This week, we look back on the second round qualifier on the FA cup and Abby Hook is joined by a martial arts coach helping young people in Medway get on the right path.
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00:00Hello and welcome along to Invictus Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:17up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Abbey Hook. Here's what to expect on this Monday,
00:21the 16th of September. Stone Cold. Maidstone's FA Cup magic returns
00:26with last-minute knockout action. Top scorers as Ronaldo reaches a billion followers. How
00:33are Kent's influencers riding the social media wave?
00:37And from Kent's streets to the wrestling mats. Hear how one gym is grappling with anti-social
00:42behaviour and unemployment. But first, a round-up of the headlines.
00:48As we enter the week where Kent could be relegated from Division 1 of the county championship,
00:52Vice-captain Jack Leaning says he's hopeful Kent could pull off a survival even yet. After
00:57battling out Hampshire to a draw on Friday's concluding day of their meeting at Canterbury,
01:03Kent now sits 36 points from safety with two games still to go. A maximum of 48 points
01:08are still up for grabs. Play will begin at 10.30am in Canterbury tomorrow as Kent host
01:12Nottinghamshire before an away trip to Durham next week. Here's Leaning speaking after Friday's
01:18draw. Regardless of what happens, it's professional
01:21pride. You want to beat and win against anybody you come up against and play well. So I don't
01:26think that will deter any of the lads regardless of what happens next week. But as you've seen
01:31over the course of the last couple of years, we're a fighting group when our backs are
01:34up against the wall. So hopefully that comes to fruition in the next two weeks as well.
01:39To rugby now and in the National League 2 East, Canterbury are topping the table after
01:43a derby day 27-14 win over Sevenoaks. A dominant first half left the city side 19 points clear
01:50at the break before being forced to hold off a rejuvenated Sevenoaks from a comeback
01:55in the second. Meanwhile, travelling Tunbridge Dudleyans overcame Colchester 48-26, taking
02:01seven tries on their way to a win. The table currently stands with Canterbury on top, beating
02:05out Tunbridge in second on score difference, while Sevenoaks are the bottom sitters without
02:10a point so far. A man from Chatham will stand trial after
02:15pleading not guilty to assault after he fell onto a man and a woman at Maidstone United's
02:20FA Cup tie against Ipswich Town in January. Sixty-year-old John Ryan, who lives on Rochester
02:26Street, was charged with causing actual bodily harm and two counts of assault after falling
02:31into a section of home supporters. It's understood that barriers have since been added to the
02:36upper tier of the Cobbold stand as part of improvements at the Portman Road Stadium.
02:41Mr Ryan's pre-trial and preparation hearing is due to take place on the 14th of October.
02:50Thinking back to Maidstone United's historic FA Cup run, there were echoes of last season's
02:54fairytale as the Stones began a new chapter with the competition's third round qualifying
02:59at the weekend. George Elikobi's side were back at home to face a nervy Hampton and Richmond.
03:04Meanwhile, League Two Mark Bonner looked to continue his winning home form with a visit
03:08from unbeaten Tranmere Rovers. Bartholomew's got your round up.
03:14It seems like it was just yesterday. Eyes across Kent were on Maidstone United as the
03:18County Towns Club made history by reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup. But as George
03:23Elikobi told his side in the dressing room team talk, it's a clean slate now as they
03:27venture back into the competition vying for a spot in the third round qualifying for the
03:3213th year running against Bognor Regis.
03:35Maidstone looked the livelier of the two sides in the early exchanges. Aaron Blair came closest
03:40to opening the scoring when his efforts smashed against the crossbar after a slick move from
03:44Matt Bentley. The breakthrough finally came just before half-time when Bentley was brought
03:49down in the box by the Hampton keeper Ted Curd.
03:52And he has pointed to the spot. It's going to be a penalty to Maidstone.
03:55Ben Brooks stepped up for his team before calmly converting the penalty to give the
03:59Stones a deserved lead.
04:01Stones are 1-0 up in the FA Cup.
04:04But the visitors responded immediately. Right on the stroke of half-time, James Roberts
04:08went down under a challenge from Sam Smith in Maidstone's box. Roberts dusted himself
04:13off before slotting home from the spot to level things up at 1-1 going into the break.
04:21The second half saw Hampton on the front foot early on, with Maidstone keeper Alexis Andre
04:26Jr called into action to keep them at bay.
