British Army crash out of Challenge Cup in first round

The British Army are out of the Rugby League Challenge Cup after a 12-28 first-round loss to Ashton Bears in Aldershot.

It was a disappointing outing for the Army as they succumbed to four Ashton tries in the first half.

Matty Smith made an early breakthrough for the away team as he scored inside the first five minutes to make it 0-4.

• Live for the first time: How to watch Inter Services netball championships
• Inter Services U23s football: How to watch entire championships LIVE
• Watch: Weekly Forces Sports Show

Tyler Pilling then added the first of his two for the match with a scything run down the left wing – Declan O'Donnell added the extras for a 10-point lead 

Alex Ashby put his name on the scoresheet, evading the defence on the right wing to make it 0-14, and Pilling popped up again just before half time with his second. 

At the break, the Army were floundering with no points to their name and an 18-point deficit.

There was a brief fightback from the men in red as the second half got under way.

Two converted tries to the home side came in quick succession as they scrapped their way back into the game.

There was a brilliant combination right on the try line as Thomas Holroyd put a chip forward that made it into the hands of Ryan Watkin and he skipped over the line.

Isikeci Bainivalumailepanoni powered his way across for a second score and with two successful kicks from the boot of Dom Carroll, the Army were making a match of it.

However, the Bears found their flight again as the final quarter approached and they scored twice more through O'Donnell and Smith – plus a conversion from Rob Sexton – to run away with a 12-28 final score.