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Catch up on all the latest sporting news from across the county with Finn Macdiarmid.
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00:25Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport,
00:28or the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping up all of Kent's sporting action.
00:33I'm Finn McDermott and here's what you can expect on Monday 5th October.
00:37Ebb's fleet eliminated.
00:39The fleet fall out of the FA Cup against the Boatman.
00:45Saving Hearts.
00:46Kent Amateur Footballer highlights the life-saving importance of defibrillators.
00:52And Never Too Old.
00:54A 79-year-old motorbike racer recovers from crash and vows to keep competing.
01:01But first, a round-up of your headlines.
01:03And Jills keeper Ollie Wright has insisted it was positive from the side in their 0-0 draw against Newport,
01:08especially following the big loss against York before.
01:11It was Wright's third clean sheet of the season after wins against Bristol Rovers and Tranmere.
01:16Newport had more attacking opportunities than the Jills with twice as many shots.
01:20Wright wasn't overly concerned by what he saw from the visitors, though.
01:23He said we were saying at half-time, the only way we're going to lose or concede is set pieces.
01:27I felt we dealt with it really well, especially with the long throws.
01:31Ebb's fleet United manager Josh Wright has been linked with the top job at Forest Green Rovers
01:35after Robbie Savage took the Peterborough job.
01:38Reports have said he's a target for the National League side
01:40and the fleet have been approached for permission to speak to him.
01:43He's been in charge since December 2024.
01:46Now he wasn't able to save the club from relegation from Step 5,
01:49and the club saw their first six games this season postponed due to financial debts.
01:53Despite all that, Wright's man-management skills and leadership through troubled times off the field
01:57would have alerted other clubs to his potential.
02:00Chatham Town's boss says he couldn't be prouder of his players despite their FA Cup exit.
02:06The Chats were taken out in a 1-0 loss to Dorking Wanderers in Saturday's third qualifying round tie,
02:11but Kevin Haake said the performance deserved praise.
02:13He said, I couldn't be more proud of the players.
02:15Of course, we're disappointed to be out of the Cup and to lose the game, 1-0,
02:19but I can't ask any more from that group.
02:21While the side started well with Jack Lyons hitting the woodwork from the edge of the box
02:25before Sid Nelson cleared an effort off the line,
02:27we can see there that Dorking did manage to score from a corner,
02:31with former Gilles keeper Glenn Morris also holding the Chats back, making some strong saves.
02:37Over to rugby, and Canterbury celebrated their first National League 2 East home win,
02:4259-34 over Hovont.
02:45Weighing Gary Jones got a hat-trick,
02:48and young fly-half Owain Collins added 19 points in a player-of-the-match performance.
02:52It was a shootout throughout, with Canterbury getting nine tries,
02:55and at the beginning it looked like anyone's game,
02:58but by the end of the first half, the City Sky converted twice to put them ahead.
03:02Next up for seventh place to Canterbury this weekend is a visit to the bottom of the table, Leicester Lions.
03:08Medway gave the hosts of Old Elthamians a lesson, with a 42-12 victory in the Regional 2 South East
03:14League.
03:14The Kent side went to South London to face a three-time promoted team,
03:19but they started strong with John Sapawa playing on Max Bullock with a conversion.
03:23Medway's defence held strong in the first half, forcing errors and denying momentum,
03:26until they were leading 14-0.
03:28Some occasional breakthroughs from Old Elthamians came through,
03:31but Medway pulled clear in the closing stages, gaining 30 points on the opposition by the end.
03:37On Saturday, Medway host Sutton and Epsom.
03:40Maidstone's own powerboat racer Ben Jelf has resumed his F1 H2O World Championship campaign in Shanghai.
03:47The Atlantic team are looking to put a disappointing round at Kyrgyzstan behind them,
03:51when they hit the water in China.
03:52The side are currently ninth in the championship,
03:54with Jelf saying he's hoping to use the rough conditions the course is known for to put himself ahead.
03:59He said the conditions can change in a heartbeat, but that's part of the challenge.
