Catch-up with all the latest sports news from around the county with Bartholomew Hall. This week we're breaking down all week of Olympic qualifying where four players from Medway's Holcombe Hockey Club have helped Team GB reach the Semi Finals.
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00:00 Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:19 up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Bartholomew Hall and here is what to expect on this Friday
00:25 the 19th of February. Oh I think we've run the wrong pictures again! We'll come back
00:33 to me and I'll tell you what we're going to have in today's programme. Right, we'll be
00:37 talking about the girl on the bike, or Vanessa Ruck from Tunbridge Wells who's just completed
00:42 the Africa Eco Challenge. We'll be here, we'll be talking about Gilligan's new deal, their
00:47 new deal with their new wing back. Everything's going wrong today. Right, let's get to a round
00:53 up of the headlines and then we'll come back and I'll tell you what's coming up in today's
00:56 programme. Right, Gillingham have signed Romao Hutton on a permanent deal from Swindon Town.
01:01 The Gills have had to fight hard for the 25-year-old's signature with top of League Two Stockport
01:06 County also rumoured to be interested in him. Only two other players in the division provided
01:10 more assists than Hutton did last season. Also on Gillingham, head coach Stephen Clements
01:15 was looking ahead to their next game against Forest Green Rovers this Saturday, where he
01:19 and the club will be trying to make it four league wins in a row. Here's what he had to
01:22 say to the press.
01:25 We have to be concerned what we're doing. So we're going for four on the spin. Lads
01:30 are in a confident mood. We're looking forward to the game on Saturday. I really, really
01:34 hope the game's going to be on because obviously there is issues with the weather. The pitch
01:38 is currently covered. I'm expecting it to be on but obviously we don't need another
01:43 strong cold spell. But no, we'll be confident ourselves and we'll be going out on Saturday
01:50 to try and beat Forest Green Rovers.
01:52 Jack Leaning has penned a new long-term deal with Kent. Our County cricket side's vice
01:57 captain will now stay at the club until 2026. The 30-year-old joined Kent in 2019 and has
02:04 gone on to make 118 appearances. He's set to become the Spitfire's skipper throughout
02:10 their One Day Cup campaign this year. Overall, the all-rounder has scored more than 4,000
02:15 runs for Kent in all formats, as well as contributing 51 wickets in his right arm off spin.
02:21 Kent cricket season sets off on Friday 5 April with a county championship match against Somerset
02:26 at Canterbury.
02:27 And to our regularly scheduled Invicta sport, with a Royal Navy submariner from Sevenoaks
02:35 who has been part of a team to have won the world's hardest rowing race. Petty Officer
02:40 Ian Allen is a nuclear reactor operator by day but has now found himself one of the five
02:45 to complete the challenge, which saw the team raise thousands of pounds for charity. In
02:49 December, the men faced the daunting task of battling 3,000 miles across the Atlantic
02:54 from La Gomorrah to Antigua. Reflecting back on the mammoth task, skipper commander Matt
02:59 Main from Sussex described the race as tough but great fun.
03:05 Now let's quickly, before we move on, have a look at the football fixtures. Here's some
03:09 of those that will be happening this weekend. As we've been hearing about Gillingham, they'll
03:14 be taking on bottom of League Two table Forest Green Brovers on Saturday. The Priestfield
03:18 visitors have this week sacked their player manager and former Watford striker Troy Deeney.
03:23 Now down to the National League, where 21st place Ebbsfleet United will be hosting mid-table
03:27 Hartlepool. The latter's last away game was up against AFC Fylde, where they crashed out
03:32 of the FA Trophy on penalties. Next, in the National League South, Dartford are travelling
03:35 west to take on Bath. Tambridge Angels will play Worthing, whilst United will be looking
03:40 to bounce back after a lost last time out with an away trip to Slough. And in the Izmirian
03:45 Premier League, 18th place Margate face a tough challenge against Bognor Regis, who
03:49 sit eighth in the league, whilst Chatham take on Wingates and Finchley. And finally, folks
03:53 in Invicta will be away from home this week, travelling to play Haringey.
