Join Finn Macdiarmid with a roundup of Kent's sporting action. On today's episode we are joined by a coach of East Kent Acrobatics, who face closure if their leisure centre is shut by the council, and a co-owner of Gillingham Town F.C., who had a former Arsenal Striker going up against the Royal Engineers on their 150th FA Cup anniversary.
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00:00Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, that's the only show on your TV dedicated
00:21to wrapping up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Finn McDermid and here's what you might
00:26expect on this Monday 20th January. Nowhere To Go deals £20m leisure centre refurbishment
00:34set to shut local gymnastics club. A kick back in time, a football star joins Gillingham
00:40to celebrate 150 years since Royal Engineers FA Cup win. And of course action replay, we
00:46take a look at your sports stories from across the county.
00:52But first a round up of the headlines, starting off with Gillingham's resident ice hockey
00:56team the Invicta Dynamos who had two league battles this weekend, one of which went into
01:01a rare overtime. The side faced Streatham Redhawks and both teams had such a tight defence
01:07that neither scored a single goal. According to head coach Carl Lennon, in all his time
01:12playing hockey he'd never seen a 0-0 draw into overtime before. The Dynamos would sadly
01:17eventually fall by one goal to nil. The Moes then went up against the Chelmsford Chieftains
01:22but ended up losing by three goals to two but they will face Cardiff Fire and Swindon
01:26Wildcats next week. Now to rugby and the Tonbridge Juddians managed an overwhelming victory against
01:33Worthing at the weekend despite not playing a match for four weeks. The Judds had an uphill
01:38battle in the first half with an early try from their own Sam Blade but the score was
01:42quickly level. More tries followed from centres Shaden Osgood and Harrison Sims until the
01:46hosts had the score 17-12 at the end of the first half. In the end they achieved an overwhelming
01:52victory with 45-17 being the final score. This means Tonbridge is now six points clear,
01:57Barnes is second on the table as you can see there and Dorking following in third with
02:02two of their games still to be played. Now Ebbets Fleet United have extended their run
02:07of ties to three with a one-all draw at Woking. Manager Josh Wright believes the fleet deserve
02:12more than the final score might suggest. Wright's side currently sit 18 points from safety with
02:16one win all season but he is insistent that they could have won easily if not for what
02:20he calls a soft penalty decision. Ebbets Fleet were able to bounce back after new signing
02:25George Moncour's shot forced an own goal from Woking's Tunji Akinola. With his side traditionally
02:30folding under pressure this campaign Wright hopes this might be the start of a new turn
02:34in his club's fortunes. Flag football has been added to the 2028 Olympic Games roster
02:40and a local football club in Kent is thrilled. Ian Miles, the chairman of Kent Phoenix Youth
02:44American Football Club has expressed his enthusiasm and stated that his players have a real chance
02:48at competing in the Olympics. Based in Shepway Green the youth club often practices flag
02:52football and are able to provide equipment and kit to the players especially after a
02:56recent £35,000 investment from a charity. From the first game for new Gillingham boss
03:01John Coleman to a six goal thriller down in Folkestone there's been plenty of football
03:05action from across the county. It was a tough pill to swallow as we can see here for some
03:10other sides. Welcome to this week's football round up and kicking off tonight's results
03:15was John Coleman's first game as manager for the Gills after both a home game against
03:20Fleetwood and a game away to Chesterfield were called off because of the poor weather.