04:03Number nine, which is his race number, is meant to be lucky in China,
04:05so I'm hopeful we can turn that into a proper points haul for the team.
04:09Finally for your bulletin, a Maidstone Tennis Academy player has won a major national title.
04:15Gabri Laverick is 14 and won the under-14's Fred Perry Challenge in Middlesex
04:21against top players from all over the country.
04:22She beat Pippa Reynolds 10-8 in the quarterfinals,
04:25before saving a match point in a 12-10 win over Stacey Fong in the semis.
04:30Laverick, who's 14, she clinched that title with a victory against Yilin Lee from Suffolk in the final.
04:35She said, I'd like to thank everyone at the club for supporting me,
04:37and all the players, and for all the hard work they've put in.
04:41Congratulations to Gabi.
04:42Now, let's take a look back at this weekend's football results.
04:46Well, Ebbsfleet will today face off against lower league opposition Schoeling,
04:50who normally ply their trade in the Southern League Premier South.
04:53It'll be a bit of a naval battle we've got on our hands with the Southampton-based side,
04:57nicknamed the Boatman, facing off against Kent's very own fleet.
05:01Well, let's see who can sail to the next round of the FA Cup,
05:04from which ships will sink.
05:06Prepare for a lot of boat puns.
05:07And here we go, Ebbsfleet starts strong, playing it across the six-yard box,
05:11no-one there, applying some early pressure.
05:14Ollie Box going in for a diving header, and it is over the bar.
05:17They are showing some early chances, though.
05:20Harvey Walker intercepts on the halfway line.
05:22He takes it up, passes it across to Daniel Ogunle,
05:24who stabs it past keeper Jack Turner to make it 1-0.
05:28Can the fleet leave the Boatman adrift?
05:31Left-hand side to Tommy Lee Higgs, works his way into the box and strikes.
05:35It is no cannon, but it is a well-placed shot into the far corner
05:39to notch up an equaliser for Schoeling,
05:40who are putting up a fight against their higher league opponents.
05:44Ebbsfleet are dispossessed in their half.
05:46It's taken up by Jonas Macuna.
05:48He's gliding through a sea of red kits.
05:50He's still going, and he strikes inside the box.
05:53The keeper does get there, but it's just too strong.
05:55It bounces over the line.
05:56Macuna puts the Boatman out in front.
05:58The fleet are left stranded,
06:00and Schoeling celebrates with the small travelling crowd.
06:03Ebbsfleet quick to respond.
06:04Lennon Peak cruises down the left, crosses it in,
06:06and it just goes past Aramide-Otay and Ogunle,
06:09but neither grab an equaliser.
06:12And that is it.
06:13The full-time whistle marks the end of the fleet's FA Cup run.
06:16The Boatman piloted the harsh waves of the early goal from Ogunle
06:19here at the Moro Stadium,
06:21but ultimately it was the fleet who weren't able to stay afloat.
06:24Schoeling moved to the next round,
06:25and that's one less Kent side that remains in the cup.
06:28Let's see what the manager has to make of the game.
06:31Frustrated.
06:32Frustrated because I shouldn't be sitting here talking to you
06:35on the back of a 2-1 defeat.
06:37You know, I can't keep saying it,
06:39but you don't deserve to win football games
06:41when you miss chances like we've missed today.
06:43Okay, and we can talk about how well their goalkeeper played
06:46and the saves that he's pulled off
06:48and whatever else on top of the chances that we've missed,
06:51but you cannot create that many chances,
06:55and not just half chances, clear-cut chances,
06:57and not take them to kill the game off.
06:58That's the difference of being ruthless.
07:00Let's take a look at the other FA Cup match-ups
07:03in the National League South,
07:04and it wasn't just Ebbsfleet who were eliminated.
07:07Tunbridge Angels had their wings clipped at home against Torquay,
07:09but Dover Athletics survived a trip up to London
07:11against Hanwell Town, a lower league side.
07:14Maidstone and Folkestone already out of the cup,
07:17having been taken out by Cray Wanderers and Dover, respectively.
07:20Returning to league action next week,
07:22Maidstone heading to Horsham.
