On tonights episode, Bartholomew looks ahead to a weekend of huge fixtures in Kent from Football to Hockey. Plus we hear the incredible story of Wayne Smith, a boxing coach from Maidstone, who is taking on the London Marathon for his daughter.
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00:00 Hello and welcome along to Invictus Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:22 up all of Kent's sporting action.
00:24 I'm Bartholomew Hall and here's what to expect on this Friday 22nd March.
00:30 United vs United.
00:33 Kent Senior Cup final tie decided.
00:35 We'll show you how Ed Fleet and Maystone got there.
00:41 Hope for Holcombe, Medway women's hockey team on the brink of reaching the country's top
00:45 flight and an inspiration to us all as a father aims to complete the London Marathon in a
00:50 wheelchair in support of his daughter.
00:53 But first, let's look at a round-up of the headlines.
00:56 And Tyson Fury has described Chatham up-and-coming boxer as the future of the heavyweight division.
01:05 Writing on his Instagram, the heavyweight champion was responding to a comment from
01:08 the Medway boxer seen here about their recent sparring session.
01:12 It comes ahead of the pair's return to Rydia in May, where Itamah will be on the undercard
01:17 for Fury's much-anticipated clash with Oleksandr Usyk.
01:21 Itamah is back in the ring tonight at York Hall where he'll face Dan Garber.
01:27 Former Maystone and Ellsford rugby player Molly Wilkinson has earned a call-up for the
01:32 Women's Six Nations.
01:34 The 20-year-old will be in the Wales squad who start their campaign against Scotland
01:38 at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, coming into the attention of coaches whilst playing for
01:43 the Brython Thunder in the Celtic Challenge tournament in January.
01:47 The fly-half told Kent Online she wasn't expecting it but that she's determined to enjoy the
01:52 experience.
01:54 Ahead of non-league day tomorrow, Chatham Town has announced their fixture with Haringey
01:58 Borough will be dedicated to Prostate Cancer UK.
02:03 It comes as the charity will be celebrating 10 years of working with non-league day.
02:07 The fundraising will be especially poignant for chairman manager Kevin Hake and general
02:12 manager Gary Hake who lost their father, who was also a Chatham manager, Tom Hake, to the
02:18 disease back in 2012.
02:20 The club will be holding an auction and a match-date collection on the day.
02:26 Sticking with football, Gillingham's Stephen Clements says it would mean everything to
02:31 him if he was able to take his team into the League Two play-offs this season.
02:36 It comes as his side are one of six teams across the EFL, including the likes of Ipswich,
02:40 Leeds and Bolton Wanderers, not to have lost a game at home since the New Year.
02:46 Six of those games for Gillingham have ended in a draw and ahead of his side's away tie
02:51 with Morecambe this weekend, the Gilles' boss was asked if the recent array of draws are
02:55 a cause for concern.
02:56 "When I arrived at the club, we couldn't draw a game.
03:00 It was either win or lose and that was before I got here as well.
03:04 And you are going to draw games.
03:05 You're going to have to draw games if you want to be successful.
03:09 Obviously we would have liked some of those draws at home to have been victories but it's
03:13 not meant to be for one reason or another.
03:17 We know what the reasons are, we know what our killing seal is but as I say, there's
03:21 no reason why with seven games to go we still can't turn this around.
03:25 We're one point off the play-offs, let's keep going, let's all keep believing as a football
03:29 club and look forward to the game on Saturday."
03:33 With that in mind, let's take a look at all the fixtures happening for our top sides this
03:37 weekend.
03:38 Starting off, we'll stay with League Two.
03:39 As you've been hearing, the Gilles will head to Morecambe tomorrow, both teams looking
03:43 for a late push into the play-offs as we head into the business end of the season.
03:47 Last time out, Gillingham overcame Morecambe 2-1 at Priestfield.
03:53 Next in the National League, Halifax Town will welcome Ebbs Fleet this weekend.
