The British Army American football team have beaten the reigning champions from the RAF to take the Inter Services title race into the final match.

The Jackals beat the RAF Mustangs 18-6 under the lights at Tilsley Park in Abingdon. 

The Army were desperate to prove themselves after what they would’ve considered an under-par performance in last year’s tournament.

They started off strongly taking their offensive game to the RAF Mustangs and scoring got underway with a safety – two points for the Army after the light blues were tackled in their own end zone.

The Jackals followed that up nicely with a touchdown from Army player of the match Jacob Shotton. Dale Kennedy added the extra with a conversion kick and the men in red were up 9-0 after the first quarter.

A flair interception and a solo run down the left looked to have put Jack Rice over for another six points but he was deemed to have been in touch on the sideline.

The Army were awarded another safety score only minutes later. A pass was intercepted by the Air Force but that player was then tackled again in his own end zone.

Having been caught in the headlights a little and showing some frustration, the RAF finally built up some pressure in Q2 with some great offensive moves and flighted passes getting the light blues closer to the end zone. 

The RAF capitalised on a fumble recovery and scored with a nice run play with QB Paul Wakeford handing off to Lewis Truman on the sweep and he ran in, untouched for the score.

The follow-up kick was missed by Daniel Walkingshaw and Luke Dyer sealed things for the Army in Q3 with a powerful run into touch.

This venue saw the title holders from last year, the Royal Air Force, beat the Royal Navy in game 1 27-6 at the end of September which means the Army just need a win over the Senior Service in two weeks to take the crown for the first time. 

A win for the Navy on the 25 October in Southampton would mean the result would go to points difference, but after this impressive performance, it’ll be the Army’s to lose.