07:24They're hoping to continue their table-topping ways,
07:26but halt a two-loss streak as well.
07:29Ebbsfleet will try and stay just above the relegation zone
07:31when they face off against Folkestone in a Kent derby.
07:34The Angels will fly over to Maidenhead,
07:36and Dover will swap the seaside for Surrey
07:38for their game away to Dorking.
07:40Now let's head over to League Two,
07:41where the Gilles were hoping to restart their recent run of wins,
07:44this time against Newport County,
07:46but failed to score, leaving them with only a point.
07:48While they dominated possession,
07:49the Gilles only got one shot on target,
07:51compared to the Exiles' five.
07:53That leaves the Gilles mid-table.
07:54They'll travel to Rotherham next weekend,
07:56hopefully picking up three points against a side currently
07:59with only two wins under their belt.
08:01Down to the Itzmian league premier sides,
08:03and it was further hurt for the Kent teams,
08:05Dartford falling to Tadley-Khaliwa FC.
08:08They're a side from Hampshire,
08:09who play in the combined counties league premier division south.
08:11They're known as the Romans.
08:13The Chats suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Dorking in the cup,
08:17but in the league, Ramsgate just lost out
08:19in a five-goal shootout against Karl Scholten Athletic.
08:22Coming up, Dartford and Ramsgate will face off in East Kent,
08:25while Chatham head down to Leatherhead.
08:26That's all for this week's Football Roundup.
08:29See you next weekend for a return to league action,
08:31with two Kent derbies ahead.
08:33Now, a Kent man who suffered a cardiac arrest
08:36during a football match in Chatham earlier this year
08:39says he wants more people to feel confident
08:41in using a defibrillator.
08:42Kevin Smith was resuscitated by his teammates
08:45after collapsing on the pitch
08:46and has since undergone heart surgery.
08:48Now he's raising awareness about the importance
08:51of defibrillators in improving chances of survival.
08:53Sophie Denning has more.
08:55This is the pitch where amateur footballer Kevin Smith
08:59suffered a cardiac arrest in March,
09:03something he says he wouldn't have survived
09:05without a defibrillator.
09:07I did say to one of our paramedics
09:09who was working on me,
09:11am I going to die?
09:13And the paramedic was really very professional
09:17and he just looked at me and he said,
09:18I'm doing everything I can, mate, to save it.
09:20I just thought, I hope my wife gets here before I pass.
09:23And I was just glad that my daughter wasn't here watching.
09:27Kevin was playing in a local derby match
09:30when his heart stopped and he collapsed,
09:33effectively dying for 15 minutes.
09:36But his friends and teammates saved his life,
09:39performing CPR and shocking him with a defibrillator
09:42until help arrived.
09:44The first thing the lady asked me,
09:46she said, how many shots has Kevin had?
09:47I said, I've just done a third.
09:49And she put her finger there, felt a pulse.
09:59Realised that he'd recovered.
10:00Well, we brought him back.
10:03A shot of adrenaline that they performed their miracle.
10:06It took three shots from a defibrillator
10:09to bring Kevin back round.
10:11But new research from Every Minute Matters
10:14shows that 64% of people here in the southeast
10:18would be too afraid to use one.
10:21Now, Kevin's hoping that sharing his story
10:23will encourage others to become more confident.
10:26Please don't be frightened.
10:28The defib is so beautifully structured as a tool
10:32that it shows you everything you need to do.
10:36And you can't do anything wrong by doing a defib.
10:39You can do something massively right
10:41if you give someone that extra time
10:44that can save their lives.
10:45In an emergency, the 999 call handler
10:48will inform you where the nearest defibrillator is.
10:51And the British Heart Foundation also has an online tool
10:55which shows you where to find one.
10:57For Kevin, the football grounds defibrillator
11:00gave him a second chance at life.
11:02And he says the game will always play a vital role for him.
11:06My wife had always said to me,
11:08football will be the death of you.
11:09In the early hours of the 7th of March,
11:12I was able to say, football saved my life.
11:14So football saved my life because of a defect.
11:17Kevin is living proof that the sports we give our hearts to
11:21might just be the very thing that saves them.
