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Catch up with all the latest sports news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:25Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport.
00:28That's the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping up all of Kent's sporting action.
00:32I'm Finn McDermott and here's what you can expect on this Monday, the 23rd of March.
00:37Darts take flight. The North Kent side score four past Lewis to get closer to those nice playoff spots.
00:47Channel Challenge. Sheffield women prepare to swim 33 kilometres to France, all for charity.
00:54And touchdown at Twickenham. We see how Maidstone at Grammar School's rugby sides have been preparing for their national win.
01:02But first, a run-up of your headlines.
01:04Gillingham's own Bradley Dack is still backing his manager, Gareth Ainsworth, after losing 2-1 at home to Bristol Rovers.
01:11After the game, Dack said, always said, it's a two-year plan.
01:15I know he would have liked to have been more successful this season.
01:18But the midfielder was left questioning his teammates' character, passion and desire after the home performance.
01:23Adding, I think we have to start questioning each other in the football team.
01:26In other news, they'll be visiting Broadfield Stadium, where they will be chasing a win against Crawley Town this Saturday.
01:32And we can hear a little bit from Dack now.
01:36I think we have to start questioning each other in the football team.
01:40Questioning each other's character, passion, desire, heart, whether we want to win enough.
01:46All them things make a successful team and at the minute we don't have that.
01:51So again, everyone needs to look at themselves in the mirror and ask that question of themselves.
01:57And if they don't, then more for them, they won't be in the game very long.
02:03Next, let's take a trip east to Herne Bay, where their chairman, Matt Barman, says he's confident they'll appoint their
02:09new manager in the next few weeks after Liam Friend's dismissal as player boss.
02:13Barman said, obviously, we're managerless at the moment, so that'll get addressed.
02:17We hope to get that rectified in the next couple of weeks.
02:19Then he'll have his own assessment and his own ideas.
02:22But this is what he had to say about Liam Friend's dismissal.
02:25He added, I like Liam and I've got plenty of time for him as a person.
02:28But results spoke for themselves. A decision was made and it just didn't work out for him.
02:33Next, the base upcoming fixture is Sevenoakstown, a big game for their league position.
02:38Medway fought back to secure a 32-14 bonus point victory over Shelford in the regional one at Priestfields.
02:45In the start, Medway looked bright, applying early pressure and opening the scoring through owing Church Mills, who slotted a
02:51penalty through after 16 minutes.
02:53They grew that advantage with another try, thanks to the forwards and backs, to move 11 points ahead, approaching the
02:58interval.
02:59In the second half, there was plenty of pressure on both teams.
03:01But Medway got a penalty that Jamie Ford converted to make it 14-13.
03:05And late on, John Sapawa broke through the defence and earned a valuable bonus point.
03:10Over to the Tunbridge Juddians.
03:12They scored seven, but still ended up losing 53-48.
03:16The teams both had eight touchdowns in the first half.
03:18But once that line was broken, both struggled to prevent damage.
03:21The Tykes stuck first due to their left winger, scoring his first of four.
03:25After 15 minutes, they went back in to make it 14-5.
03:28Two quick bursts earned them a bonus point in the second half.
03:31They then extended their leads with a penalty, but Judd sniped to score it and make it 31-31 at
03:35the break.
03:36A promising sitting-born boxer, Tony Curtis, extended his professional record to 13-1 with a points victory.
03:44He's aged 19, dominated all eight rounds of his flyweight bout.
03:48And the teenager's strength and conditioning coach, Alex Parmilton, believes he can go a long way in the sport,
03:54saying he's so coachable and takes everything on board.
03:59Now, for mini-golf fans, Margate is set to host the British Mini Golf Championships this weekend.
04:04The course features a layout of water hazards, three-tier greens, ramps, tunnels and chutes designed to test your mini
04:10-golf skills at the highest level.
04:11It also has Heartbreak Ridge, one of the known most feared holes on the circuit, where a score of seven
04:17is just as likely as a hole in one.
04:19More than 50 players are expected, including five-time world crazy golf champion Mark Chapman.
04:26Now, let's take a quick look back at this weekend's football results.
04:30Hello and welcome to this week's Football Roundup.
04:33This week, Dartford are continuing their push for the play-off places in the Isthmian League Premier,
04:37this time playing host to Lewis, who have had a middle-of-the-road campaign so far this season.
04:43We've only just had kick-off and the darts are already looking very positive.
04:47What a start.
04:47The defensive error in the rooks' back line is just letting Dan Carter pick it up outside the box,
04:51plays it across to Dan Smith and nicely placed past the keeper in just the first minute,
04:55surrounded by defenders and a lovely finish to boot.
