Military forces clashed in Aldershot in the second round of the Betfred Challenge Cup, as the Royal Navy visited the British Army's home base in Aldershot for a keenly anticipated second round tie: the first time the two services have come face-to-face in the Cup.

The sailors qualfied for this this tie with a 60-0 trouncing of Bridgend Blue Bulls when the competition's first round kicked off on 14 January, while the soldiers had to come from behind with a late rally to earn their spot at Orrell st James the following afternoon.

The Navy conceded both the first penalty of the game - and the first scrum of the season - but the Army couldn't make the pressure tell.  Just minutes later though,  centre Calvin Harling broke down the let and passed inside to Mickey Hoyle. The soldiers looked odds-on to score before wasting the chance with a forward pass.

The Navy had the next attacking chance with a thoughtful kick into the 11-metre in-goal forcing a drop-out and winning a second set. But again they couldn't cross the line, with their final pass going forward. They kept-up the pressure in a hard-tackling game with a strong wind behind them, but the tie remained scoreless after a stop-start opening 15 minutes as te reintroduction of scrums making a serious difference to the game's flow.

Twenty minutes into the game though, Kajii Suguvanua intercepted the ball by the touchline 15m from his own try-line. He raced away to touch down and open the scoreing. Although he moved infield to improve the angle, Hoyle couldn't convert kicking into the wind and the score sat at 4-0 to the soldiers.

Army half-backs Declan Baines and Kev Brown combined with style for the second score on 30 minutes. Baines looked like he was moving the ball to the right from a play-the-ball but spun round for a classic show-and-go, breaking the line and two attempted tackles to run half the length of the field before passing to partner Brown to touch down.

When it came to adding the extras though, it was the wind which won out again, pushing Brown's own attampt wide of the posts.

The score stayed at 8-0 until the half-time whistle, but a bad-looking knee injury to Harling saw him leave the field on the shoulders to two team mates, leaving the Army left-edge defence looking weakened

The first action of the second half came when the Army got a panalty 10m out in front of the Navy posts and kicked cleanly for a 10-0 lead.

With the 60-minute mark approaching the sailors had a good opportunity on the back of two successive penalties - for a two on one ball steal and a haigh tackle - but the chance petered out with a knock-on in the Army's 10m. On the back of that, the Army kicked a 40-10 on the back of the wind, but dropped the ball themselves as the game got scrappier.

The Navy finally crossed the Army's line with 10 minutes of the game left on the clock but the soldiers' scrambling defence moved in to hold Boardman up. On the next play, the sailors kicked into the deep in-goal and won a repeat set which resulted in Gavin Duffy darting over in the corner after taking a clever pass from hooker James Tilley to add extra excitement to the final period.

The kick for goal into the wind fell short.

But as the clock ticking down Jonathon Griffiths burrowed through the Army defence for a 10-8 score, which Rhys Joel converted for the first goal at that end of the pitch. The scores were level and golden-point extra time loomed, with a player from each side sin-binned as the conversion was being set up.

Then with time pressure mounting, the  Army knocked on in front of their own posts, but the Navy played for the try and were penalised for  double movement.

Both teams threw chances away, with the Navy twice missing drop-goal attempts, before referee Matty Lynn blew for full time and the players set up for golden-point extra time, with the Navy advantage of thewind behind them, while the Army got first use of the ball. Both teams, though, were up to full strength.

The sailors got the first chance to take the game with a drop goal, but despite the wind advantage kicked wide.

On their second chance, though, they spurned the opportunity of a drop with hooker Tilley looking looking to burrown over the line before passing to Joseph Sugden who dived into space to score the winning try.

It was a scrappy, and niggly game, with the Navy looking out of it for three quarters of the match. But it is the senior service who are in the third round draw.

Score progression: 0-0, 4-0, 8-0. HT. 10-0, 10-4, 10-8, 10-10. Full Time. 0-0.  Golden Point.

British Army: Boardman; Koroi, Holmes, Hoyle (P), Suguvanua (T); Brown (T), Baines; Watkin, Scott, Pickles, Toms, Harling, Kerman. Interchange: Tamani, Lindsey, Totabalavu, Welsh.

Royal Navy: Houghton; Duffy (T), Sugden, Bartlett, Dakuliga; Bamford, Cone; Griffiths (T), Tilley, Parry, Taxeira, Lee, Taylor. Interchange: Joel (G), Johnson, Butler, Gaskel.

Referee:  Matty Lynn.

Venue: Army Rugby Stadium, Aldershot.

Half Time: 8-0

Full Time: 10-10