03:59 Now we were talking about the waters earlier, but what about the desert? Time to hear from
04:02 our first guest this evening. When we last heard from her, the girl on a bike, or Vanessa
04:07 Ruck, was preparing for the 6,500 kilometre Africa Eco Race from Monaco to Senegal. The
04:13 Tambridge Wells-based motorcycle enthusiast is the first British female ever to win what
04:18 is one of the toughest endurance races there is. And after 13 days and 104 hours of riding,
04:26 I caught up with Vanessa earlier to see just how she's been getting on.
04:29 There's a reason why doing that race has got such a big reputation and why it's notoriously
04:36 known as one of the toughest endurance races in the world. My body, I don't think it's
04:40 ever felt quite so exhausted, both mentally and physically, ever in my life. It was brutal,
04:45 but also at the same time incredible to be racing across such territory and terrains
04:51 across Africa and managing to make it to the finish line. I've got this sort of double-edged
04:56 exhaustion and high from making it to the finish at the same time.
05:00 It sounds gruelling, it sounds like such hard work, but it sounds like such an achievement
05:04 as well. I mean, first in the women's category, 27th overall. I mean, how did it feel getting
05:10 across that line? Honestly, I kind of burst into tears when
05:16 I crossed the finish line. I was racing for 13 days. My longest day on the bike was 13
05:21 and a half hours, 6,000 kilometres on a motorcycle. For anyone thinking, "You've got an engine,
05:27 how hard can it be?" If you try walking in deep sand, some of the days were 80% sand,
05:32 sand dunes 400 metres high. If you try walking in deep sand, it is considerably harder. You're
05:38 then on a motorcycle that weighs far more than double my weight. It's 177 kilos. A motorcycle,
05:45 I promise you, doesn't want to stay up in that terrain on its own. You really are wrestling
05:50 physically and it's very complex navigation as well. You're following a piece of paper,
05:55 compass bearings, symbols and French abbreviations. It's really, really an intense process.
06:01 It was basically an absolute rollercoaster of emotions on the finish line. I didn't know
06:05 whether to laugh, cry or scream. The fact that I'd made it there was just a huge achievement.
06:12 It's incredible. Over 104 hours in the saddle, I hear. I mean, when you think back to the
06:18 race, does it kind of all blur into one or are there any specific moments that you can
06:23 really pick out and remember? Any favourites? There are some incredible favourites. The
06:29 dunes are the bits that scare me the most, but they're also my love. When you're in the
06:35 middle of the dunes and you stop on the crest of this massive pile of sand, and every so
06:40 often I just stop and absorb the moment, look around in every direction, there is nothing.
06:44 There's not a sound, there's not a person. As far as I can see, it's just sand dunes.
06:51 Those moments are terrifying because you're out there completely on your own. You have
06:56 an issue with your bike, you have a crash and you injure yourself. You've got to get
06:59 yourself through and out of there, basically. Those moments are where you really feel alive
07:06 of how brutal the barrel of terrain is that you're racing through. I think some of the
07:10 toughest moments I remember is actually trying to eat. You're burning between 6,000 and 8,000
07:16 calories a day. You have to eat until you almost want to vomit, morning and night. You're
07:22 trying to eat when you're out there racing as well, every so often stopping, but consuming
07:26 that amount of calories was hard going. Thankfully, I did get my nutrition right. There's lots
07:32 of highs and lows. There's so many different areas to being in one of these races. I think
07:41 a weird high for me is all of the donkeys, the little goats and the camels that we saw.
07:46 You'll be out there in the middle of nowhere and there'll just be this beautiful herd of
07:49 camels and you're trying to absorb them and look at them whilst riding, reading the terrain,
07:54 looking at where you're going. There's so much to Africa that I've seen. I'm actually
08:01 looking forward to watching my own YouTube channel when I edit it all together to remember
08:06 the different moments across the week or two weeks.