03:56 The Fleet Supporters Trust are having it as their annual weekender on non-league day
04:00 as fans travel north of Birmingham.
04:03 Halifax earned a 2-0 win at the Kuflink in October.
04:07 In the National South, Dartford's relegation battle continues as they meet former boss
04:11 Alan Dowson's new side, Hemel Hempstead, at home.
04:13 The new boss, Adrian Pennock, is searching for his first points as Darts manager in his
04:18 fourth league game in charge, while struggling bottom sitters Dover host Farnborough and
04:23 promotion-pushing Maidstone are with Western Supermare.
04:26 Hoping to join them next year, Tatum Town take on Haringey.
04:29 Haringey sit top of the play-off positions, whilst Tunbridge host relegation-threatened
04:34 Truro and Margate host Enfield Town.
04:37 Rounding things off with the Ipswian Premier.
04:40 However you're choosing to celebrate non-league day tomorrow, we hope you'll enjoy it.
04:46 The final of the Kent Senior Cup has been declared this week.
04:49 Maidstone United and Ebbs Fleet United will face one another, with the prospect of becoming
04:54 this year's Kings of Kent.
04:56 Let's take a look at how they got there with this week's semi-finals of the Kent
05:00 Senior Cup, with Dartford taking on Maidstone United, and a thrilling goal-fest between
05:04 Ebbs Fleet and Tatum Town.
05:06 Here's Tony Mazzanichita.
05:11 Ebbs Fleet United hosted Tatum Town earlier this week for the Kent Senior Cup semi-finals.
05:19 Ebbs Fleet were off to a flying start as they managed to score early to open up the tie
05:23 with Borleone's lowest strike beyond the Chatham keeper.
05:26 And later on, Fanemo made it two with a goal from the edge of the box.
05:30 However, Chatham didn't allow this to demotivate them as they pulled one back before the half
05:34 with Robins goal in stoppage time.
05:36 But all that hard work was undone before the half as a penalty was awarded for Ebbs Fleet
05:41 and Borleone converted it to make it 3-1.
05:43 But faith was restored for the Chatham faithful as super-sub Isaka managed to pull one back
05:48 in the second half making it 3-2.
05:50 And moments later, it was crushed as Ebbs Fleet managed to regain a two-goal lead with
05:55 a brace from McQueen making it 5-2.
05:58 There was a late constellation goal in the end from Chatham with Nazala scoring from
06:02 the free kick whipped in by Evans but it wasn't enough and Ebbs Fleet United would proceed
06:06 to the Cup final.
06:13 In the other semi-final fixture this week, Dartford played Maidstone United.
06:17 In the 34th minute, the Darts managed to break the deadlock with a goal from Wall giving
06:21 them a 1-0 lead.
06:23 In the second half, Wall had an opportunity to double the lead for Dartford but Lucas
06:27 Kovolan was forced to make a spectacular save keeping the Stones in the fight.
06:32 But Dartford were mounting the pressure and another chance was on for the youngster Finlay
06:36 but another save was made from Kovolan to prevent the lead from doubling.
06:40 And then the Stones were awarded a penalty for handball on Tyrone Miller-Rodney and Sam
06:44 Khan stepped up to equalise from the spot sending Tom Rae the wrong way.
06:49 The game ended 1-1 and this semi-final headed to a tense penalty shootout which ended 4-3
06:54 to Maidstone after saves from both keepers and penalties converted from multiple players
06:59 but the ever so important winner was scored by Liam Sowell to send Maidstone to the Cup
07:04 final where they'll face Ebbs Fleet United on the 17th April with a chance to win some
07:09 silverware.
07:10 Well thank you very much Tony for that.
07:19 Now another huge fixture in the pipeline for this weekend belongs to Holcombe Hockey Club's
07:24 women's first team.
07:25 They're on the brink of promotion back into the premiership of English hockey at what
07:30 will be the first time of asking.
