Army Men Retain Inter Services Rugby League Title With Dramatic Golden Point Winner

The game was decided in the most dramatic of circumstances (Picture: SBS Photography).

A dramatic Golden Point winner has seen the Army complete a remarkable comeback and retain their Inter Services Championship in Aldershot.

The Army were hoping to confirm the title win with victory, but were 14 points behind in the second half.

However, the men in red were roared on by the crowd in Aldershot and drew level with just three minutes of normal time remaining.

It was Roche who sealed the title with the last kick of the match to take a 15-14 win.

It was a very tense first half full of big hits from both teams.

In terms of scoring opportunities, both sets of players struggled to break through. It took an RAF penalty from Elliott Kerry to separate the sides at half-time.

The low-scoring first half finished 2-0 to the RAF.

The second half promised to be a similarly tight affair, but a blunder from the Army defence allowed the Air Force to pull away.

Michael Harrison should have dealt with a simple catch, but he fumbled the ball and Kristian Burns went over for a vital try.

Kerry converted the kick to make it worse for the Army as the RAF led 8-0.

The Air Force were full of confidence now and Juite Tupua jotted down for the second try of the match to the delight of the watching RAF fans.

Another solid conversion from Kerry meant the Army had a 14-point deficit to make up if they were to win the title.

They managed to pull some points back through Robert Matamosi's well-taken try and Pete Holmes also went over for a converted try to give us an interesting final five minutes.

The RAF still led by 4 points, but the Army had momentum and were being roared on by their home fans.

Those fans thought the comeback was complete when CJ Parker seemingly went over but after some deliberations with his assistant, the referee disallowed the try.

The Army managed to pull off the comeback with just minutes left on the clock. Uraia Naulusala powered over and Roche had the chance to win the game from the conversion.

The kick was missed though and the match went into a Golden Point where the next team to score would win the game.

It was Roche who took on the responsibility making up for his earlier miss to kick for glory.

The wild celebrations showed what it meant to the Army players and staff as they retained their title.

It also means the services rules over Rugby League for another year as both men's and women's champions.