Navy draw against the RAF in nail-biting Inter Services opener
The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have drawn 1-1 in the Inter Service Men's Football opener after a fierce and nail-biting battle at Fratton Park in Portsmouth.
The Navy gained the upper hand in the first half after being awarded a penalty, which was successfully taken by Elliot Holmes before half-time.
The Navy defended well in the second half, but the RAF's Jake Gosling created the opportunity for his teammate, Brodie Gray, to equalise against the Navy in the final minutes of the game.
The Navy proved from the outset to be a very formidable team against the reigning champions in the opening first half despite losing Sanchez Jansz-Baker early in the game after sustaining an injury, as he was substituted by Emanuel Roche.
It was beginning to look like the game would be entering half-time with no goals until the Navy were awarded a penalty after Sean Powell was taken down inside the goal box.
The penalty was successfully taken by Elliot Holmes, putting the Navy in the lead 1-0 over the RAF.
In the second half, the RAF were looking to come back swinging and looked for many open opportunities to break through the Navy defence.
After many backwards and forwards and missed chances, it was approaching the final minutes of the game where Jake Gosling found an open door to turn this game around, a slight blunder by the Navy's Pete Bradley found the ball at Brodie Gray's feet where he scored the RAF's first goal of the game to equalise the scoreboard.
With extra stoppage time, both the Navy and the RAF fought ferociously to break the 1-1 tie, but opportunities did not come to fruition for either side.
At the final whistle, the Navy did enough to prevent the defending champions from walking away with a win and a draw in the opening match leaves the Men's Football Inter Services wide open.
The Navy travel to Aldershot next week where they will face a strong Army side.
Join Our Newsletter
