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Catch up with all your latest sports news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:00Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:20up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Finn McDermott.
00:24You can expect on this Monday the 10th of November.
00:28Nova Dominance. The Whites earn a much needed three points as we look at the football results
00:32from the county. And rolling into a brighter future, we look at the roller skating club from
00:40Maidstone hoping to raise some money. And catapulting consideration. We learn all about a catapult
00:46safety class that's being taught right here in Kent.
00:51But first, a round up of our sports headlines. First of all, Gillingham FC's Max Clarke goes
00:56from zero to hero after breaking a seven-game winless streak against Bristol Rovers last
01:01Saturday. The defender, who had a poor showing in the first half, missing a crucial penalty
01:05for the team, turned it around in the second half, scoring a stunning volley from distance
01:10in the 54th minute. This pivotal goal comes in the wake of a seven-game winless streak,
01:15with the team hoping to use this victory as a turning point for a stronger season. As Clarke
01:19says, the team will fight for every point this season. Now, from one winless streak ending
01:24to another as Gravesend rugby team pick up a comfortable win against Beckenham with a score
01:29of 43 to 31. Now, what started out as a contentious back and forth resulted in Gravesend finishing
01:35the first half with a lead of 24 to 12. The second half opened with a flurry of tries from
01:40Gravesend, placing the team 31 points with only 20 minutes to play. Beckenham attempted a
01:45comeback, scoring three unanswered tries. But it was too little, too late, and Gravesend managed
01:50to hold on for the win. This victory marks the end of a four-game losing streak for Gravesend,
01:55and leaves them just shy of the top four teams in the table.
01:58Into more football news now, and Hythetown have sacked their manager Ira Jackson after
02:04just six months in charge. Jackson, who was the youngest boss in the Southern County's
02:09East Premier Division at just 28, had an optimistic start to the season, with seven points in three
02:14games. But after facing 11 league defeats in the last 12 games, Jackson was let go from the
02:19position, with the club chairman saying,
02:21We as a club wish to thank Ira for his enormous efforts. Ira thanked Hythetown for the opportunity
02:26and said, Sometimes in business, that's just something we weren't getting enough of.
02:30He will now look to take some time away from the game.
02:34Now over to cricket, and it's Kent's Red Bull captain Daniel Bell Drummond looking to continue
02:39his recovery with hopes of playing cricket overseas this winter. He injured his elbow near the end of
02:45the 2025 season, has been undergoing rehabilitation, but is confident he'll be raring to go for the
02:502026 season. Bell Drummond has been awarded a testimonial year by the county, and so he hopes
02:56to be back in time for his testimonial launch, which is set to start by February 12th.
03:00Now we're going to take a quick look back at this weekend's football results. Obviously a happy day
03:07for the Jills breaking their winless streak there. We'll be taking a specific look at the 4-1 victory
03:14for Dover Athletic, and we'll get some commentary there from our student Jay. And we have all sorts
03:20of football news, whether you're a fan of Itzmian, National League South, or the classic Jills. Let's have a look at that now.
03:26It's looking hopeful for Dover Athletic with a chance to earn three points and possibly win their
03:30first match in the past five games they've played this season. The Whites face off against Enfield
03:35Town in their home stadium, Crabble Athletic Ground. It's an unfortunate start for Dover with an early
03:40goal from the Towners. Just before the 14-minute mark, Enfield player Billy Leonard finds an opening
03:45amidst the massive defenders and secures the first goal of the match. Following the first half, Dover is
03:50building their momentum at the 70th minute as Harrison Soji delivers a low strike and obtains
03:55the club's first goal for the match and his first goal for the club. Just moments after,
04:00Alfie Matthews takes a penalty and steals a 2-1 lead for Dover in the wake of several missed
04:06shots in the first half. In an astonishing 11-minute window, Matthew strikes again with an ambitious
04:1225-yard kick, raising the score 3-1. And as the stadium begins to cheer, Matthew celebrates
04:18a little too hard there. Dover dominates the latter half of the match as Mampolo offers a strategic
04:22pass through the middle to Soares Jr, returning fresh from an injury on a high as he finalises
04:28the match with a 4-1 win to Dover. So as we've just seen, that is 3 points to Dover Athletic
04:34in the National League South with a phenomenal 4-1. And it's more good news for most of our
04:39Kentish teams as Maidstone United makes their way up the NLS rankings with a victory of 3-0
04:44against Chippenham. Right behind them is Epps Fleet United after a 2-0 win against AFC Tottenham,
04:49establishing a 3-1 win streak. It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, as Tombridge
04:54Angels suffer another loss, this time to Hornchurch, who were, at the time, at the top of the rankings.