04:591-0 up for the darts now and it's again, it's Smith, he's lurking around the box, he hits it
05:03and what a strike!
05:05Doubling the score with a beautiful right-footed curler into the top corner, what a shot!
05:09To make it two for the darts and two for Smith, just hammering Lewis.
05:14And they've ended the first half up by two, a great start as the side are eager for that three
05:18points, they're hungry.
05:19Into the second half now, played to the middle, just outside the box and it's in!
05:23Just bubbles, barely outside of keeper Johnny Henley's gloves, well placed by Devontae West to make it two goals to
05:29one.
05:30Dartford aren't letting them have it that easy though, whipped into the box,
05:34he's played around a little bit awkwardly, Smith shoots, he can't make it three,
05:37over to Callum Jones who finds Denzel Odepard, a lovely tap-in.
05:40Keeper Louis Rodgers was off to one side, strong showing to claw back their two-goal lead.
05:45Lewis will need some tranquility in that back line.
05:48Another cross coming in and a lovely leaping header makes it four from Michael Olarawadu at 4-1,
05:55propels them slightly closer to those playoff positions and leaves Lewis still stranded in the mid-table with only a
06:01consolation goal.
06:05And elsewhere in the Itzmian League Premier, Folkestone are continuing their impressive run
06:10with their 26th win of this season to remain top of the table, this time scoring two past Brentwood Town
06:15with no reply.
06:16Chatham had a strong showing against Burgess Hill Town on the road, firing three past them and keeping a clean
06:21sheet,
06:22while Ramsgate suffered their away trip to St Albans.
06:25Dartford will next host Hashtag United, while Invicta will host Karsholton Athletic.
06:29After their victory, Chatham will hope to continue their strong form against Brentwood Town at their stadium,
06:33and Ramsgate will try to bounce back with a trip to Chichester.
06:36Up to League Two, and it was a poor showing for Gillingham, going 2-1 down at home to Bristol
06:41Rovers,
06:41and their captain, Armani Little, taking a red in extra time.
06:44They'll travel to Crawley Town to try and fix their poor form.
06:47And finally into the National League South, where Medstone fell on the wrong side of a six-goal thriller on
06:52the road to Chesham.
06:54The Angels managed a 2-1 win against Bath City, while Ebbsfleet let three go past the keeper thanks to
06:58Weston's Supermare,
06:59and Dover managed to take out Chalmsford.
07:01The Stones will host AFC Totten, the Angels flow over to Chesham,
07:05the Fleet will play Slough Town, and the Whites will head to Salisbury.
07:08And that's all for your Football Roundup, see you next week.
07:13For more detail about the Gillingham match, I spoke to our student journalist and resident Gillingham fan, Tom Fullegar.
07:19Thanks so much for joining us, Tom.
07:21First of all, let's talk a bit about the start of the match.
07:24Could you tell it was going to go downhill from the beginning?
07:26At the moment, everything's going downhill.
07:29I didn't think it would be an as bad game, because we were playing Bristol Rovers,
07:33we were not playing Swindon, MK Dons, those sort of lot that thrashed us in the past,
07:39and then they were lowered down.
07:39It could have been a chance to get a vital win that we needed, losing four on the trot.
07:45So I didn't think it would be that bad.
07:48We just didn't turn up at all.
07:50We've been playing the same way and getting the same result.
07:55Absolutely.
07:55Tell me about the lone goal, the Hale penalty.
07:58Tell me a bit about that.
07:59Do you think he stepped up well?
08:00Yeah, I think the penalty in the first case, very, very soft, in my opinion.
08:06You'd hate that to get given against you.
08:08Beckel seemed to push the defender who had its arm up in the air.
08:12I don't know why.
08:12I think it was more, it's just a natural motion.
08:15I think it was quite harsh.
08:17But Hale slotted at home really, really coolly and celebrated in front of their fans.
08:22He has a habit of doing that.
08:23Tell me a bit about the performance of Jake Turner between the sticks for the Gills.
08:28He made a really good save, I think, first half.
08:32But his distribution is really, really poor, I think.
08:36It's just, he takes too long to get it going.
08:38And when he does, it's not going anywhere that we need him to.
08:41It's either going off the pitch or not going to the big man.
08:44It's just, we're lacking at the moment.
08:46And that first goal, I think he could have done better.
08:51I think it got at him in, I think, at first I didn't think it went in.
08:55But then it did.
08:57And then the second one, it's harsh to say he could have done better.
09:01He was sort of coming back.
