Page 84 - The Bugle Issue 12 Autumn 2016

SILVERWARE WAS WON EVENTUALLY THOUGH, AS WE BEAT 3 SCOTS 3-2 TO WIN THE TRI-SERVICE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Football
The 2015/16 season saw 3 RIFLES competing on several fronts in a bid to improve upon previous season’s successes. The main effort was to try and improve last year’s runners up position in the Tri Service Scotland Football League and bring home the Championship.
3 RIFLES were also hoping to have a successful cup run in either the Infantry Cup or the Army Challenge Cup, the latter being an extremely competitive competition. The run to the semi- nals of the Army Challenge Cup started in early October with a tough rst round match tie against 1 SCOTS, the team that knocked us out last year. Two evenly matched sides fought out a competitive match, with a quick urry of goals early into the second half giving the Ri emen a comfortable looking 4–0 victory.
The second round saw the team travelling south for a tie against ITB Catterick. A real battle ensued, with little between the sides, and just as the game was heading into extra time a last minute winner saw 3 RIFLES go through to the 3rd round with a 2–1 win.
The 3rd round tie was closer to home with a trip to Fife to play the SCOTS DG at Leuchars Station. Battling gale force winds and a touch of Scottish rain, pretty free owing football was not the order of the day. A 4–4 draw at the end of 90 minutes might have been enjoyable for a neutral supporter but certainly not for Capt Raw’s blood pressure. With lots of mistakes from both sides it was a case of seeing who would cope best with conditions into extra time, but a convincing extra time perfor-
mance gave the battalion a 7–4 nal score and booked our place in the 4th round.
In early January the 4th round had the 3 RIFLES take on the Royal Lancers on the Redford Barracks 3G pitch due to inclement weather. Two very evenly matched sides saw the Ri emen produce some neat football and a couple of moments of quality to take a 2 goal advantage. A late Royal Lancers strike added to the nerves but it turned out to be no more than a consolation.
The Ri emen now found themselves in the quarter nal of Army Football’s most prestigious competition. 3 RIFLES were pulled out of the hat gain a home tie against 3 RLC. The Ri emen produced undoubtedly their best performance of the season with a convincing 4–2 win against a team containing a number of Army and Corps players to earn a place in the semi- nals.
Eventual winners 1 YORKS were our semi- nal opponents and having been the only team to defeat us this season in the Infantry Cup, we knew how big the task would be. The tie unfortu- nately went the way of 1 YORKS as they in icted a second defeat of the season on the Ri emen.
Silverware was won eventually though, as we beat 3 SCOTS 3-2 at the home of Inverness Caledonian Thistle to win the Tri-Service Scottish Football League. The team has been unbeaten in the league this year, recording only one draw against teams from all three services across Scotland.
A football tour to Canada is planned for late 2016.
SSgt Chris Wood, QMSI
The victorious squad with the Scottish Tri- Service Cup at Inverness Caledonian Thistle
82 THIRD BATTALION
THE RIFLES