07:33 Comes of course a season after Nick Van Der Ak's side were relegated from the women's
07:36 premier division to the division one south.
07:39 I went along to their final training session this week.
07:57 Holcombe Hockey Club's women's team were relegated at the back end of the 22/23 season
08:02 setting up what has been a huge fight to return to the premiership this year.
08:06 But it's back to training for these ladies with just one game to go and a win providing
08:12 the end to that goal.
08:14 Currently the Medway side sit second in the division one south meaning a win worth three
08:18 points or a draw worth one would be enough for Holcombe in their final league game of
08:23 the season as long as third place Barnes stay in third.
08:28 The promotion decider comes just a week after the Medway team found themselves two points
08:32 clear of Barnes after beating their promotion rivals three to two at home with a last minute
08:37 winner.
08:38 Especially in the game we've just played I felt like everything we've been working on
08:42 in training has really come together and that was the first time I went like this is where
08:46 it's happening, this is where what we've been doing has really come together and I just
08:50 hope it continues through to this weekend.
08:53 Scoring the final penalty with a smooth drag flick was New Zealand international Phoebe
08:57 Steele who knows the weight of their next win isn't lost on anyone.
09:02 At times we've got a bit focused on that outcome and lost ourselves a little bit in
09:06 the way we played so I guess we've had to go back to basics, focus on each game as it
09:12 comes and then yeah it's always in the back of our mind but right now we're not thinking
09:16 about that we just want to get a win on the weekend.
09:18 Last weekend was our semi final lucky to win that and then the big final this weekend so
09:23 personally that's heaps of motivation really looking forward to it.
09:27 Their opponents this weekend is relegation threatened Wimbledon 2s, they sit in 8th in
09:32 the table.
09:33 Holcombe beat them by a staunch 5-1 before Christmas but head coach and Team GB player
09:38 Nick Bandarach doesn't think this makes their opponents any less of a threat.
09:43 They are still a very tough opponent it was very difficult going over to their place before
09:47 Christmas and then again when they came here in the cup shortly afterwards it was two very
09:50 tough games.
09:51 They are ultimately fighting for survival and that makes them a very, very dangerous
09:56 opponent on the day so it's definitely not something we're going to take lightly, we're
10:00 not in a position to be able to afford to do that so it's very much a case of the last
10:04 few weeks have shown what the girls are capable of and it's very much a case of do the same
10:08 again.
10:10 With free entry at Holcombe Park this Saturday all that's left to do now is urge fans to
10:14 join the club in cheering on for the final push for promotion.
10:18 Hopefully it will be busy again, hopefully we encourage people to make lots of noise,
10:22 come down, cheer on the girls and make it an atmosphere that the away team doesn't particularly
10:28 enjoy playing in.
10:29 Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Medway.
10:33 Well the very best of luck to the side.
10:35 Now as you saw there I caught up with Team GB's Nick Bandarach as well as talking about
10:40 the prospects of the team he manages.
10:42 We also spoke about him qualifying for his first ever Olympics this summer.
10:46 So let's hear from him now.
10:47 We started by talking about his men's team Holcombe Ones and their chances of returning
10:52 to the European Hockey League next year.
10:55 We know there's a lot of stages to get through in order to just get back there in the first
10:59 instance, but we've put ourselves in a position now that makes it extremely difficult after
11:03 that first game on the weekend.
11:05 So we're getting back towards full strength as a squad now and that gives us real hope
11:09 because we genuinely believe with a full strength squad on our day we can beat anyone in the
11:13 league.
11:14 European hockey is one thing, international hockey with yourself, by the end of this year
11:17 you can call yourself an Olympian finally.
11:20 It's been a long time coming.
11:21 Yeah, it's something obviously you dream about as a little kid.
11:27 My personal journey has been quite different to a lot of people who find themselves at
11:32 the international level.
11:34 It all still feels very new and exciting and to be perfectly honest the thought of an Olympics
11:38 is crazy right now, even now.