09:02But I think he could have maybe parried it out a little bit.
09:05Not so much into danger as he did.
09:07Tell me a little bit about the back line.
09:09How are we looking in terms of defending?
09:10Not all on Jake LeBerl's gloves.
09:12No.
09:13Jake Turner's gloves, I should say.
09:14Yeah, I think for me, Beckels didn't do great for either of the goals.
09:20I think the first one, he lost his man in the air.
09:26Again, I think we're not physically getting up there.
09:28We're not fighting for those second balls.
09:30We're all rooted to the spot.
09:32The second one, I mean, it's a very confusing goal.
09:36A little flicked over a ball from one of theirs.
09:39And everyone was sort of looking around thinking he was offside and he wasn't.
09:44But, yeah, that was Beckels, you know, again, sort of caught out.
09:47And you think with all of the experience he's got, he wouldn't get caught out like that.
09:52I think, again, Sam Gale was probably the best in that back line at the moment.
09:57But the rest of them really need to look at themselves.
10:00Absolutely.
10:01Tell me about this red card we saw at the end of the match, Armani Little.
10:04Tell me about how that happened.
10:06Well, yeah, I mean, Little's come out and said that he thought the game was over.
10:10But for me, I wouldn't really take that, to be honest.
10:14I think he's kicked the ball away in frustration, but he's the captain.
10:18He can't be doing that because that sets the time for the rest of the team.
10:22I see.
10:23Very quickly before we go, this is something we touched on before, but boos are yet again ringing out at
10:27Priestfield.
10:29What do the fans need to be doing?
10:30Do they need to be backing their side or is this just frustration from the season spilling over?
10:34Well, I watched Dax's interview back and he thinks quite rightly that they should be booing.
10:41At the end of the day, we are fans, like he says as well, we're fans that can easily get
10:45behind the boys
10:45once they are playing the way we want them to play, which is quick, fast-fying football.
10:50And we're not playing that at the moment.
10:51We're not playing anything exciting.
10:54I think, like, and even when we lost to Swindon on Tuesday night, the fans didn't boo.
10:59It's not like we're booing every time we lose.
11:00We boo every time they don't want to play.
11:02And we didn't play against Saturday, but Tuesday we did have the chances.
11:06I think we were a bit unlucky, but you could tell that we were fighting for that.
11:10We didn't fight Saturday.
11:13You know, I think it's harsh to boo the whole team because there are certain members that are giving their
11:18all,
11:18but there are certain ones that are really letting us down.
11:22Now, it looks like we have reached halftime, meaning it is time for a break.
11:27But coming up, we'll hear from six ladies who are swimming from Kent to France.
11:31We'll also hear from a Maidstone grammar school who have won a nationwide VARS tournament.
11:37And lastly, we'll be having a little bit of a paddle tournament here at KMTV.
11:41I won't give you too many spoilers, but it was me and Nayla versus Chloe and Maisie.
11:46We'll also be examining how paddle has grown and changed as a sport from something that was barely played only
11:5210 years ago
11:53to now being a massive phenomenon.
11:55We'll have all that and more after this very short break.
11:59Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
12:22Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
12:59Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
13:20Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
13:59Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
14:29Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
14:52Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
15:00Don't go anywhere, and I'll see you soon.
15:29to swim from Kent to France. The Sheppie Channel champions are a group of friends aged between
15:3432 and 63 years old. And while all are keen swimmers, none had taken on a challenge quite
15:40like this before. Chloe Brewster went to meet them.
15:43Scrap leisurely swims, these ladies are about to be undertaking the ultimate challenge. The
15:49swim is set to take 14 to 18 hours and depending on the tide could start in the early hours
15:55of
15:55the morning. I'm not athletic at all. I'm not built like an athlete, not made like an athlete and I
16:01don't do sports. But I do love the water. I love swimming. It's kind of my place. I'm happy in
16:06the
16:06water. And I think if I can do it and I can inspire other people to do something a bit
16:11out there, out
16:12of their comfort zone, then I think that's a good thing. Yeah, I've always enjoyed being sporty in
16:17some way. But over the years, I don't know, I kind of lost that side of myself a little bit
16:21and swimming
16:22brought me back to it. But this channel swim has given me the extra to get back in the gym
16:28and do
16:28a bit more physical activity, which actually I really enjoy now. It's great. It's nice. It's nice
16:34to know that the challenge of getting to know who you're swimming with, we've already got that bit.