03:24The home game against Doncaster wasn't an ideal start for Coleman with his side conceding
03:28in the 33rd minute to Luke Molyneux and despite dominating possession and shots they just
03:33couldn't find the back of the net. I think that's the big problem that we've got and
03:38historically has plagued Gillingham for two years is the lack of goals and for all that
03:44pressure did we make enough chances? Probably not. Made a couple of good chances that we'd
03:49like to have took. Presented them with a goal and it sort of that the balance of the play
03:56changed a little bit and I thought we were too guilty going backwards in the second half
04:01in the end of the first half. The loss leaves them at their furthest down the table they've
04:06been all season at 16th while Doncaster are up to 6th. Down in the National League Ebbs
04:12Fleet have travelled away to Woking who manage to pick up a point against the side. This
04:16means Ebbs Fleet still are unfortunately bottom of the pack at 24th and Woking cement themselves
04:22slightly higher at 17th. Heading down again to the National League South and it was heartbreak
04:27for George Elakobi's Maidstone United who suffered their first league loss in 19 games
04:33while Tonbridge also lost points at Hampton and Richmond Borough. For the Stones it comes
04:37off the back of a 4-0 thrashing of Enfield and means they now sit at 5th in the table
04:42with Tonbridge slightly lower at 9th. And lastly in the It's Me and Premier we had
04:47a range of results. Folkestone managed to slot 4 to Canvey Islands 2 with Adam Adeyoi
04:52Youssef scoring a hat-trick but Canvey were helped by an Ian Gale own goal. Dover travelled
04:58to Hashtag United's ground Parkside and suffered 2 goals within the first 10 minutes of the
05:03second half but they did manage to grab a goal in the 93rd minute. Dartford made the
05:08trip to Wingate and earned themselves a away win while Chatham suffered a tight 1-0 loss
05:13away at Pottersbar Town.
05:15This leaves the table still looking pretty decent for Kent teams. Dover and Dartford
05:19are both in the top 5 which is a really tight race, only 4 points between 1st and 5th. Chatham
05:25Town and Folkestone and Victor are only slightly behind 8th and 10th and will be stretching
05:30to see if they can reach the play-off by the season's end. For their next fixtures
05:33Dover will add to Bognor Regis Town, Dartford will host Billericay Town, Chatham Hastings
05:38and Folkestone will have Horsham.
05:40Well that's it for this week's football round-up. See you again next week.
05:45Now many in deal are debating the temporary closure of Tide's leisure centre ahead of
05:50its multi-million pound renovation. Local sports groups however are worried they won't
05:54be able to continue their practices without the centre which will be closed for nearly
05:58two years during construction.
06:01Nearly 800 residents have signed a petition to keep Tide's leisure centre in deal open
06:06as the council debate whether or not to close it for two years for refurbishments.
06:10According to one Labour councillor, leisure centres tend to have a lifespan of around
06:1440 years which means that this centre, which was built in the 1980s, may need a refurbishment.
06:20But it's become a controversial issue both for the local council and for local community
06:25groups.
06:26The real problem with the plans that the current Labour-controlled Dover District Council
06:31are proceeding with is that they're planning to shut it for nine months with no operator
06:36in place to run it, no users allowed to use it at all, the tennis centre will be shut,
06:41the indoor sports hall will be shut and they haven't even appointed a contractor to build
06:46the new centre yet.
06:47So there's no need to close it and when the cabinet made that decision on Monday they
06:51didn't give adequate consideration to the impact it would have on the many, many users
06:55of the sports club, the sports hall and the tennis centre.
07:00Particular groups who use the centre, like tennis and gymnastics clubs, will reportedly
07:04struggle to find adequate venues to continue their practices.
07:07But it isn't just limited to large groups, with multiple other sports and activity clubs
07:11worried about the closure's knock-on effect.
07:14Here we get free parking and obviously we're on, it's for the over 55s, it's for the older
07:20group of people, we obviously don't want to have to spend money on car parking.
07:24Unfortunately there's no other rehab at all.
07:29I wouldn't come if there wasn't a swimming pool.
07:31I like to swim, I need to do exercise, I can't walk very well.
07:35Dover Council had a majority of Labour councillors, but after one changed to the Conservative
07:39group and another became independent, both Labour and Conservative groups became equally
07:44weighted with 15 members each.
07:46While Labour want to close the centre by the 31st of March to complete the £19m renovation,
07:51the Conservative group took action to delay the move, using a call-in, meaning it now
07:56needs review via committee before any action can be taken.
07:59According to Dover Council's Labour group, the call-in is for the closure for nine months,
08:04not the provision of a new facility.
08:06The constitution quite rightly allows for call-in and all parties have agreed to the
08:10constitution, so we support the ability to call in decisions and trust this will not
08:14delay the provision of a new centre and deal, which is much overdue and needed.
08:19While the political deadlock means the future of the centre isn't yet clear, a public meeting
08:23will take place on the 27th of this month, where residents and community groups can voice
08:28their concerns.
08:29Finn McDermid for KMTV, in Deal.
08:32Earlier I spoke to Natasha Potter, who coaches East Kent Acro, one of the group's most affected.
