31 March 2025
The British Army Crusaders kicked off their tour Down Under with a hotly contested 3-2 win over Australian Army Football (NSW) at Randwick Barracks on March 14, in the first of four games for the British Army officers’ team.
Australia started the game strongly, controlled possession and scored the first goal, putting pressure on the Brits going into half time.
The Crusaders rallied during the break to even the score 1-1 early in the second half, despite the Sydney heat.
Australia took the lead once more with a clean strike from outside the box, but the Brits levelled again a few minutes later.
The Aussies slowed with about 10 minutes to go, leaving space for the Crusaders to take the lead, which they held until the final whistle
Australian team captain Signaller Mark Carcellar was surprised the Brits played a lot of long balls instead of around the feet.
He was also impressed at the Crusaders’ resilience in the heat, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees.
“We lost a bit of possession and conceded cheap goals towards the end, but it was a decent effort for the amount of time we had to prepare for it,” Signaller Carcellar said.
“It was a great hit-out and I thoroughly enjoyed it; hopefully there’s more opportunities like this in the future, and a bit more prep time as well.”
The Crusaders tour every three years, most recently to Canada, and team captain Major Oliver McAfee was amazed at the skills of the Australians.
“It’s surprising they can play football as well as they can, considering it’s not the main sport here,” he said.
“It was a friendly, evenly contested game, which was nice because no one wants to get injured on the first game of a tour.”
The Brits started the game slowly to acclimatise to the heat, finding their rhythm and playing to their feet instead of sticking to the long game, which paid off.
Major McAfee said the team was looking forward to the rest of the tour, and was pleased to start with a win.
“I’m hoping we come away with four wins out of four, but I’m sure we’ll have some tough games. I’m just hoping it’s not as hot as this game; it was pretty brutal,” he said.
The Crusaders tour comprises games against teams from the Australian Army, Air Force, Navy and the Australian Defence Force Academy.