16:40We've all known each other quite a long time in different situations. It really helps knowing
16:44you've got people that you trust and that people are going to help each other through that kind of
16:48challenge. And in those times when it is, I don't know whether it's the middle of the night and
16:52we're tired and we're getting towards the end of it. And just knowing that we're going to be able
16:55to pick each other up because we know what each other needs. They're swimming for charity Swim
17:00Taker, a charity which provides free swimming lessons and life-saving skills to underprivileged
17:05children. The group, who are raising money under the name The Channel Champions, hope to raise
17:10thousands to get more children swimming. Each year, we like to do a bit of a challenge. Last year,
17:17while we were doing our 10 miles in 10 days, we decided that it would be a good idea to
17:24swing a channel next year.
17:26We live around the beach. We live on the beaches. And it's time, you know, we just thought
17:31it's time for us to give something back. Living on the island, we know how much danger there
17:35is out here. And we've had been involved where people have been swept out to sea. And we respect
17:41the sea, but know that everyone else can. So helping reduce drownings is important to
17:46us. And it's important. It's the theme for the charity.
17:49I mean, for me, I've got a seven-year-old. So, and we live on the beach. We come here
17:52all the time. And it's so, so important, you know, knowing that he's safe in the water
17:58or even if you saw someone else struggling, knowing that, you know, he'd know what to do
18:02in that situation. And I think it's so important. It's such a great charity, you know, locally
18:07and globally for the work they're doing. Good luck, girls. Chloe Brewster for KMTV in
18:13Sheppie.
18:14And next, a Kent Grammar School has won the finals of a nationwide VARS tournament. Maidstone
18:20Grammar School played at Twickenham on Thursday against former national legend Dame Allen School
18:24in Newcastle. But ahead of their victory, our community reporter Henry Luck went down to
18:29meet the team and learn about their training.
18:32Maidstone Grammar School have just achieved something over 20 years in the making. The
18:39rugby team have just reached the national finals, which is taking place at Twickenham Stadium
18:47on Thursday. And the mood is, of course, electric. A staggering 175 schools have taken part in
18:57this 30-year-old competition. And now Maidstone Grammar is now one of the last two to compete
19:06for the finals.
19:07There's been a lot of support around the school, especially for the semi-final. We had
19:10a lot of people come down. We had, I think, two coaches and boys. A lot of our stuff at
19:14school as well has been about pride. So playing for people, so playing for the school, playing
19:19for your family, making people proud, being role models for younger years, stuff like that.
19:23I'm sure there will be lots of partying going on on Thursday, but I think it's more about
19:28the smaller moments. I mean, getting to play at Twickenham, I mean, the feeling of winning,
19:33it's almost too close to think about.
19:35And for one student at this school, it will be their last game before going off to university.
19:43Last game for the school, I don't think I could have asked for any other place to play.
19:47So, yeah, we're very lucky as a team, especially the year 13s, to have their last game for school,
19:53playing at Twickenham. And yeah, you're like Zen if you win, which is going to be the best
19:56stepping stone going on to play rugby in the future.
19:59But the match also has other goals beyond victory.
20:04So it's a really important pillar of the school, not just rugby, but sport as a whole, in what
20:09we're looking to do here, especially to get them. The school speaks a lot about inspiring to belong.
20:14Sport is a big, big driver and big vehicle for that. And then what we want to do is pick
20:19the interest in this sport and then send them out within the local community. We work with
20:22Maidstone Rugby Club just over the road there, Ailes for Bulls down at Tunbridge Tradians.
20:26And we're trying to inspire these pupils, boys and girls, to be involved in sport for life.
20:31And that's what we're looking to achieve here.
20:32No matter the result on Thursday, this final is looking to be a touchdown in more ways than one
20:40one for Maidstone Grammar School. Henry Luck for KMTV in Maidstone.
20:48Now it's time to remind you you can keep up to date with all the latest sports news,
20:52interviews and features from here on Invicta Sport by heading over to our website,
20:56that's kmtv.co.uk and clicking on the programs tab and going on Invicta Sport.
21:01There you'll see videos like this one, all about young people in Kent learning how to swim.
21:06Take a look here at Chloe Brewster's report. At Blyer Primary School in Strood,
21:12some of the Year 5 pupils are diving into a new challenge. This 1.2 metre deep mobile swimming
21:17pool has become the newest addition to the playground and will sit here for six weeks.
21:23Access to the local authority swimming pool is quite tricky for us. It would take at least half a day
21:31from
21:31curriculum time for our children and it would also have an increased cost in terms of bussing the
21:37children to and from or walking them backwards and forwards to the swim pool. I mean we live on an
21:42island and that's always my starting point. There's rivers, there's lakes, you know in very close
21:49proximity and we just want our children to be able to save themselves. One in four children leave
21:54primary school unable to swim 25 metres and even more worryingly unable to save themselves should they
22:00end up in danger in the water. We feel that every child should be able to swim and especially where
22:05we live near the coast it is very it's one of the most valuable skills that a child will learn.
