Delighted Kells coach Peter Smith praised his tough-tackling side for a complete showing against the British Army that saw the amateurs move into the fourth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

Kells will be in the hat for the draw tomorrow night after beating the Army 30-4 on Saturday afternoon.

And Smith admitted he was pleased with the form his side were showing, ahead of the start of their National Conference League campaign this coming weekend.

“I thought we did a fully professional job, if you can call it that as we are amateurs but we controlled a lot of facets of the game,” said Smith.

“We completed 17 out of 21 sets in the first half, which built the platform for what we needed to do in the second half, so really we had done it all there and tired them out.

“But all credit to the Army for digging in and they got a late score that we didn’t really want them to get but they’ve come away with something.”

Smith admitted their hard work on the training ground was now bearing fruit in competitive action.

He added: “We put a lot of emphasis on controlling the tackle and looking after the tackle and getting numbers in so our line speed is at an optimum when we do attack.

“So, in a way, we’re attacking with our defence but I was really pleased with the way we set about them and now we can look forward to the next round.”

And as for who they might play in the fourth round of the competition , when the Championship teams enter the fray?

“I would like a home draw but it just depends where we can go, the lads have been talking about Toronto but we’ll see,” said Smith.

“A home game against Barrow would be nice, it would be good to play against my good pal Cresta [Barrow coach Paul Crarey] and they’ve hit some hot form at present.

“We know we’re not going to win it or be there at the end of August.

“But if we can make the finances work in the competition, then that’s all good for the club.”