05:00With 3 out of 4 teams coming home victorious, let's see where our Kent teams are headed next.
05:05The stars of the show Dover Athletic will be facing Dorchester Town at home, Maidstone
05:09United are playing Torquay, and Epps Fleet United are up against Sittingbourne. All three of these
05:14matches are taking place Saturday the 15th of November. As for Tombridge Angels, we'll be
05:19seeing them head over to Bath City's home stadium on the 11th of November. In League 2, we have
05:24Gilliam FC, who have finally cemented a win, playing against the Bristol Rovers with a close
05:301-0 on Saturday the 8th. Gilliam FC have another match coming up on the 11th against Wickham in
05:36Gilliam's home stadium, Priestfield. Following into the Isthmian premiere, the Kentish teams have
05:41completely knocked it out of the park, as Ramsgate were in a close match, with Chessage resulting
05:46in 1-all. Dartford's stellar performance continues, with a win of 3-1 against Welling United. And
05:52Folkestone and Victor rise to the top of the lead, resulting in a 3-0 win against Potted Bar
05:57Town, knocking Brentwood Town down out of first place. And finally, Chatham Town have absolutely
06:03annihilated Hashtag United after an incredible 6-0 win, marching their way up towards the top. And our final
06:10lot of upcoming matches will take place on the 11th of November. Two of our own Kent teams will
06:15be facing each other at Southwood home stadium of Ramsgate FC, hosting away team Chatham Town.
06:21Dartford have an away game against Billericay Town FC on the 11th of November, while Folkestone and
06:25Victor stay at home playing the Cray Wanderers. And that's all from today's Kent football rounder.
06:32Well, it was certainly some heroics from the back, with Max Clark scoring the single goal,
06:38and with Jake Turner guarding the sticks with some great saves. Well, was it all,
06:42was it all good? I caught up with local student journalist and Gilles fan, Tom Fullegar.
06:47Well, Tom joins me in the studio now. So, Tom, tell us a bit, I think, first of all,
06:52we've got to talk about that goal, the lone goal from Max Clark. Talk us through it. What a goal.
06:56It was an absolute wonder goal. It come from Hutton on the right side, a lovely bit of skill,
07:02whipped in a ball that got hit away by one of the defenders, and it landed luckily to Clark. He took it one
07:06touch, set him up perfectly for a volley. It was just lovely, especially after missing the penalty
07:13in such a bad way. He shut up Tom Lockyer, who was giving him a bit of grief after the penalty.
07:21Yeah, shushed him. So, really pleased for him. Yeah.
07:25Yeah, absolutely. I mean, a classic kind of Gilles comeback goal. I think he said it himself.
07:31He said something along the lines of, yeah, I'm not going to hit one like that again for a while.
07:34I think he hit a similar one against Notts County once. But yeah, very good goal.
07:38But we do have to talk, unfortunately, about that penalty. Yeah. What happened there?
07:43It's just a case of over-complicating it again. I mean, when you're doing that badly at penalties,
07:49you don't put it straight down the middle. That's the biggest risk you can take.
07:53And again, changing the penalty takers. I said that Max Clark was the established one,
07:57but we've moved on from Dak now because he wasn't playing. You know, they say that Max Clark is the
08:03most, you know, Ainsworth chose him as he's the most technical player in the pitch and then comes
08:07up with something like that. So. Absolutely. And if we're talking about penalties, tell us a bit
08:13about Turner because I remember he didn't have the best game last week. I remember you saying that.
08:17What do you think of his performance between the sticks this time around?
08:20Such a great improvement. I'm so pleased for him. Yeah. Pulled off some really good saves to
08:25keep us in the game, especially in the last minute. He tipped one just over the bar. So it was really
08:30great to see. I think before he became the number two and Morris became the number one, I thought he
08:35was a great keeper, but obviously that lack of playing time is going to affect his confidence. So give
08:40him a bit more playing time. We could see the Turner that we used to see and that'd be really nice.