08:09 That leads me nicely onto my next question because you talked about that pure resilience
08:15 that you have to power through some of those deep moments and dark moments. You've been
08:19 really sharing your whole journey of getting even just to this point of even being able
08:23 to start this race all on your YouTube channel. Obviously, since your accident as well, sharing
08:28 that road to recovery. How has this all felt looking back on it now and being able to share
08:34 that story with the world? There's going to be a lot of people who might have been struggling
08:37 in their own lives, obviously with such different stories and different backgrounds, of course,
08:42 but able to look at this and see you as just such an inspiration.
08:47 Honestly, I think if I'd gone back nearly 10 years ago, my accident was, and if I had
08:53 said to myself just after the accident, in 10 years' time, you're going to be doing one
08:57 of the toughest races in the world on a motorcycle off-road, there's no way I would have fathomed
09:02 that that was possible. I think for anyone battling things, you've got to really remember
09:06 that challenges, situations in life are never permanent. There's always things that we can
09:12 do, things that are not in our control, we can't deal with, but there are always things
09:17 that we can focus on that we can control to try and move us forwards and out and setting
09:21 those goals, getting up every day. Even if it's only five minutes in your day that you
09:25 can find the energy to do to help the future you, just do little things. It's the old cliche,
09:31 you can't climb a mountain in a leap, you've got to do it in small steps. I only started
09:37 off-road riding about seven and a half years ago, I've had four surgeries in that time,
09:41 all as a result of the accident 10 years ago. I did my first rally two years ago, but I've
09:47 just progressively set goals. I've worked really hard to try and upskill myself, to
09:52 get myself ready, and just push the boundaries, moving outside my comfort zone. I think for
09:57 anyone listening who just feels a little bit stuck on a rut, think about something that
10:02 would just get you excited, something that maybe you don't even feel is fathomly possible,
10:07 and try and work a road map towards it, because it's actually incredible what we can do with
10:12 setting our energies on stuff, and getting up every day and doing little things towards
10:17 that. And speaking about setting your energy onto things, you're currently in Gambia now,
10:23 just a few weeks on from completing this amazing challenge. You're now doing some charity work
10:27 in Gambia with Two Wheels for Life, obviously the charity that you're an ambassador of.
10:31 Tell us quickly, before we wrap up, what it is that you're going to be doing there.
10:35 Yeah, so Two Wheels for Life help provide the mobility of healthcare across different
10:40 areas of Africa, so through the use of motorcycles as well as vehicles, they're enabling healthcare
10:46 workers to get into some of the really remote villages. And if you think that for a lot
10:50 of people in the world you can call 999 and medical's going to come, but if you're in
10:54 a remote village it could be a donkey in a cart while you're having a complicated labour,
10:59 all kinds of things. So I'm here to help spread the word of what they're doing, and also support
11:04 on the ground with some of the healthcare workers as well on a motorcycle. And after
11:09 having just three days off between the end of the race and now, I'm really having to
11:13 dig into my reserves, but when I'm so close it just would be silly not to pop one flight
11:19 further down and support the charity on the ground here in The Gambia.
11:22 Vanessa, girl on the bike, head to Vanessa's YouTube channel, there is some amazing footage
11:27 on there. I do urge all our viewers to do that, to have a look and to see the journey
11:32 that she's been on because it's been incredible. Thank you very much for joining us and I hope
11:35 to speak to you in the future.
11:38 Thank you.
11:39 What an incredible journey Vanessa has had, we're so thankful that she chooses to come
11:42 here and share it with us. Now we've reached half time, which means it's time for a break,
11:46 but coming up we'll be breaking down the week of Team GB men's qualifying with four players
11:51 from Holcombe Hockey Club from right here in Medway. See you soon.