08:37So thank you for joining me, Natasha.
08:38My first question is, could you tell me a bit about when you and the rest of the club
08:43heard about the potential closure of Tides Leisure Centre, what was the reaction amongst
08:47the club?
08:49So we didn't find out till Monday, just gone.
08:54We were obviously a bit shocked because obviously the initial meeting that we had, when they
08:58come round to do like the proposal of Tides, they said that the sports hall would never
09:03be affected, nor would the tennis hall, because they are obviously, that was funded by Sports
09:09England, so they said they didn't need to touch that and that would stay.
09:12It would only be Tides that would need to obviously be shut, but there would be access
09:17for us to get to the hall.
09:19OK, and when did it become apparent that the sports hall would be included in that closure?
09:25When did you become aware of that?
09:27So that was the original proposal that they did was a few months back.
09:31So that's when obviously we asked about the sports and they said, no, that wouldn't be
09:34affected. And then this Monday just come, was when we found out that they've decided
09:40they're going to shut the sports hall and the tennis hall.
09:42I see. And tell me a bit about the gymnastics club itself.
09:45How vital is that sports hall to the gymnastics club?
09:49Very vital, it's got every aspect we need, obviously, we've got the storage for all our
09:53equipment and obviously it's stored safely, so there's no chance of it getting ruined
09:58or anything, because obviously the equipment is expensive in itself and we've raised a
10:02lot of money ourselves as a club to fund for the equipment.
10:07Also, you've got the fact of the height, the training sessions that we do, the width of
10:13the hall. And it's it's been our use for 20 years, which obviously Sports of England
10:20helped grant the use so that we could have there.
10:24And everyone that goes there obviously have specific training times.
10:29There's all different gym masks ranging from the age of three and up.
10:34I see. And for not only your own child, but the other participants in the club, what do
10:39you think it's going to mean to them if they don't aren't able to kind of do this activity
10:43during this period of closure?
10:46Well, it's not even just the fact of like not being able to do it, it's not just about
10:50the fact that it's a hobby for them, it's it's a physical education, it's the fact that
10:56they've got so much hope and excitement and it's like a.
11:02It also improves their social skills and their communication and the excitement that you
11:09see in these children on a daily basis, it's not like you'd see anywhere else.
11:15They are all such a built in family and they thrive for each other and they make each
11:21other better. And they all just want to.
11:25You keep going and achieve the goals that they want to achieve, you go to competitions
11:30and even if they lose, they're so sporty, they're cheering on everyone else that have
11:35won and they are just such a huge part of everything.
11:41They learn the discipline, the resilience and all the essential skills that they need in
11:46life. OK, brilliant.
11:48Well, thank you so much for joining us, Natasha, and we'll keep this story, we'll keep
11:51updating the story as it continues.
11:54Now we've reached halftime, which means it is time for a break.
11:57So I'll see you in a few minutes.
15:06Hello and welcome back to Invictus Sport live on KMTV.
15:17Now, former Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva came to Gillingham to join a friendly
15:21fixture between Gillingham Town FC and the Royal Engineers AFC.
15:24The match is raising money for a variety of charities and is celebrating 150 years
15:30since the Royal Engineers won the FA Cup.
15:32Well, our reporter Henry Luck has been down to find out more.
15:36Gillingham Town FC welcomed former Arsenal star Eduardo da Silva as they played in a
15:42friendly fixture against the Royal Engineers with around 300 in attendance.
15:49Taking place at the RSME No.
15:521 ground, the match celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Royal Engineers winning the
15:59FA Cup. The Royal Engineers are the only military club to win
16:05the FA Cup. And I spoke to one of their regiment sergeant majors about the
16:10importance of remembering this milestone.
16:13It's a massive thing for a military team to have won the FA Cup.
16:18And now we have our serving players wearing the FA Cup on their chest as well,
16:22wearing it with pride and also now they're going to celebrate the victory 150 years
16:27ago. This is a special fixture for us, not only for Gillingham Town, but also for the
16:34Royal Engineers as they celebrate 150 years since winning the FA Cup.
16:40So today is a very special occasion and we're honoured to have Eduardo as our special
16:47guest today.
16:48After plenty of saves in the first half, the second saw the Royal Engineers burst in with
16:54a goal by Luke Kearney.
