With burning legs and ball in hand, Army rugby league player Captain Blake Wallace hit a gap untouched and was greeted with 80 metres of open field in front of him.

He ignored the fatigue that had built up over a hard-fought game, pinned the ears back and sprinted.

Eighty metres turned into 40, then 20, then into a soaring try.

The effort completed a 24-24 comeback tie for Army Thunder, who were down 0-10 at half-time against the Glebe Dirty Reds.

The game was played at Victoria Barracks, Sydney, on March 14 as part of the Army's 125th birthday celebrations.

Team captain Corporal Millad Noor said it was a match Thunder had no business winning, with only a one-hour captain’s run for training to take on Glebe, a Sydney Roosters feeder club.

“They are a high-level footy team with experience, and having played together, they knew how to shift the ball,” he said.

“But we stuck to the basics, started completing our sets, then we started rolling on top of them and nearly won. We just missed the field goal at the end.”

The squad was put together at short notice from experienced league veterans and first-time Army players who were still figuring out their game, which led to the first-half deficit.

Army started to believe they could win after defending seven sets in a row on their goal line to close the first half. They started the second with two quick tries.

From there it was back and forth until Captain Wallace scored his loss-saving try in the dying minutes.

“It was probably one of my better games in the Army Thunder jersey. I’m feeling a bit fitter at the moment, so I had more lungs in me to run a bit more,” Captain Wallace said.

“The adrenaline kicked in straight away as soon as I hit that clearing, but I felt it once I scored the try, that’s for sure.”

He also played in the Army Rugby Union match against Randwick Rugby Club later in the day.

Army’s other tries came from hooker Private Lachlan Barnes and winger Sapper Samuel McCallum.

According to Corporal Noor, it was a great experience for new players to have their first Army rugby league game at a historic venue such as Victoria Barracks.

“It was very prestigious and to celebrate the 125 years as well, it was a really good event,” he said.