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15:10 Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV. Now, Great Britain's hockey teams
15:15 have been in Oman and Spain this week with four players from Medway Holcombe's Hockey
15:20 Club welcoming the men's side, helping the men's side rather, in the Middle East fight
15:24 towards Olympic qualification. Team GB haven't won an Olympic medal in men's hockey since
15:30 1988, but since the England squad took home silver at last summer's Euro Hockey Championship,
15:35 they're in good form and they've shown exactly why they're among the favourites to fly through
15:39 to Paris this week. However, in order to get there, those Holcombe hockey players will
15:43 have to fend off opposition in the form of a familiar face.
15:47 Four players from Holcombe Hockey Club have been called up to represent Team GB at this
15:52 week's Olympic qualifiers in Oman, including Oli Payne, Phil Roper, Nick Bandarach and
15:58 Captain David Ames.
16:00 What makes it more special is when you feel like you're in a tight-knit team, you want
16:05 to play for each other. It's not every man for himself here. We're all tracking in the
16:10 same direction, which is, yeah, you can't take that for granted.
16:15 Great Britain's week started off with a convincing 6-1 win over Pakistan, followed by a strong
16:20 showing against Malaysia at 4-1, and finally an ousting of China with their first clean
16:25 sheet at 6-0.
16:27 Now through to the semi-finals to face New Zealand, just one more win would secure Great
16:31 Britain's spot in Paris, but for the Holcombe players, it's a familiar face they'll be going
16:36 up against in order to do so.
16:38 Black Sticks international Hayden Phillips, who spoke to us on Invicta Sport back in October,
16:43 is not just a club team-mate, but also a coach and good friend to Nick Bandarach, which is
16:48 only going to add to the intensity of this semi-final.
16:52 So with a shot at an Olympic summer edging ever closer, Great Britain have now to wrap
16:57 up this strong week with an even better weekend.
17:05 Well to unpack all of this week's qualifying action in Oman and to speak a little bit more
17:09 about Holcombe Hockey Club's progress this season, I spoke with hockey reporter Lucas
17:14 Ball earlier today.
17:15 It's been a really good start. Exactly what Paul Revington would have wanted from this
17:19 trip so far. Three games, three wins, 16 goals in the process. For us as a club, we've had
17:26 Nick and Phil Roper both get on the score sheet as well, which has been good. Olly Payne,
17:31 when he's been tested, has generally made some good size. Couple of the goals that we
17:35 have conceded, he's not really had much chance with them. And David Ames has been his usual
17:39 self kind of across the back line and midfield captain in the side. So yeah, it's been a
17:45 really good start through to the semifinals with no real questions as to who was going
17:51 to finish top of the group from the get go.
17:53 The one thing that they'll want to improve on and be really keen to improve on is definitely
17:57 the penalty corner conversion rates. We've had probably 25, 30 penalty corners across
18:03 the three games and only really scored maybe four. So that conversion rate needs to improve.
18:10 But barring that, the performances have been really good. It's been that high pressing
18:13 intense style that we've come to know from Revington since he took over. So yeah, fingers
18:19 crossed for the semifinal on Saturday.
18:21 And of course you mentioned the semifinal there up against New Zealand. They're going
18:24 to be going up against one of their own Holcombe players in the form of Hayden Phillips. We
18:29 spoke to him earlier in the season about how he was getting on at Holcombe. Is that going
18:33 to be tough? I mean, surely they're going to stay as competitive as always and they're
18:36 going to want to beat him.
18:37 Yeah, definitely. I mean, it'll be really interesting to say the guys kind of go off
18:41 against each other. New Zealand actually played Chile as well last week. So there was a former
18:46 Holcombe player, a captain in Chile and Jose Maldonado. And we had a couple of times at
18:51 the world cup last year as well, where Holcombe players were going up against each other.
18:54 So from our perspective, it'd be really good to watch and say how, you know, those guys
18:59 get on against Hayden and Nick and Hayden particularly obviously are very close, you
19:04 know, as well as playing together. They worked at the same school previously and also both
19:08 coach our women's team. So yeah, it'd be nice to say, and, you know, hopefully there's no
19:15 broken friendships over it or anything, but I'm sure that'll be fine.