16:56Gillingham Town FC retaliated with one of their own at the 69-minute mark from Dean
17:02Joseph Whittingham, but the Royal Engineers broke the draw just minutes later, thanks
17:08again to Kearney winning the game 2-1.
17:11Catching up with Eduardo, here's what he had to say.
17:32Thanks again to Alex and everyone involved for the opportunity.
17:38The match also raised money for the Royal Engineers Association, Royal British Legion
17:44Industries and the mental health charity Heads Together.
17:48The celebrations will be going on until May, where the Zappers will play against an old
17:54Etonians team in Medway with what hopes to be a festival of football.
18:01Henry Lutt for KMTV in Gillingham.
18:06Well, Paul Pickford from Gillingham Town FC joins me now.
18:09Thank you so much for being here.
18:11My first question is, what was it like to have Eduardo de Silva there playing for Gillingham
18:16Town FC?
18:17It was special.
18:19For a club like us in the seventh tier playing the Kent County League, to have Eduardo playing
18:25was something special.
18:26Brilliant.
18:27And where did the talk sort of begin to get him in?
18:30Tell us the story of how that all started.
18:31This is seven years in the making.
18:34When Alex came on board seven years ago, he obviously brought Eduardo on board, Eduardo
18:39as an ambassador.
18:40So Eduardo paid our pitch fees for the first season when we played in Central Park.
18:46And for seven years we've been saying, Eduardo will be playing for Gillingham Town.
18:50Every year, Eduardo will be playing for Gillingham Town.
18:53And unfortunately yesterday, Eduardo was injured, which he's had a tear in his groin.
18:59So he's coming back next year and he's going to be fully fit and he's going to play again.
19:04Brilliant.
19:05I bet you guys all can't wait for that, huh?
19:07Yeah.
19:08Just to have the social media coverage, the TV coverage and everything is just amazing.
19:15Brilliant.
19:16And tell me a bit about the match itself.
19:19So it was 150 years since the Royal Engineers won the FA Cup.
19:23Was the plan always for your club, obviously, and the Engineers to have the match together?
19:27Where did talks begin for that?
19:30The talks happened about a couple of months ago when we've got talking with the army.
19:36And it was only a couple of weeks ago when we decided that we'll choose because of Royal
19:42Engineers because Eduardo was coming.
19:45We watched it and we forged this relationship with the Engineers.
19:48So we were down at the ground and we just came up with the idea, why don't we just play
19:52the Royal Engineers to celebrate 150 years of winning the FA Cup?
19:56We had Premier League stories filming Eduardo.
20:00So we've got it on the world stage.
20:02It's got 3.2 billion people in 100-odd countries.
20:07So everyone will get to see the Royal Engineers won the FA Cup 150 years ago.
20:11That is amazing.
20:12And in your experience as a co-owner of a side, as you say, in the seventh tier, how
20:16important is it for clubs at this level to celebrate things like that, to celebrate their
20:19own history?
20:22For us, it's surreal having someone like Eduardo as an ambassador.
20:29And everyone wants to know the story, how did Eduardo get involved with Dillingham Town?
20:33Well, I contacted my mate Gavin Pullen.
20:36He told me his mate Alex lived opposite.
20:39So I got in contact with Alex and Alex is best friends with Eduardo.
20:42Wow.
20:43And it's just as simple as that.
20:44Just as simple as that.
20:45Amazing.
20:46Now, a bit of a tangent.
20:47Can you tell us a bit about your own story and when you got involved with the club and
20:51what it's done for you personally?
20:53I joined the club in about 2008 and I've always struggled with alcohol misuse over the years
21:01and I was really bad alcohol.
21:05And Richard, Dave and Darren Hazemore, they started the club.
21:11It was called the Three Mariners.
21:13Then it went to the Livingston Arms.
21:15And then we went to the Fleur de Lis, which is a pub just up from that one.
21:19And Clive Smith said, don't call yourself after the pub.
21:24Give yourself a proper name that you can move forward with.
21:27So we sat there and we decided Dillingham Town in the end.
21:30There was loads of ideas.
21:31So we chose Dillingham Town.
21:33And I was still heavily drinking at this time.
21:36And eight years ago, I went into a rehab at Kenwood House for the Kenwood Trust.