04:29And just when it seemed like the tie was headed for a replay deep into stoppage time, Maidstone
04:33found a decisive goal.
04:38Another superb delivery from Ben Brooks, this time from a corner, was headed back across
04:42goal by Reece Greenidge and there was Coulters to apply the finishing touch, sparking wild
04:47celebrations in the stands.
04:49A 2-1 victory for Maidstone and they're into the third round qualifying of the FA Cup.
04:54Elsewhere in the cup qualifiers and what a weekend it was for Kent's teams, with all
04:58but one earning a spot in round three. Special mention of course goes to the derby match
05:03where a second half-header from Henry Sennet allowed Sittingbourne to overcome Lordswood,
05:08taking the Brickies the furthest in the competition in more than 11 years.
05:12Meanwhile at Priestfield, Mark Bonner's Gillingham were looking to bounce back after their first
05:16defeat of the League Two season as they hosted Tranmere Rovers.
05:19Armani Little put the home side ahead early on in the second half and despite a red card
05:24for Ethan Coleman taking the Gilles down to just 10 men, a breakthrough performance for
05:28Jadon Clarke saw him not just open his Football League goal account but double the balance
05:33too with two strong counter-attacking finishes in the final 10 minutes.
05:38With the result enough to send Gillingham back into the promotion paying places, Mark
05:42Bonner took delight in seeing his side win again.
05:44It's a brilliant win against a team that haven't conceded chances or goals and haven't lost
05:50yet. Tough game as we expected it to be. I thought we started both halves like a train
05:57and then we made the game difficult for ourselves again because of the sending off so that's
06:01two times really we've made it hard but I've got to say the mentality of the team when
06:06it goes against us is amazing.
06:08And finally in the National League it was a great opening game for the Kuflinks new
06:12boss Harry Watling as the National League win drought came to an end for Ebbs Fleet.
06:16Rakesh Bingham's first half goal proved the difference as the North Kent side picked up
06:20their first goal in 513 minutes of football. The win doesn't affect their table position
06:26but will no doubt provide a lot of confidence for the club moving forward.
06:39It's exciting isn't it, it comes round so quick. We've actually only got two more qualifying
06:48rounds until we're finally at the first round proper again. Just thinking back to the success
06:52stories from Kent in last season. Sheppey United of course getting to the first round
06:57last year. They've already left the competition this side but still a good handful of these
07:03lower league teams have managed to push their way through. Obviously we talked about Maidstone
07:06there, so let's give you their one. It's the only Kent derby of the third round qualifying.
07:11They'll face Herne Bay away from home, really good tie for Herne Bay, playing a team two
07:17leagues above them so that's a really good one. Dartford also playing a team league above
07:20them, one that they're used to playing. Worthing of course in the National League South where
07:24they were playing last season. Ramsgate have a fairly tough fixture, still in the competition
07:28against Brackley Town, whilst Chatham Town who knocked out Welling at the weekend. They'll
07:33be playing a home match against either Chichester or Slough, whilst the Tunbridge Angels face
07:38Walton and Hersham. Sittingbourne, really good for them. They beat Lordswood at the
07:41weekend, lots of people watching the stream of those. Of course it was in front of the
07:45TV cameras at the weekend against Lordswood. They won, they'll be playing at home with
07:49Plymouth Parkway. Just a reminder, winners of the next round will take back to their
07:52clubs £5,625. So we'll all be watching very closely. A lot of money that Bartholomew,
07:58thank you very much. Don't forget you can keep up to date with all the latest football
08:02news by reading Kent Online. Did you also know you can have your weekly digest of non-league
08:07news from around the county sent directly to your email inbox. Just search Kent Online
08:11email alerts and sign up on the website for all the latest written transfer news, match
08:15reports and interviews. And there's plenty more email alerts to choose from too, including
08:19all the latest Gillingham news. Now it's time to remind you that you can keep up to date
08:25with all the latest sports news, interviews and features from here on Invictus Sport by
08:29heading on to our website kmtv.co.uk and click on the sports tab. There you'll see
08:34videos like this one about former champion boxer James Degale hosting a charity masterclass
08:39in Chatham. While some Olympians are celebrating their achievements in France, one former gold
08:44medalist is giving something back to the boxing community. Back in 2008, James Degale represented
08:50Great Britain in the middleweight boxing event, beating Cuba's Emilio Bayot, 16-14. Now Degale
08:57is teaching his sport to eager youngsters and those wanting to break into the boxing
09:01scene. I was a bit lost because after I retired you're thinking, what can I do now? So I retired
09:07at 32 and you just revert back to what you know. That's boxing. I've boxed my whole life.
