Yorks Regiment Head For Cup Treble After Last-Minute Win

The 1st Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment have won the Army Challenge Cup, after scoring a stoppage time winner in the final.

Having already lifted the Infantry cup earlier this month, victory over 30 Signal Regiment in the army challenge cup would be another significant triumph.

The Yorkshiremen dominated the early exchanges keeping pressure on their fellow finalists – only last-ditch defending from the signallers kept them at bay.

However, that resilience was soon broken after just six minutes as Jake Sanderson raced in on goal for a deserved lead. 

Slowly but surely, 30 Signal regiment inched their way back into the match as first Gareth Philips tested Dan Sturley in the 1 Yorks goal. 

And then army first team forward Luke Noble shaved the crossbar with a free kick. 

A second set-piece moments later was their undoing as noble delivered into the mix Philips turned the ball past Sturley and the scores were level. 

Then just before the break the signalmen’s hopes hit new heights as Noble shrugged off defenders to slot home from the cutest of angles to establish a 2-1 lead.

That advantage lasted barely a minute into the second half as 1 Yorks equalised through Aiden Kirby – much to the delight of the regiment 

And that’s how it remained until injury time - Kirby again involved finding Luke McLaren who rifled his shot past Josh Rennie for victory, 3-2.

LCpl Darren Clark, 1 Yorks Captain, said: "It's a massive thing for the regiment.

"It's the regiment who won it today, not just the team, the whole regiment. (Our supporters)... kept us going all the way through it."  

Having done the cup double 1 Yorks could yet make it a treble when they face the winners of the army reserve cup in Scotland later in the year.