11:43 It's definitely something that we're working towards every day down there at Bisham, but
11:46 from a personal perspective it's an awful lot of hockey to be played between now and
11:50 then.
11:51 But yeah, week by week, day by day and we'll see where we get to come the end of the summer.
11:55 Time for a break now.
11:56 Plenty more sport from across the county after the break.
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15:11 Hello and welcome back to Invictus Sport live on KMTV.
15:15 Now it's time to remind you that you can keep up to date with all the latest sports
15:19 interviews and features from right here on Invictus Sport by heading along to our website
15:23 KMTV.co.uk. When you're there, click on the sports tab because there you'll see videos like this one
15:29 about a fencing club in Sevenoaks that's hoping to inspire the next generation of fencers.
15:35 Much like the equipment you need to wear for it, fencing can be hard to get into.
15:40 Unlike some sports needing just a field and a ball to get young people involved,
15:44 it can be tough to find the funds for swords, wires, plastrons, special shoes, and breeches,
15:51 and even tougher for families to afford them. Every year, England Fencing grants certain clubs
15:56 across the country funding, sometimes in the form of training, coaches, or just money.
16:01 Well, I'm here at the MX Fencing Club in Sevenoaks where the next generation of English talent
16:07 are honing and sharpening their skills ahead of international contest.
16:12 This year, a substantial portion of the grant budget was given to MX Fencing Club in Sevenoaks.
16:18 This took the form of £7,000 worth of masks, swords, and other equipment, which was given a unique design.
16:26 But what exactly would this do for the club?
16:29 So, honestly, what it does for us is it removes one hurdle completely.
16:34 Right, so, obviously we have got a lot of ambitions to expand the club and bring in some more people
16:39 and show the sport around to them. One of the biggest hurdles for that is having the kit to actually
16:43 keep them safe while they're doing it, and also just fencing kit in general is quite expensive.
16:48 So, if we were trying to do this off our own back, we probably couldn't.
16:52 But, so having this kit come, it's, you know, it just completely removes one of the hurdles from our equation.
16:58 We have all the stuff we need now. Now we just need to make sure we get the bodies to actually put in it.
17:02 The club has a strong group of fencers, ranging from under-13s, under-17s, and adult fencers.
17:08 But the new equipment is specifically for the youngest fencers, who need specially sized equipment.
17:14 And the club hopes this will encourage more youngsters to follow in the footsteps of their under-17s,
17:19 some of whom are representing England in the Cadet Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand.
17:24 Yeah, we're both going to Commonwealths in New Zealand in July.
17:27 Are you looking forward to it?
17:28 Very much so.
17:29 Are you all close? Any nerves?
17:31 Hopefully not yet, but they'll come.
17:34 Yeah, hopefully we'll.
17:36 It's going to be our biggest competition.
17:38 Yeah.
17:39 It's nice to be going together.
17:41 Their older fencers are also regularly selected in competitions across Europe,
17:45 in countries like Hungary, Turkey, Germany, Spain and France.
17:48 The England Fencing Support Grant adds to the club's recent application for a £14,000 grant from Sport England,
17:55 which would fund additional coaches and training.
17:58 The club hopes that the success of their under-17s and the funding granted by Sport England
18:03 will increase recruitment among their 13 and under group to keep the traditional sport of fencing alive.
18:08 Finn McDermid for KMTV.
18:11 Now hundreds, if not thousands of runners across Kent will be in full training ahead of this year's London Marathon,
18:19 raising money for great causes, but one boxing coach from Chatham is taking on the challenge in a wheelchair,
18:24 despite not using one in his day-to-day life.
18:27 And that's because Wayne Smith's young daughter, Esme, was diagnosed with a spinal condition
18:32 that restricts her to life in a wheelchair.
18:34 Hoping now to raise money for the charity that has supported them all the way, Demelza Hospice Care,
18:39 Wayne has raised over £7,000 towards his goal of £10,000.