19:17 Yeah, of course. And, and all eyes on Nick, of course. I mean, what a couple of years
19:21 he's had over 40 goals for both combined national squads and going into this, which would be
19:27 his first Olympics. I mean, quite a surprise that with the career that he's had, he hasn't
19:31 been able to get there before. Yeah. I mean, for anyone at Holcomb, it's kind of been a
19:37 long standing viewpoint that Nick should have been in the England, the GB set up a long
19:41 time ago. Unfortunately it did take this long, but you know, from his perspective, he's really
19:47 enjoying it now it has gone, he's got a phenomenal international record and it kind of looks
19:52 to have driven sound walled on a little bit as well for GB, which is great for Revington,
19:56 you know, walled scored something like 19 goals in the last 12 months in a, in an England
20:01 and GB shirt, which is a phenomenal record as well. So the two of them almost looked
20:05 to be driving each other on that a little bit more again. And Sam ward, of course, formerly
20:08 of Holcomb too. So yeah, Nick's, Nick's had a great couple of years and you know, long
20:14 may that continue and hopefully carries on banging the goals in the second half of the
20:18 season for us in the premier division.
20:20 Yeah, absolutely. Now let's go on to talk about Holcomb and how the clubs for both first
20:24 teams are getting on quite a positive start to the season. Just come back from a pretty
20:28 good indoor campaigns.
20:29 Yeah. I mean the band in the end got survival secured in the, in the premier division in
20:35 the super sixes. So that was the main thing definitely by the end of that campaign missing
20:40 a lot of key players. Look when you know, you take Olly Payne, Phil Roper, Nick van
20:44 Dracht, Hayden Phillips out of any team in world hockey pretty much, then they're going
20:49 to notice a drop off, particularly in English hockey as well. So yeah, security, survival,
20:55 we got there with, with that win over service and on the Sunday. So that was the main thing
20:59 and the girls. Yeah. I mean, we're, we're waiting to see what happens with that. There
21:04 was a player elect eligibility clear query with based on. So, you know, it might still
21:10 end up that that promotion is, is on the cards. We're waiting on England hockey to decide
21:14 that as to what happens with that punishment. But yeah, the second weekend for the girls,
21:18 absolutely brilliant four wins out of four down at Canterbury. Kind of asked for much
21:23 more for it. And yeah, I mean, unfortunately a couple of the other camps I was didn't do
21:26 quite so well and can't read it enough getting relegated. But yeah, if we look at the outdoor
21:31 as well, I mean, it's been a really good first half of the season. Men are sitting third
21:36 in the premier division. They've only lost two games and they've been to ultra jeans
21:42 who are top on Wimbledon who are always there or thereabouts and currently just below us.
21:46 So, you know, another top four finishes hopefully on the cards and, and then we can look at
21:51 getting back to finals weekend and hopefully qualifying for the again, fingers crossed.
21:55 Absolutely. And we'll be following along with Holcomb and how they get on through the rest
21:59 of the season. Just before we finish something I was discussing with Phil Roper when I, when
22:02 I interviewed him this week, he was talking about really this sort of ultimate goal of
22:06 getting more people interested in hockey. We've seen these qualifiers being streamed
22:10 free to wear by the BBC this week as someone that's part of the hockey scene. Do you feel
22:16 that there's more, more of an interest now or do you think there's, there's still ways
22:19 to go? I think overall there's still a long way to go. Yeah. I look for us across the
22:28 premier division, particularly there's, there's a lot of clubs that, that maybe don't do as
22:32 much as they could at times. You know, we can do more as a club. We do, we do do a lot,
22:39 but there is, there is ways that we can improve as well. So it's not perfect, but when you've
22:45 got a game mostly run by volunteers unfortunately it's really difficult to take that next step
22:51 and grow England hockey of what, you know, better on, on certain things of light, you
22:58 know, getting this, this streamed on BBC free to air is massive. Hopefully there's people
23:03 outside of the hockey community taking an interest as well, but the games are on quite
23:08 a lot of the time when people are at work with the time difference and all that sort
23:12 of thing. So, you know, I'm not, not sure on the viewing figures as yet, but you know,
23:16 fingers crossed they have been, have been decent and we can get more people interested.