08:44Absolutely. Also, if we're talking about, you know, picking one player or the other,
08:49there was a bit of a decision made to start Kuba Menni, I believe, over Dak. What did you make
08:56of that as a choice by the assistant manager? I think Dak has been a little bit poor in the
09:03last couple of games. I think he's been missing Little next to him because I think Little cleans
09:08up for him. He does the hard work and then Dak can go and create. And where he hasn't had that and
09:13he's been having to run around a lot, I don't think we've really seen the best out of him. So
09:19Kuba Menni had an okay game. He featured last time out against Newport as well. But once Little's
09:25back, maybe we start to see, you know, the Dak that we used to see. Absolutely. More as a starter
09:30rather than a super sub, especially, I believe, since Dak had a pretty good goal line clearance.
09:35Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah. Again, last minute, following on from Turner's save,
09:41literally, last ditch, you know, rescuing the win. Absolutely brilliant. You know,
09:48I'm pleased for him. Absolutely. And we have had some news that Smith and McCleary, they're both
09:54back on the bench. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. And McCleary actually came on as well. Oh, good. So
09:59that might solve the striker problem we've had at the moment where we're playing three up top.
10:05If we've got a couple of wingers to create a bit, because obviously we're missing that crater in
10:09midfield, where Dak's not getting, you know, the service next to him to go and create. If we've
10:17got wingers with plenty of experience in McCleary and Smith as well, then we could see that, you know,
10:24that combination up top could work. Absolutely. I mean, we were talking about this last week,
10:28that having those three strikers up top is just seems a bit toothless. And I think that was kind
10:33of repeated at the weekend as well. When you, you lack that winger, obviously, Seb Palmer Holden is a
10:39bit of a winger, but just having those three up top doesn't seem to work. Tell me, what do you think
10:44going forward needs to change? I mean, obviously getting some wingers back, getting that fitness,
10:48but what can be done in the meantime? Well, again, we are limited due to the selection.
10:55I think we are just trying to then hoof it when we haven't got the creators in the middle.
11:03But is that still working? No, you know, we didn't. I think Andrew's had a good chance that just went
11:08wide of the post in the first half. But apart from that, it didn't really look like we,
11:13we did a whole lot, which is a shame. I think Seb, for me, is the best we've got at the moment.
11:20I think a lot of quality there, a lot of pace, a lot of power. I've said this before.
11:25So yeah, give him the service. I think he could really do something for us.
11:28Absolutely. And we haven't got very long left, but it was a return. We saw Ironsworth was in
11:34attendance. So that would have been nice for the Gilles fans to see, wouldn't it?
11:37Oh, absolutely lovely. I told you, once he's back, we're back. Even though he's not managing.
11:43But yeah, what a boost. Absolutely. Once he's back, we're back. Love to hear it. Well,
11:47that's all the time we have for now. Thank you so much for joining us.
11:51Now it is half-time, so it is time for a break. See you in just a few minutes.
20:43So we invite them as a sort of amnesty to hand them in and, you know, we'd give them an invite to the club, teach them how to use a sports catapult and just do things properly, like see that it's a lot more rewarding to win a trophy than what it is to shoot a seagull or a baby cow in the eye or something.
21:03Now here in Medway, when people might think of their local teams, people would think of Gillingham FC or Medway Rugby Club, but the Invicta Dynamos has been a part of the town for as long as many can remember and certainly long enough for the Moes, Harrison Lillis to record his 500th appearance for the club.
21:19And he joins us now to talk us through this. So Harrison, how does it feel to reach such a massive milestone with the Dynamos?
21:25Yeah, I'm really honoured. Yeah, I'm just really happy to have done that. It's been a long time coming. I've been counting down the games, probably since about 400 games, thinking that I'll get to 500. Yeah, and I'm just really, really proud of myself, I guess.
21:45I see. And you've been playing with the club for 15 years. What's kept you motivated along your journey, not just to stay with the club, but to keep practising? I mean, after all that time, talk us through that.
21:59I was quite fortunate that I joined a very good team when I first, like the squad was really good. We were winning more often than not. And then once you get a taste for that, you just want to keep going and keep doing it more and more.
