Army U23s beat Royal Air Force to set up Inter Services title decider against Navy

The British Army have seen off their Royal Air Force counterparts 35-23 in the Inter-Services under-23 Rugby Union championships in a hotly contested encounter in Oxford.

The RAF gained an early three-point lead at the Witney Rugby Club with a well-taken penalty kick by inside-centre Air Specialist 1 Jenkins.  However, Army quickly regained the initiative with a try by their lock Lance Corporal Dodd.

The light blues applied pressure to the reds and before long, RAF right wing Air Specialist Fulford collected teammate's Air Specialist 1 Makinson’s offload and dove over the line for the RAF’s first try, with AS1 Jenkins once again adding the extra two points.

• Sports climbing reaches new heights at UK Armed Forces bouldering trials
• UKAF women's hockey victorious over Hockey for Heroes in Remembrance match
• Ex Royal Engineer and Paralympic champion Gregg Stevenson retires from GB rowing

Twenty-seven minutes into the game, a penalty awarded to the Army gave the reds the chance to come back, and Army inside centre Lance Corporal Van Der Leest converted successfully to bridge the gap.

That was soon followed up by another try for LCpl Dodds, putting the Army in the lead at 15-13.

The Army side then edged ahead with another penalty kick by LCpl Van Der Leest, putting the reds up 18-13 at half time.

The light blues then took back the initiative, and it was outside centre AS1 Makinson who exploited the Army’s weak defence and darted over the line for a converted try.

Ten minutes later, a penalty kick for the RAF gave them an extra three points, and a bit more breathing room with a score of 23-18.

With time running out, the Army needed a quick response, which came from their outside centre Rifleman Diamond who collected LCpl Van Der Leest’s offload and sprinted over the line for another try for the reds.

With Army back in the lead at 25-23, a penalty kick added an extra three points to their tally.

The RAF needed to score a try to level things up, but as full time approached, they were running out of time to make a difference.

But that chance came for Army once again, as substitute Private Hansford-Holt found the space to dash past the RAF defence and sprint towards the tryline.

A final converted try for the Army was enough to see them through at 35-23 and a resounding win for the team in red.

They will now face the Royal Navy in Aldershot on 27 November in what could be an exciting title decider.