22:11It's
22:11both the theory and the practical side of what to do whether they fall into a body of water they
22:17see
22:18somebody else. We teach them how to float on their back, they fall off the ladder, we teach them of
22:23the
22:23different things they would do down the beach, the safer areas for them to swim, what colour the
22:29different flags mean. So we do a whole session on that as well, survival skills if they were down the
22:34beach or near a river. Keeping the pool for this stint costs the school £15,000 but the head says
22:42the
22:43price tag is a drop in the ocean of its worth for children here. The BFC, Blythe fundraising committee,
22:48they give us some of the money towards it and that money obviously comes from our community,
22:53comes from our parents. Twenty percent of our children have swimming lessons prior to swimming
22:58as part of our curriculum offer here at school, so it'll be eighty percent that wouldn't have formal
23:03swimming lessons before having the opportunity to do it here. So the cost is the cost but you win
23:10back in lots of other ways. We're going on holiday in the future, say you're near a beach, do you
23:22think
23:22you are confident now with getting in the water? I am pretty sure I'm afraid of sharks and even
23:30all these big ones, I still do get in the water but not too deep. While there's not much that
23:35can be done
23:36about sharks, the teachers here are hopeful that the pupils won't be out of their depth the next
23:41time they put their swim caps on. Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Strood. Paddle has exploded in popularity
23:49across the country and here in Kent as a low-impact social sport but where has its meteoric rise come
23:56from? Well we hosted a KMTV paddle tournament to discover what makes it such an interesting game.
24:03I hosted that tournament and you can watch it in full right now.
24:07Paddle is taking over the UK with more than 1,000 courts across the country, a huge increase from
24:12only 50 in 2019 and more than 400,000 players. So I thought as KMTV's resident sports guy that I'd
24:19show
24:20you the do's and don'ts of the court. Now it seems to be fairly simple on paper but there's quite
24:24a few
24:25rules to be aware of whether you're a beginner baller or a pro paddler. So to help me try out
24:30the sport
24:30I've assembled some of KMTV's finest. Now it has to be played in double so we'll be doing a 2v2
24:35match.
24:36Winners will get supreme bragging rights in the office and be crowned the KMTV 2026 Paddle Champions.
24:42Let's play. We're Team Paddle Rangers. And we're Team Finale.
24:49And we were off. For some quick rules you have to serve behind the line. The ball can bounce once
24:54on the
24:54ground and wall but not on the first serve. And if it hits the back wall or the side right
24:59away
24:59then it's your opponent's point. The game is played with the same scoring system as tennis.
25:03You have to win six games with a two game lead and to win a game you need to get
25:07four points with a
25:08two point advantage. We decided to play only three games and in the end Team Finale won two to one.
25:14But it was pretty close. So I decided if I wanted to take my game elsewhere I should probably seek
25:18more expert opinion. I do think it's quite useful to maybe watch a bit. I think there's the first
25:25premier Paddle event in London coming up in the summer. That will be broadcast on the TV. I think
25:32people could access watching Paddle on YouTube and I think that just kind of gets people a general sense
25:37of how the game works. Helps them understand the rules and then they can come in and they can sort
25:41of
25:41have that perspective before they start. Platform 26 is an office space rental company that decided to
25:47add Paddle Courts to their venue due to the growing popularity of the sport.
25:51It's been a really good move for the community. It's elevated the business centre. It's just
25:57created such a nice atmosphere. We meet so many nice people. So many people have such a genuine love
26:03for the sport. We've got lots of new customers. I think Paddle people just seem to love it because
26:08it's such a social sport and it's so inclusive. So you can come along, get some exercise in but also
26:16catch up with friends and family, meet new friends. With Paddle popping up more and more around Kent
26:20and the country, I'd say the ball's in your court if you want to get involved in the low-impact
26:24social
26:25sport just in time for the sun coming out. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Medway.
26:31And that is full-time on today's episode of Invicta Sport. If you want more from KMTV,
26:37you can head on over to our website, kmtv.co.uk, where all of our special shows are available to
26:42watch back on demand. And don't forget to follow us on our social media at KMTV underscore Kent or keep
26:48up with the latest from Invicta Sport on KMTV.co.uk. But like I say, that is all the time
26:54we have.
26:55Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you soon.
27:04Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you soon.
27:13Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you soon.
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