It’s Brill to have him
Rugby
PONY: Cranbrook’s Caroline Barbour was part of the victorious Romney Marsh team that won the Virbac 3D Worming Intermediate Team Show Jumping event last month. The 15-year-old was joined by teammates Amy Hilton and Connie Wheeler at the Pony Club Championships. The team, trained by Lena PearsonWood, hope to be back next year at Open level. ROWING: Will Warr is going for gold again this weekend at the 14th FISU World University Rowing Championships. Warr won gold in 2014 and goes in the men’s four this time around with Maidstone’s Morgan Hellen also named in the British team. The three-day championships started in Poznan, Poland from today (Friday). GOLF: A miserable second round for Bearsted’s Matt Ford saw him miss the cut at the Made in Denmark event last week. He was in contention after carding a one-overpar 72 in the first round but he shot 81 last Friday to finish well down the field. PIGEONS: Maidstone Racing Pigeon Club’s Kenny Pattenden took the first three places in a young bird race from Lyndhurst. Results: Kenny Pattenden 1844, 1843, 1842; 4 Mr & Mrs John Coles 1841; 5, 7, 8, Mr and Mrs Dave Sparkes; 6 M J and R Collins; 9 Bob Wimsett; 10 11, 12, Colin Draper; 13 Rob Johnson and Mick Hadaway; 14, Chris Green; 15 Kelvin Norman. Twickenham hero Ben Brill has rejoined Maidstone.
The Kiwi, who played an hour of the club’s 2015 Intermediate Cup final triumph with a broken thumb, is among several summer signings.
New coach Mike Hebden said: “Ben’s back from New Zealand to live with his girlfriend and contacted us.
“I didn’t know him but people around the club spoke highly of him. He’s a good No.8 who will add to us.”
Hebden’s side start the London 1 South season with a home game against promoted side Tunbridge Wells tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm).
Like Maidstone the year before, Wells won London 2 South without losing a game and lifted the Intermediate Cup.
Hebden, who has succeeded Paul Hathaway as coach, said: “They’re a carbon copy in that they’ve come up on a long unbeaten run and had a big win at Twickenham.
“It’s great for Kent rugby to have so many Kent teams in a strong league.
“We’re looking forward to a good old ding-dong game against them. We know they like to throw the ball around and so do we.
“Hopefully, there will be a big crowd. It’ll probably be a great game for the neutral, as well.”
Maidstone have also signed former Blackheath second row Ralph Cooke, although injury rules him out for a fortnight.
Australian Brendon Trudgeon and Kiwi Leon Olsson strengthen the backs, while there are high hopes for blindside flanker Ben Knight, who has joined from Ashford.
Harry Millar, Jake Eaglesham, Rob Field, Alfie Paea, Andy Petalo and player-of-the-year Hugh Cowan have all left the club.
Hebden said: “Quite a few of the international boys have moved on but I’m pleased with the players we’ve recruited.
“Ralph has played at a high level, not just club rugby but Combined Services and the Army and he’s a great signing.
“Brendon has played Premier Grade in Australia and is only 21 and with Leon Olsson I think those three in particular will add a spark.
“Ben’s a robust blindside flanker who is going to add a lot to our game around the breakdown. He’s a good ball-carrier.” Fixtures: London 1 South: Chiswick v Cobham, Dover v CS Rugby 1863, Gravesend v Chobham, Havant v Sidcup, Maidstone v Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks v Gosport & Fareham, Tottonians v Brighton. Goudhurst’s Jake Hill recovered from a frustrating retirement to score valuable Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship points at Rockingham on Sunday. The Toyota driver, 22, was on course for a strong finish in the first race until part of his car’s air intake came loose, causing his Team HARD machine to overheat and lose power. Hill, who had just pulled off a stunning overtake on triple champion Matt Neal, was forced to retire on lap seven. He said: “The car was handling brilliantly but it was so frustrating that the problem stopped us.” Hill started race two from the back of the grid following the retirement but made good progress to take the flag in 16th. He then showed further progress in the third and final race, holding off Tom Ingram to finish in a strong eighth place. Meanwhile, bosses at Wrotham-based Motorbase Performance celebrated a double podium and two independent championship race wins with their drivers Mat Jackson and Andrew Jordan. Jackson – who finished second, fourth and fifth in the races – is now fourth in the championship standings on 230 points. Jordan struggled with the set-up on his Ford Focus in qualifying but improved on Sunday to finish seventh, second and 12th in the races.
Aylesford’s Howie Mainwaring made his first return to British Superbike action at Cadwell Park since his split from the BMW Smiths Racing team. Mainwaring deputised for ePayMe Yamaha’s Broc Parkes, who was on World Endurance duty and finished 22nd in race one. However, his hopes of improving in race two were dashed when he was hit on lap one, forcing him to retire. Shane Byrne booked his place in the three-round end-of-season shoot-out after finishing first and third for Ducati.