22:11Yeah, and then year on year, I'm just motivated, hungry, and I still really enjoy it. Yeah, I just keep coming back and doing it again and again.
22:23Absolutely. And for anyone who doesn't know, in terms of hockey, ice hockey, sorry, in a season, how many games would you tend to be playing?
22:33Between 35 and 45, I would have said something like that.
22:37I see that just shows that, you know, like I said, that 15 years, how long it's taken.
22:41Over that journey, are there any teammates or coaches who have particularly influenced you along the way?
22:48Yeah, there's loads.
22:51I've played with some outstanding players that no longer obviously play.
22:58Even some of the boys in the current squad I've known pretty much since I was about six years old.
23:03Yeah, the coach, really, really supportive of me.
23:09The owners have been fantastic with me since the beginning.
23:13Yeah, I can't really thank them enough, to be honest.
23:17Absolutely. And this might be a difficult question, but over these 15 years,
23:20what's been your most standout moment or a particularly memorable game for you since you started your journey?
23:25I've probably got about three.
23:30I really, really enjoyed the Southern Cup final at home against Chelmsford.
23:42Yeah, that was brilliant.
23:43That was my first trophy for the club, which probably meant the most.
23:47And it was on home ice.
23:48I really, really enjoyed our playoff win in 2017.
23:54Might be 2017 or 2018, I'm not sure.
23:57And then obviously the cup win most recently, I really enjoyed that too.
24:02I see.
24:03And for any aspiring athletes out there watching,
24:06what would you say has been the biggest key to your consistency over so many games?
24:12Enjoying what you do.
24:14Still keeping yourself motivated, demanding more of yourself.
24:17Yeah, I eat, sleep, breathe it.
24:22I still love it more than ever.
24:26Yeah, and just wanting to be at the top of my game consistently.
24:31That's what probably motivates me.
24:33Absolutely.
24:34And how old were you when you first started ice hockey?
24:39I started skating at six, started playing about eight.
24:42So I had to learn, obviously, to ice skate before I could play ice hockey.
24:44And then progressed through the junior ranks in Victor and then worked my way into the first team, which is the Dynamos.
24:54And once I got there, I've stayed ever since.
24:57Absolutely.
24:58Is there any advice you'd give to younger players hoping to have a long career like yours?
25:05Yeah, just keep practicing.
25:07The more you can get on the ice, the better.
25:11My dad always used to say to me, the more you practice, the better you get.
25:14So just keep practicing and practicing and practicing.
25:17And if you want something enough, you can achieve it.
25:21Amazing.
25:21And, of course, after 500 appearances, hopefully there's still many more games for you to play.
25:25So what's next for you?
25:26You mentioned you were counting from 400 games to 500.
25:30What's the next milestone?
25:31Is it a number?
25:32Do you have any personal ones or maybe some team goals still ahead?
25:34Talk to us about that.
25:38Yeah, I mean, I'm not counting any more now.
25:40Like, 500 was really, like, the figure that I aimed to get to.
25:45But, yeah, just winning as many games as possible now.
25:49I've probably got another four or five years left before I feel that it'll be time to step away.
25:55So I'll probably just enjoy them and hopefully pick up some silverware.
25:59I'll be at the top end competing every week until that time comes.
26:04Absolutely.
26:04And do you see yourself, you mentioned those four or five years left,
26:08do you see yourself taking on a coaching role or some other role within the sport?
26:14I do, but not whilst I'm playing.
26:16Once I finish playing, then I'll probably step into, like, an under-18s team
26:20or something like that and work with the higher-end kids to try and get them,
26:26as long as it be, like, a stepping stone into the Dynamos
26:28or the Mustangs, the second team, or something like that.
26:30That's where I'd like to see myself maybe in five, six, seven years' time.
26:36Absolutely.
26:36Well, until then, we can still enjoy watching you play for the most.
26:39Thank you so much for your time.
26:42Cheers, thank you.
26:42And that is full-time on today's episode of Invictus Sport.
26:46Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you next week.
26:47Sorry, since the hot swamp for the most.
26:59Yay.
26:59See you next week.
27:04Bye.
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27:06Bye.
27:07Bye.
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27:09Bye.
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27:15Bye.
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