Fleet Air Arm To Play Royal Marines In Inverdale Challenge Cup Final

Fleet Air Arm have booked their place in this year’s Inverdale Challenge Cup final with a 31-21 semi-final win over Royal Navy West.

After the win in Yeovilton, Fleet Air Arm will play the Royal Marines for the trophy in Portsmouth.

The match against Navy West was a repeat of the 2018 final and Fleet Air Arm made the perfect start when they took a three-try lead inside 20 minutes.

Jerome Rudder ran the game for his side and scored a hat-trick as Navy West struggled to deal with the wing play on the left side.

Chris Mills also scored a try and with successive conversions from skipper Sam Carter, they led 24-0 at half-time.

Ethan Barnscombe’s converted try took the Fleet Air Arm score to 31, but Navy West found their feet and dominated the second half.

Gareth Rees scored a hat-trick of his own which helped make the score respectable for Navy West.

Fleet Air Arm will have to beat the current champions, the Royal Marines, if they are to take the trophy home from Portsmouth.