21:41And that's the best place I've ever been for six months.
21:46And when I came out of the rehab, there was not a great deal of support where I was living
21:53there.
21:54So I had 24-hour support and stuff like that.
21:56So I put everything into the football club.
22:01And then being sober, we won the cup that year.
22:05We got promoted to the King County League.
22:08Then Alex came on board just before we went to the King County League.
22:11And Alex said he'll bring some friends.
22:13Because I said, we haven't got players to play at this level.
22:17How are we going to play at that level?
22:19And he said, I'll just bring some friends.
22:20And one of them was Gilbert Silva Jr.
22:23And a load of quality friends turned up.
22:27So the club's just been on the rise.
22:29We've been stuck in the same league for...
22:32We haven't got promoted from the...
22:34We've gone from three to two, but they dropped one of the leagues out.
22:38And the club has just given me something to keep me sober, something to look forward
22:44to on a Saturday.
22:45But me and Alex, we work hard 24-7.
22:49It's always something we're doing.
22:51And we want the club to be there for other people as well.
22:56Because if it can help me, it's got to be able to help other people.
23:01That is amazing.
23:02We hear a lot of the time about the dark side of football, the hooliganism, the fighting,
23:07all this stuff.
23:08But football is almost, in a way, important in how it brings people together.
23:12Not just the 11 people on a pitch, but even the people behind them, the staff.
23:16And in your experience, what does it feel like eight years on from being sober and having
23:24that whole experience?
23:25And now this match you've had, what does it feel like looking back?
23:30How do you feel about that?
23:31It makes my stomach turn a bit funny.
23:35The relationship we forged with the army will make the club go even further.
23:41And everything we do with Drillingham Town, it seems to come back on itself somehow.
23:48There's always a link.
23:50It's hard to explain, but I got the new management team in, because we didn't have a manager.
23:57I got Aaron Wilcock in.
23:58Aaron brought along Lee Brumbaugh, and he brought along Ross Finn.
24:03So Ross's wife works in the army barracks.
24:07Oh wow, and that's how it all happened.
24:10That's amazing.
24:11So it's not what you know, it's who you know.
24:12Exactly.
24:13Well, thank you so much for joining us, and I really appreciate your time.
24:15Yes, thank you.
24:17Now we've reached full time on today's episode, but there's just a few minutes of extra time
24:21to take a look at this week's Action Replay.
24:23It's the segment where we take a look at clips and pictures that you, the KMTV audience,
24:26have sent in of you taking part in sport.
24:28Let's see what we've got in store on this week's Action Replay.
24:31First up on tonight's Action Replay, boxer Robert Caswell is appearing in his first fight
24:38of the new year.
24:39Caswell will be facing Brian Morena in the top-tier boxing flawless event.
24:45Caswell is 10-1 heading into the super featherweight six-round brawl.
24:51Next up, Barry O'Sullivan, a Forkham trainer, reached the semi-finals of the arena racing
24:57company Sesewich Semi-Finals.
25:00These two Kennel Stars, Head Count and Harley Quinn Ocean, will compete against a couple
25:05of last year's finalists.
25:07Although a tough competition, O'Sullivan hopes to make it to his first finals.
25:13Good luck to both O'Sullivan and his two Kennel Stars.
25:18And finally, a massive congratulations to the St. Michael's Under-11 Girls Hockey, who
25:25have become Southeast Hockey champions.
25:29After travelling down to Woking Hockey Club, the girls played some fantastic matches.
25:34Despite drawing against St. George's Prep School, the girls kept their heads high and
25:39won 1-0 against Hobridge School, with the girls playing some of their best hockey.
25:45They then went on to win 5-0 against Seven Oaks Prep.
25:50A big well done to the girls.
25:53That's it for tonight's Action Replay.
25:57Next week, it could be you.
25:59Send us your videos on social media or to sport at kmtv.co.uk
26:27We'll keep up with the latest from Evicta Sport by following KMTV Sport.
26:31And if you have a sport story, maybe you run a club, maybe you know an up-and-coming athlete
26:35who deserves the spotlight, then make sure to let us know and it might just be featured
26:38next time.
26:39We'll be back next Monday with more sporting action from across Kent.
26:42But for now, goodbye.