23:21 But yeah, I think the biggest thing is we've got to look at grassroots level as well as
23:25 improving the coverage of our national league. You know, if you don't have strong coverage
23:29 of the national league, it's harder to get people interested straight away in the national
23:33 team if you've not got that strong base product, I think. So I think that's what we've got
23:37 to look at first. The international coverage, you know, during the Olympics and stuff, people
23:41 will be interested because people just want to see GB do well in whatever it is in the
23:46 Olympics when you're watching. So yeah, there's certainly ways we can still improve.
23:51 Well, I must say I've been following the qualifiers this week and it's been very exciting. So
23:55 hopefully more people do pick up even just watching the sport, let alone taking part
23:59 as well. And we'll see that growth of hockey. Lucas, thank you very much for joining us
24:02 today.
24:03 Thanks for having me, Ches.
24:06 Well that's it, that's full time on today's episode, but there's just a few minutes of
24:09 extra time to take a look at this week's Action Replay. It's the segment where we take a look
24:13 at the clips and pictures that you, the KMTV audience, have sent in of you taking part
24:18 in sport. Let's see what we've got in store on this week's Action Replay. Here's Bailey
24:22 Absen.
24:25 First up on Action Replay, we have a charity challenge posed by the East Kent Hospitals
24:29 charity where you have the chance to walk on the wing of a biplane flying over Kent
24:34 skies at a speed of 120mph. The charity will use funds raised from the perilous plods to
24:42 support patients and staff across their hospitals. Last year, Trust employee Carly Larkin, who
24:48 raised over £1,300 for the cause, described it as "a truly epic experience and a very
24:55 emotional day".
24:56 Up next, 12-year-old Elijah Hazelwood is rapidly catching up to his dream of making it into
25:02 Formula One as he scores the Club 100 Rookie of the Year and Junior Driver of the Year
25:07 titles in the Buckmoor Park Professional, beating his more experienced competition.
25:13 He fondly remembers Buckmoor Park in Chatham as his special racing place, saying "that's
25:18 where I started and it's a really fun track for me".
25:22 Lastly, and following the news that the famous Dartford Half Marathon has been postponed
25:27 from February to September, we thought we'd take a look back at some pictures from 2022
25:32 when Joshua Teese won the men's race. The half marathon is the longest running in the
25:38 county, with the annual races beginning in 1977.
25:42 Well that's it for this week's Action Replay. Don't forget, it could be you in next week's
25:46 edition. Just send in your pictures and videos on social media or to sport@kmtv.co.uk.
25:51 Well don't forget, if you want to appear in next week's Action Replay, you absolutely
26:00 can. All you need to do is tag us in your pictures and videos on social media @kmtvkent
26:05 or send us an email to sport@kmtv.co.uk. All you need to do is tell us what part of Kent
26:11 you come from and what it is you're doing.
26:14 Well that is it, full time on today's episode of Invicta Sport. If you want more from KMTV,
26:19 all you need to do is head to our website, kmtv.co.uk. There you'll see all of our other
26:24 special programmes. We've got the Kent Politics Show, Made in Kent, Kent on Climate and the
26:29 Kent Film Club. That's kmtv.co.uk. And if you run a sports club in the county or perhaps
26:36 you're an athlete yourselves and you want to be here in the studio, join me on the sofa
26:41 to tell me your story. You absolutely can. Get in touch in the exact same ways. I'll
26:44 be back on Monday with a new episode. Bye bye.
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