09:14I left school when I was 15. I got exposed. So I was very, very lucky and privileged that
09:21I had something that I was good at. And boxing's not just all physical. The majority of it's
09:26up there. So you're exhausted by thinking of the combinations, by thinking about, oh
09:32my God, a punch is coming. Let me slip, let me get out of the way. So it's all mental.
09:36The majority of it is.
09:41Degale, also an MBE, gave the young boxers advice on their footwork, guard placement
09:46and the tactics of the sport, such as when to throw a jab, a cross or a body shot. The
09:51class, which saw the boxer give one-on-one advice as well as answer questions in a Q&A
09:55session and give out photos, was all to help raise money for Leilani. Leilani was born
10:00with a rare heart and lung condition. She needs surgery to correct her arteries and
10:05some of her lung removed. Her condition means she's in and out of the hospital and needs
10:09to be fed every two hours around the clock.
10:12Yeah, so we're fundraising for my daughter Leilani. She's got a rare heart and lung condition.
10:16We've had James Degale down here today, obviously supporting doing boxing with the children
10:22and also adult classes, so people coming together, contributing and fundraising for
10:27the surgery that she needs. Oh, no, it's been fantastic. The local community have got behind
10:31us on various events. Yeah, so they're here today supporting, contributing towards the
10:37fundraising cause.
10:39Their GoFundMe page is halfway to the £250,000 needed to be raised in order to fly the family
10:44out to Boston, Massachusetts for the surgery. For more fundraising, Canter Clubs and Ultimate
10:49Masterclass are putting on a raffle, with the main prize being a signed Tyson Fury boxing
10:53glove and runner-up prizes of vouchers for local restaurants. Two-time former world heavyweight
10:59champion Anthony Joshua also donated a signed glove for Leilani's cause. It's fair to say
11:04that the boxing community are all in her corner. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Midway.
11:11Now we've reached half time, which means it's time for a break. But coming up, as Cristiano
11:15Ronaldo becomes the first person to ever reach one billion followers online combined,
11:20we'll be looking into the growth of social media influences across our county. And we'll
11:26be joined by wrestling coach John Owens from Chatham, who hopes his work with young people
11:31could be the solution to anti-social behaviour and unemployment right here in Midway. We'll
11:36have all that and more after this very short break. More sports news from right across
11:41Kent. See you in just a few minutes' time. Bye bye.
14:45Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV. Now, as Cristiano Ronaldo becomes
15:14the first person to ever reach one billion followers online combined, the dream of becoming
15:19an influencer here in Kent is growing. Almost one in five children say they'd like to pursue
15:24a career on social media like the football star. But as some of Kent's micro-celebrities
15:29have been telling us, it's not as easy as it looks to go viral, or not quite what it's
15:34cracked up to be. Bartholomew Hall has more.
15:38Alessio Russo, 863,000. Orlando Bloom, 7.1 million. These are just two of Kent's celebrities
15:47who haven't found it hard to gain a following online thanks to their stardom. Cristiano
15:52Ronaldo has long been hailed as one of the most successful footballers, but now can be
15:56labelled as one of the most successful influencers too, after he reached a billion followers
16:01across all his social media pages. That's more than 500 times the population of Kent.
16:08Even after scoring 900 goals and taking home 33 trophies, Cristiano Ronaldo is clearly
16:14still ready to make some career records, even in the online space. It's hard to imagine
16:18what a billion followers really looks like, but perhaps not so surprising, as with the
16:23continued rise of platforms like TikTok and even new ones like Threads, the role of the
16:28social media influencer is becoming ever more common, and there's even a fair few that
16:32have been popping up here in Kent.
16:42You might not have heard of Dover's Aaron Kraskal, but he's been making people laugh
16:45online for more than a decade, with a combined follower tally of three million. Whilst Aaron
16:51calls himself an idiot with a camera, other online celebrities like Tasha Newcombe from
16:56Chatham take the lifestyle approach, showing off their lavish routines and promoting brand
17:01products for a profit to her almost 60,000 Instagram fans. So it's clear to see why the
17:07influencer life might be appealing, and the data proves it, with 17% of young people choosing
17:14it as their dream career.