11:24Sophie Denny for KMTV in Chatham.
11:28Now we've reached half-time here on Invicta Sport.
11:31That means it is time for a break.
11:33But coming up, we'll meet a man from Sittingbourne.
11:35He's 79 years old, but he still puts 90 miles an hour
11:39on his motorbike at some speeds.
11:41We'll also take a look back at one of our previous reports
11:43on an American football team who went unbeaten in Maidstone.
11:47And do you think you could walk 50 kilometres in 10 hours?
11:50Well, the 42nd Gatliff Marathon put the bravest
11:53and the most enduring in Kent to the test.
11:56But that is all the time we have for this part of the show.
11:59See you in just a few minutes for more of your sports news.
12:20.
15:21Hello and welcome back to Invictus Sport live here on KMTV.
15:25Now, how old is too old to ride a motorbike?
15:28Well, Jim from Sittingbourne is 79 years old and he certainly isn't letting his age or
15:34his numerous crashes get in the way of him hopping on the bike.
15:37He's a decorated racer having first competed at 15 years old and his competitors are just
15:43as intimidated as they were back in the day.
15:45I went, sorry, Chloe Brewster went down to meet him.
15:49High adrenaline, revving engines and catastrophic crashes are not what you'd expect to be in
15:56the routine of a 79-year-old.
15:58But Jim Porter from Munston has had his life to find by the bike.
16:03I've been a motorcyclist all my life.
16:05I started racing in 1963 and I've done all varieties of the motorcycle sport, grass track, scrambling,
16:13hill climbing trials.
16:14And I got the chance to go to road racing at Brands Hatch in 1972 and since then I've been
16:20hooked
16:21on road racing.
16:22And my ultimate goal was to follow my father's footsteps and race in the Isle of Man around
16:26the TT course.
16:27And I'm happy to say I've done it, survived it, and I've had my best result was in 1986,
16:34fifth place out of 130 riders at an average speed of 92 mile an hour.
16:39Jim has had a decorated career.
16:41He recently won two major titles coming up against racers a quarter of his age.
16:47But it's not all been highs.
16:49During a competition, another rider struck his front wheel and sent him head first into
16:55a crash barrier at 80 miles per hour.
16:58The bike was totally written off.
17:00I was totally written off.
17:02I've heard recently the marshal came to the scene of the crash, checked me over and radioed.
17:07We've lost him because I wasn't breathing.
17:09There was no pulse.
17:10And he said, we've lost him.
17:12And he said, a miracle.
17:13You gradually came back to life.
17:15So I didn't know how bad it was.
17:18After three months of rehabilitation, he was back on his bike.
17:21And he won't let his approaching 80th birthday stop him either.
17:27I've been saying one more year for five years now.
17:29I don't smoke.
17:30I don't drink much.
17:32I've never done drugs.
17:33But I've always raced motorbikes.
17:34And it's something I can't seem to let go of.
17:37My head is saying, now's the time to let go.
17:4180 years of age next April.
17:43Lots of crashes behind me.
17:45Lots of broken bones along the way.
17:47So there's a war going on between my head and my heart.
17:50You know, I've had holidays all around the world.
17:52I've tried all sorts of other sports.
17:54But nothing comes near the excitement of racing a motorbike.
17:58It doesn't sound like Jim will be hitting the brakes any time soon.
18:02Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Munston.
18:06Great piece from Chloe there.
18:08Now it's time to remind you, you can keep up to date with all the latest sports news,
18:12interviews and features from here on Invictus Sport by heading over to our website.
18:16That is, of course, cametv.co.uk and clicking on Invictus Sport.
18:20There you'll see videos like this one, which is all about an American football team in Maidstone
18:25that at the time had an unbeaten season and they were heading to a national competition.
18:30Let's take a look.
18:31Hey, hey, mama said the way you move going to make you sweat, going to make you blue.
18:47Long passes, runs into the end zone and clever plays are just some of the weapons
18:51that the Southeast Legion have used to fight their way to the top of their American football league.
