Wednesday 18th March 2015 ko 19.00

Inter Services Tournament/Carrington Cup

ARMY 4 (Sig Paddock 40 Pte Glass 63 LCpl Wilkinson 66 Spr Currie 82)

ROYAL AIR FORCE 0

Att 148 at Aldershot Military Stadium, Queens Avenue

Entry FREE

Programme and teamsheet FREE

I’m really not sure why I revisited this one, after all I watched a regimental cup game here 3 years ago. It certainly wasn’t because there was a programme issued, that’s a bonus nothing more. Certainly the standard of forces football is very good, the Army FA is treated as a County FA by the Football Association, and the stadium has presence, dominated by the 1,128 capacity stand, which could easily have double the seats it features now. I suspect what drew me back there is that the place does have a different feel than my normal destinations situated as it is in Aldershot’s Military Town.

The competition is a round robin affair with the Navy too, and the next round of games is this Wednesday at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park, and if this game is anything to go by it’ll be another good night’s entertainment, even if the half-time entertainment doesn’t feature the Band of the Grenadier Guards!

The big surprise here was how dominant the Army side was. They’d looked good when beating the German Forces team in the Game of Truce in December, but the RAF had won this tie of each of the last 8 years.

However the airmen had no answers to the passing and movement of the Army and in the final analysis the margin of victory was fair. It was interesting watching the presentation afterwards. The rivalry between the services is well-known, and the look on the airmen’s faces told its own story.

But at all times the mutual respect was just as obvious, and that I suppose it why I found myself back in Aldershot.