17:15Hey guys, my name is Joy, I'm an entertainment social video journalist. I think kids and
17:21young people are inspired by what they see, like when I was younger I would look at TV
17:25presenters and think, oh my god, I want to be like that, and influencers are now part
17:29of the people who young people are exposed to, so I think it looks nice I guess to be
17:34an influencer. Granted, a lot of it can be fake, you know. It was revealed this week
17:39that these LA influencers who have these nice apartments, they are renting a space, like
17:44that's not their house, like they've rented that space. I think for social media, like
17:48from what we see, it does make it look super attractive.
17:51And it's not just individuals becoming more popular online, social media itself has this
17:55week overtaken television for the first time, as the number one place to keep up to date
18:00with news here in the UK. So next time you're online, why not give us a follow for all the
18:06latest. Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
18:10Bartholomew the influencer we've got on our hands there. Now next tonight, thousands of
18:14young people in Kent are unemployed, and in the county the number's higher than the national
18:18average. In Rochester, one martial arts gym is working on their own unique solution to
18:22the problem, amateur wrestling. They say it gives young people discipline and structure,
18:27and can hopefully stop anti-social behaviour. Finn McDermott has more.
18:32From January to March 2024, there were around 580,000 young people in Kent aged 16 to 24
18:40who were not in full-time education, employment or training. Known as NEETs, the number of
18:45these people in Kent from ages 16 to 24 is higher than the national average, and is increasing
18:51year on year. One coach at a gym in Rochester wants to get more young people off the streets
18:56and onto the mat.
18:57Well, wrestling isn't the only practice they teach here, with coach John trying to place
19:01a special emphasis on wisdom and life advice that they can use outside of the ring.
19:06John has been coaching since 1994, and has been doing sessions at Evolution Gym in Rochester
19:11since it opened 14 months ago. He also coaches at a gym in Tunbridge Wells, where the youngest
19:16wrestler is only five.
19:18A lot of young people in some areas, like this area, get involved in misbehaving, either
19:26drugs, carrying knives, because they don't respect themselves. They're like a little
19:32growly dog on the street. And I'm changing their mind to stop doing that. Stop dealing.
19:39Stop taking that stuff. There is a different way. Not as easy, but in life, if it's easy,
19:45it ain't worth having.
19:47John is a former national wrestler, and has competed in places like the United States,
19:51Macedonia and Sweden. But his hopes now lie in giving young people the confidence to attack
19:56life with all they have.
19:58From a poor background, John started wrestling in a local park, eventually joining a wrestling
20:02club where he was able to compete around the world. He thinks young people are constantly
20:07comparing themselves to other people through social media, and wants to use wrestling
20:11as a way to build them up, mentally and physically.
20:14The biggest impact it's had is in terms of pushing myself. Like, everyone always says
20:18they're going to push themselves for a test, they're going to push themselves in the gym
20:20or something like that. But when you're actually having to physically exhaust yourself and
20:23you're at your breaking point, and then you've got John shouting down your ear, you know,
20:27one more, one more, push a little bit more. It's just that extra bit of motivation in
20:30life, which is kind of, it has a great carryover into everything else that I do now. And yeah,
20:35it's a great coach as well.
20:37Well, their coach will hope that wrestling can give young people the tools to both suplex
20:41and to succeed.
20:42Finn McDermott for KMTV in Rochester.
20:45Well, John joins me in the studio now. John, thank you very much for joining us. It's great
20:51to have you on. Tell us, we heard about it a bit there in Finn's piece, but if you can
20:55elaborate on becoming a wrestling coach and where that inspiration came from.
21:00I've been wrestling now since I was 18, and I'm nearly 61. And I started coaching 30 years
21:08ago, because in those days, there were lots of clubs and a lot of people took a lot of
21:13time to teach me wrestling. And I thought, as I get older, they give it back. And I've
21:19been spending most of my time now going all over the place, teaching wrestling.
21:24And just talk to me about what that means for the young people that you help and support.
21:28We talked then about antisocial behaviour, unemployment, getting children off the streets
21:33and doing something quite productive, enhancing them, learning a skill, getting active.
21:39Young people nowadays probably have it more difficult than you're a lot younger than me,
21:43but you had and I had. We are addicted to this thing called social media, which may
21:50or may not be true or may or may not be harmful. But it gives an impression of an impossible
21:55world. And you're telling young people, you're going to fail in an impossible world. And
22:01young people become either very insular, with lots of mental health problems, or become
22:07very aggressive and involved in social behaviour problems, drugs, knives, because they've got
22:14no respect for themselves. And if they don't respect themselves, they're not going to respect
22:18anyone else.