18:56The under-19 team are based in Maidstone and played their very last game of the season this month
19:01to win their entire division without a single loss.
19:04The achievement means that the team, ranked first in the country for their whole age group,
19:08are headed to the national finals this weekend in October to attempt to earn a trophy
19:12and cement their title as the undisputed number ones.
19:16I don't think we expected it to be as good as it has been.
19:19I think we knew we had something special with the players that are playing at the level they have.
19:25But, yeah, absolutely didn't expect it to go this well.
19:28But after the first two tournaments we could see where it was going
19:31and I think we're on an upward trajectory now.
19:34Some say that American football is for everyone
19:36and that's because there's so many different positions that you can play.
19:40Cornerback, running back, tackle, linebacker, safety, wide receiver, fullback
19:44and I haven't even named all of them.
19:46And while it sounds complicated, it's a very simple game.
19:49What you're trying to do is get this to the end zone.
19:52Despite that, American football is still a complicated game
19:56and the players understand the finals won't be easy.
19:59But that hasn't hurt the atmosphere at training one bit.
20:02We're all excited. We're all buzzing for it.
20:06We're all, like, talking within each other, like,
20:08oh, imagine this happens, imagine this happens.
20:11We're, like, hyping ourselves up towards it
20:13because we've come so far we would hate to lose it.
20:16I'm very optimistic.
20:17I come into a lot of games with a very positive atmosphere.
20:20Yeah, I come there, we come there to win.
20:23Yeah, I mean, we're not coming for anything else, really.
20:25I mean, losing's not an option to us, really, you know.
20:28So at the end of the day, we're going to get it done
20:30and I know we're going to get it done.
20:31The team have risen the ranks only recently
20:33after building and developing their squad,
20:36with coaches putting an emphasis not just on their physical development as players
20:39but on their mental and personal development as well.
20:42We want our players to go on to some of the great programs in the UK,
20:46the NFL Academy, Bristol SGS, just two of them.
20:51So we're trying to develop football players that think for themselves.
20:54As a coach, we've done our job.
20:57If they can do it themselves and even on game day,
21:01lots of our players, you know, they call the plays, you know,
21:04they read the game, they read the defences if they're on offensive.
21:07So yeah, we're trying to build young men which are great football players.
21:11The team's motto is hard work, full gas.
21:14And as they train for hours in the sweltering heat ahead of the finals,
21:17it isn't hard to see why.
21:19Let's give it a national finals one, yeah?
21:22Hard work! Full gas!
21:24Finn McDermid for KMTV in Maidstone.
21:29The Gatliff Marathon is a challenge walk through the Kent countryside
21:32and it might sound quite peaceful but you can choose how it goes.
21:36It can either be a nice walk navigating through the Kent countryside
21:39or if you want to be a little bit competitive,
21:42it can also be a 50-kilometre trek to be completed in under 10 hours.
21:47See, I'm even stammering just saying it.
21:48The challenge is in its 42nd year running
21:51and it sees participants using route directions and compasses
21:54to find their way through the countryside.
21:56Earlier on, I spoke to Margaret Philipson.
21:59She's from the Gatliff Marathon Committee.
22:01All about the 42nd time doing it
22:03and exactly what participants can expect.
22:05Let's take a look.
22:07Well, thank you so much for joining me, Margaret.
22:09First of all, just tell me a bit about the race,
22:11the 42nd time it's being put on.
22:14So, this is an event called the Gatliff Marathon.
22:18It's the 42nd event and it was started in 1984
22:22to celebrate 50 years of Croydon,
22:25then Croydon YHA,
22:26now Croydon Outdoor Pursuits and Social Events.
22:29Club, hence the 50km, is one of the distances
22:33and the other one is 25km.
22:35And the idea is to do either those routes within 10 hours
22:39and then you gain the certificate.
22:40Technically, it's not a race,
22:41it's a challenge event
22:43and you're actually just in competition with yourself.
22:46This year, the route's 99.5% in Kent.
22:50Starts and finishes at Eaton Bridge at the Cricket Club.
22:52Five checkpoints on the longer route, the 50km,
22:56two on the shorter route.