18:44 I caught up with Wayne and Esme earlier today.
18:47 So, Wayne and Esme join me in the studio now.
18:50 Thank you both for joining us. Really lovely to have you here.
18:54 Wayne, we'll start with you. How's training going? We can see a picture of you here with your wheels.
18:58 Yeah, it's going very well. It's very tough as expected.
19:02 We've taken on a big challenge and the training has been very, very tough, as you'd imagine it would be.
19:09 But yeah, we're going strong. We're now in the final part.
19:13 I'm up to 15 miles so far, like what I did last week.
19:17 And in the next two weeks, I've got two long ones left.
19:20 I'm either going to stick at 17.5 miles or I may go for 20.
19:25 We'll see how I feel a little bit closer. But we're in the final part now.
19:29 It's incredible. I had a chance to go on one of these wheels.
19:32 It's a Rugby League wheelchair that you're using. Really hard.
19:36 You don't think it until you get to sit in the seat about how hard it is to push yourself on.
19:40 I was exactly the same.
19:42 What was it like when you first sat in the chair?
19:44 I thought, what on earth have you let yourself in for?
19:47 Thinking about doing the challenge and everything like that is a lot easier.
19:51 I'll do that. Like what I said, I'll go for it.
19:55 I remember the first training session going along the towpath thinking,
19:58 what on earth have you let yourself in for?
20:00 But now we're here and we're close. We're very close now.
20:04 It's been very difficult, but it's been good. I've now got the knack of it.
20:09 Of course. And you chose to do this, obviously, because of Esme, who's here with us in the studio.
20:16 She's restricted to a wheelchair in her life. You decided to take that on.
20:20 We've got a brilliant video which we can play from your social media of you two being together.
20:25 Have you had to learn some stuff from her?
20:27 Yeah, I've been watching you, haven't I?
20:29 You've taught Daddy how to do the wheels, haven't you?
20:32 In your wheelies, the way that you fly up and down the house.
20:36 And Daddy's been learning from you, hasn't he?
20:39 Yeah, that's what we're going to get.
20:41 Yeah, of course.
20:43 And of course, Demelza, the charity you're doing this all for,
20:47 they've been quite instrumental in the whole journey.
20:49 That's it. And since Esme was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 18 months,
20:54 this is SMA type 2, and ever since day one, Demelza have been absolutely incredible.
20:59 Before you use their service, you don't know too much about what they do.
21:05 You just think it's a Demelza children's hospice, but there's so much more.
21:10 They've done so much for us. They provide so many events, Easter, Christmas,
21:16 for all the families. They have so much support for families with children with disabilities
21:21 that are very sick as well, obviously. But they do their events.
21:26 We've had use of their Hydropool. They've got their physio that they've given to Esme as well.
21:33 And they do respite as well, where we have someone come round once a month
21:37 and it gives Emma a little break.
21:40 But it also allows more time to do some one-to-one stuff with our son, Archie,
21:44 because as you can imagine, living with a child with a disability is 24/7.
21:48 So it's very challenging. But what they do for us is absolutely brilliant.
21:53 So this is my way of saying thank you and giving back and trying to raise as much money as possible for them.
21:59 You mentioned Archie there. We can see him on the screen there, all three of you with your wheels,
22:03 smiling greatly there.
22:05 That was on my first half marathon. They came and filmed me and they made some little flags
22:10 off of wooden spoons and bits of paper saying 'Go Daddy' and they filmed me at halfway.
22:15 Fantastic. They'll have to do an even bigger one for when we reach London, of course.
22:19 Talk to me, what's been the reaction from your family and the wider community?
22:25 I know you do a lot with boxing groups around Chatham and Kent. What's been the reaction?
22:31 Just that I'm mad, basically.
22:34 Just that everyone's saying you're absolutely bonkers for doing this.
22:39 But that's what it's about. I think there's 50,000 people running that London marathon,
22:46 35,000, I can't remember what they said.