22:20How would I suppose you've, how have you seen some young people's lives that you've, young
22:24people that you've worked with, how have their lives transformed? Do you have any particular
22:28stories about young people who they were going down maybe a bad path and you were able to,
22:33through the gym, through the exercise, through the wrestling, coach them into a sort of a
22:37better life, a better path?
22:39I have one young person, this is some time ago. His social skills were so poor it took
22:45me four weeks to get him to stand on the mat. His confidence was that bad. He was only 14.
22:51By the time he was 16, he was junior British champion. Then he left, his family left the
22:58area and ten years later he returned with a child of his own. And I was still teaching
23:05in the same place, probably using the same jokes. And these people turned up to train
23:10who weren't nice people. They were from London and they injured one of my wrestlers. And
23:18I thought, okay, we'll go on the mat and warm him up. And this young man said, John, do
23:24you mind if I go on the mat with them? And I remember saying, Steve, help yourself. And
23:31he threw them around like they were nothing. And afterwards he thanked me and I never saw
23:35him again.
23:37That full circle moment. I suppose that goes to show not only the persistence from those
23:40taking part in any sport, we talk about it a lot on Invictus Sport, that passion and
23:44the persistence, but also you have to have a great coach behind you. Not that I'm going
23:48to make you toot your own horn now, but clearly that persistence is very key.
23:52I'm lucky. I surround myself with better coaches. I coach in Carlson, Gracie, Dunbridge. You've
23:59got the BJJ coaches, Paul and Dave. And Evolution in Rochester. Frank is a lovely guy. He lets
24:05me do what I want. But you've got Courtney, Ben and Mick also teaching there. And I tell
24:11young people, they come to you angry or they come to you with insecure. I want two things
24:16from you. That's all I want. I want you to get up because life will knock you down. Life
24:22hurts. I want you to keep getting up. No matter how much it hurts, how much you don't want
24:27to, get up. And if you keep getting up and you get used to getting up, it gets easier.
24:32That's the one thing I want. And the second thing, I want you to be a champion. And a
24:38champion doesn't mean beat the rest. Be the best you can be. And if being the best you
24:42can be is you turn up once a week, get on this mat, do your best, listen to my bad jokes
24:48and go away again. And that's the best you'll ever be. You're a champion in my eyes.
24:52It is very inspiring, John, the way you speak so eloquently about wrestling as well. It
24:57brings such a beauty to what can be quite a tough sport as well. What about the wrestling
25:02scene here in Kent? How's that expanded? What's it like now?
25:06I'm very lucky. I'm getting old. I coached a couple of very young people years ago, Buster
25:13and Bill. And they were amazing wrestlers, especially Buster. He ended up becoming 10th
25:20in the world.
25:20Great name for a wrestler. I feel like Buster and Bill, that just works.
25:23They're amazing. They've now got children themselves and they're now taking up the coaching
25:28mantle to take wrestling forward in two ways that hasn't been for years and years and years.
25:34So the wrestling scene in Kent is fantastic.
25:36It's also about teaching people how to do it in a safe way as well. And how do you make
25:41sure that young children aren't watching this, aren't watching older children wrestle and
25:45think, oh, I can do this at home. How do you make sure that they're doing it in a safe
25:48controlled way?
25:51The importance is to show the difference between what I do, Olympic wrestling, amateur wrestling
25:56and the pro wrestling, which is basically a side show or a stage show. And you give
26:02them history of where pro wrestling comes from and say what we do is for real. I'm not
26:08putting those people down. They're athletes and they get hurt doing their jobs. But we
26:13do a different sport and this is where you do it. You don't do it anywhere else. This
26:17is where you do it and here only.
26:19And that message, do not try this at home that we hear time and time again when we talk
26:23about sports and actually how dangerous they can be if you don't do it with a proper coach
26:27in a proper environment as well. But John, it's been very inspiring to talk to you.
26:31Thank you for having me.
26:32I want to try wrestling now and I'm sure our viewers do too.
26:35You're more than welcome.
26:36There you go. I'll come along with Finn next time. Thank you very much, John.
26:39Thank you so much.
26:40That's all we've got time for tonight. I'll see you again next time. Bye bye.