22:57And it's fully, you do self-navigation
23:01and you get the use of a GPX file,
23:04recommend a map and a compass as well.
23:08So, it's cross-country,
23:09many on public footpaths and biling ways.
23:13Yeah, that's the general ethos of it.
23:16It is a challenge event.
23:18Right, so it's sort of part cross-country,
23:20part endurance,
23:21and a bit of orienteering in there as well.
23:22You mentioned it's self-navigated
23:24using a compass and a GPX.
23:26Tell me a bit about
23:27what it's been like in previous years.
23:29I mean, is the challenge more the terrain,
23:33more the distance,
23:33or is it more the navigation?
23:34What would you say is the kind of harder aspect?
23:37It's an element of the two.
23:39So, obviously, Kent,
23:39there's lots of undulating hills,
23:41and there's a few hills,
23:42ups and downs on this route.
23:44But the challenge of the event is self-navigation.
23:49So, you're presented with
23:50a form of route instructions,
23:52written in a rather slightly strange odd for short-hand.
23:55So, it says TR, turn right,
23:58X, FD, cross field,
24:00this type of short-hand.
24:03Accompanying that are some grid references
24:05and some WAP3 word references.
24:07So, that's the route instructions.
24:10And let's say we also supply a GPX file,
24:12which you can just use on an app.
24:14I use the audience serving app,
24:15but there's plenty of other ones around.
24:18Recommended compass as well.
24:19So, partly it's a challenge of navigating the route,
24:22and part of it is doing the 50K or the 25K
24:25and the ups and downs on the way.
24:27I see.
24:28And have you got any advice
24:29for anyone who's participating?
24:31Is it better to go solo,
24:33or have you found that teams have more success?
24:36A lot of people do it in pairs or in teams
24:40or with a family,
24:41or we've got some running clubs that do it together.
24:44The advantage of doing it in a smallish group
24:46is you can have one with a GPX one on the map.
24:49You can kind of do it as a team effort,
24:51and you get a lot of role support from doing it.
24:54But some people are very experienced
24:56and keen to do it themselves.
24:58We've got snacks and water and squash
25:01and things along the way.
25:03So, you don't need a little bit of food
25:05just to keep you going between checkpoints.
25:08I mean, basically, it's just come along,
25:09and it's fun.
25:10You don't have to, as I say,
25:11you're only competing really against yourself.
25:13But there is a sort of Hall of Fame on Cops' website
25:16for people who've done it over the past 41 years.
25:20We've got one person who's done it 40 years out of 41.
25:24He only missed it once.
25:27I see.
25:28And I suppose, lastly,
25:30what's the future looking like?
25:32How's it going to change for the 43rd year or beyond,
25:34or is that too much spoilers?
25:38It's kind of too much spoilers.
25:40There are changes every year.
25:41But it will stay,
25:43based on finishing,
25:44starting and finishing Eden Bridge.
25:46This year, I set myself as a challenge of going east,
25:49hence it goes to Tongbridge and Tongbridge Wells.
25:52Last year, we were on the Ashdown Forest,
25:54which has been on the North Downs.
25:55So, I kind of need to come up with some fresh ideas next year,
25:59but get this year's out of the way first.
26:04The focus now is really on delivering the event.
26:06We'd love people to come along and do it.
26:08They can come online.
26:11If you go onto SI Entries and search SI Entries and Gap Marathon,
26:16you can log on there and do it.
26:19We'd take people on the day,
26:20extra couple of pounds for that.
26:22So, it's just a fun day out,
26:24but it stretches you both mentally and physically.
26:26I think there's a lot of camaraderie on the day as well.
26:29So, lots of moral support for non-life marshals.
26:33I see.
26:34Well, thank you so much for your time today, Margaret.
26:37Well, that is full-time on today's episode of Invictus Sport.
26:40If you want more from KMTV,
26:42you can head over to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
26:45All of our special shows are available to watch back on demand.
26:48Don't forget to follow us on our social media as well,
26:51our TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
26:53But, that's all the time we have for now.
26:55See you very soon.
26:56Goodbye.