President's Cup – and a win against UKAF would win them their maiden title. 

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It was a slow start for the GB Teachers side, however, as they allowed UKAF to get some early points on the board with prop Andrew Smyth going over for a converted try, giving the military side an early lead.

It was almost as if the early UKAF try was the wake-up call the Teachers needed, as they began to force UKAF into their 10m line and it was Alex Pendlebury who would score the Teachers' first try.

Brad Clavering proved dependable with the boot, adding the extras to level up against UKAF.

The momentum firmly looked on the Teachers' side, as Jack Walton would go on to score two converted tries in the space of six minutes, firmly overturning UKAF's early lead to 6-18.

UKAF were searching for answers as half time neared – as Navy player Harry Vorwerg dotted down at the 36th minute, but was ruled offside.

At half time, UKAF managed to prevent further damage from a dangerous GB Teachers side – but trailing at 6-18, they had some work to do to swing the momentum back in their favour.

As the second half got underway, the GB Teachers looked to continue their brilliant form that they showed in the first half, and tries from Ryan Morley and Brandon Worsley spelt bad news for UKAF.

Clavering had been accurate with the conversions all evening, and it was only a matter of time before he broke through the UKAF defence to make a drive forward for the try line, scoring the Teachers' sixth try of the evening.

UKAF's hopes of turning their game around had already sailed as the clock neared full time – but a consolation try by Louis Fraser was well earned points for what has been a difficult game for the military side.

Luke Mitchell-Johnson would grab the final try seconds before full-time, and GB Teachers took the win by 12-42 to win the President's Cup for the first time.

A well-structured and disciplined team, the GB Teachers proved to be too good for UKAF, who did well enough to post a respectable scoreline despite the adversity of missing players due to deployments or injuries.