22:49 I'm able-bodied, obviously, but I've had two hip replacements so I could never run it even if I wanted to.
22:55 But just to do it in there, it's going to be something extraordinary, isn't it?
23:00 That's what gives you the challenge to go out and raise as much money as possible.
23:05 I mentioned you're a boxing coach as well. Is there any transferable skills that you've learnt about the training for this?
23:13 Yeah, definitely. Periodisation of the training plan.
23:17 I created my training plan and I'm bringing myself up as well as the taper that's coming in the last two weeks.
23:24 I've been following my training plan that I set.
23:28 Having that good knowledge has helped me and really helped the training. It's getting me along the way.
23:35 You're really active on your social media and Instagram, sharing this story as you go as well.
23:39 That's where people can go to see some great videos, some great pictures of you, but also follow your fundraising journey too.
23:46 Can we expect a kind of Rocky-style montage in the near future?
23:50 That would be good. Luckily, I've got a videographer that's been helping me out with some videos.
23:57 We should really lay on to that a little bit more.
24:02 You've just crossed the £7,000 mark, aiming for £10,000.
24:07 Clearly, quite a big response from people wanting to help you out.
24:11 That's right. I'm absolutely amazed.
24:14 We had to raise £2,000 to be at the start line and I reached out and I'm very lucky.
24:22 I've got all of these companies here that are on my jumper that reached straight out, straight away to do company sponsorship.
24:29 That helped me get straight over the line.
24:31 We raised the £2,000 fairly quickly so that we were definitely at the line.
24:36 It was like, "Oh, right. We're definitely doing this then."
24:40 Now, as you see it start growing, it's like, "Let's go for £10,000. We've got to do it."
24:45 If we're going to raise £10,000 for this charity from little old me doing 26 miles in a wheelchair, then let's do it.
24:53 I can't thank everyone enough that's supporting it.
24:56 Thank you so much, Wayne, for joining us today and best of luck with the journey ahead of you.
25:00 Brilliant. Thank you very much.
25:02 Lovely stuff there.
25:03 Now, we've reached full time on today's episode, but there's just a few minutes of extra time to take a look at this week's Action Replay.
25:10 Here's Gabriel.
25:11 First up on this week's Action Replay.
25:14 Ahead of the new season, Kent cricket players couldn't wait to get out to the stumps and so decided to do so virtually instead.
25:21 Here's Jack Leaning, Harry Finch, Matt Quinn testing their swings with YouTuber The VR Cricket Guy at our County's Club Media Day.
25:30 A little bit of getting used to the system was needed, but very quickly, the natural instinct of these professionals kicked in with four and sixes being scored all round.
25:39 Let's hope the same level of skill can be repeated at the start of the season.
25:44 Now, take a look at 12-year-old Harrison from Ashford, who has bagged himself a trip to Hawaii, where he's set to compete to become the very best at the Pokémon World Championships.
25:56 After starting out by trading cards at school, Harrison says the game has improved his maths, reading and quick thinking skills.
26:03 We wish him all the best of luck.
26:05 And finally on this week's Action Replay, here's Canterbury teen Ellen Tripley, who has been making massive strides within the junior wheelchair tennis scene.
26:14 After being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, Ellen took to the sport just before the pandemic.
26:20 Since then, she's gone on to become a national and international youth champion.
26:24 Now hoping to continue her competitive stride using the chair of Wimbledon doubles champion Diana Mathewson, Ellen is all too excited about the next season getting underway.
26:34 Well, that's it for this week's Action Replay, but don't forget it could be you in next week's edition.
26:39 Just send in your pictures and videos on social media or to sport@kmtv.co.uk.
26:45 That's it from us this evening. I'll be back on Monday. Goodbye.
26:52 I won't be back on Monday. I'll be happy.
26:55 I won't be back on Monday. I'll be happy.
26:57 I won't be back on Monday. I'll be happy.
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