Goals make the difference

Goal difference proved the deciding factor in this season’s Inter-Services Indoor Hockey Championships as the army’s senior teams saw silverware agonisingly slip from their grasp.

Both squads headed into the tournament as defending champions, and they made the perfect start to their campaigns against the Royal Navy, with the men triumphing 4-3 and the women 3-2.

Close battles with the Royal Air Force then followed as the men drew a high-scoring encounter 4-4, while the women’s clash ended 2-2.

But with the RAF recording bigger winning margins against the senior service, they claimed both titles. The army did have cause to celebrate though as the under-25s won their respective competition, while the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were victorious in the corps/region tournament.