Horsham and Sussex star George Garton has earned a four-day trial with 2008 Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2020 player auction on December 19.

The 22-year-old was the leading wicket-taker in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, taking 13 wickets for the Qalandars, and was subsequently named Bowler of the Tournament.

The left-arm fast bowler began his trial on Monday, December 3.

Rajasthan Royals finished seventh out of eight teams in the 2019 Indian Premier League after winning five and losing eight of their 14 fixtures.

Speaking to sussexcricket.co.uk Garton said: “It’s obviously an amazing opportunity and I’m very grateful to be given the chance to go over there and show them what I can do.

“The IPL is the biggest franchise T20 competition in the world so to have interest from a team like Rajasthan is a big confidence boost and I’m very excited to get out there.”

Garton, who enjoyed a successful 2019 with Sussex after overcoming an injury curtailed his 2018 campaign, has taken 11 wickets in 12 T20 matches.

The Brighton-born seamer has recorded best bowling figures of 4-16 and has an economy rate of 8.77.

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A warning has gone out from police after a number of purse thefts in Horsham town centre.

Horsham police say that they and PCSOs are investigating while also stepping up patrols in the area.

A spokesman said: “We want to remind people to secure handbags and ensure wallets are in the front pocket.”

Police have named a man who they want to question after drugs were discovered in a Crawley hotel room.

Reiss Castello, 25, is described as black, with short dark black Afro-style hair.

Police say he has links to Crawley and South London.

A spokesman said: “Police were called to a hotel in Pegler Way, Crawley, on 13 March after staff discovered a quantity of drugs in one of the rooms.

“A 20-year-old woman from Crawley was arrested on 20 March on suspicion of supplying a class A drug and later released under investigation.

“If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of Castello please report online or call 101 quoting 47190040882.”

Crawley Town could be making a 'quick appointment' according to a source close to the club.

Edu Rubio is the interim head coach after Gaby Cioffi left the club by mutual consent on Monday following a poor run of results culminating in the FA Cup defeat to Fleetwood Town on Sunday.

Owner Ziya Eren was at the game and the news of Cioffi leaving came a day later.

Fans are calling for an experienced manager to come in and turn the Reds' season around. There are plenty of managers available (click here to see 15 names that could be in the frame). But it could be someone with familiarity of the club who comes in.

The Crawley Observer was told: "We need to get someone in who understands the squad we have.,

"It's paramount it's someone who can get the best out of them.

"There has to be a process but I think there will be quite a quick appointment.

"The squad does not need wholesale changes, we just need to get the best out of them."

The Reds are on a poor run of form and face second from bottom Stevenage away on Saturday.

The source said: "We need a reaction and the club is focussed on the games coming up,"

SEE ALSO 'I’m forever in debt to this man' Crawley Town star on Gabriele Cioffi | Gabriele Cioffi's career at Crawley Town in pictures | Pochettino, Harry Kewell, Paul Tisdale, Edu Rubio? - Crawley Town fans speculate about next boss | 'Feel for the guy, but some of his selections and tactics were truly baffling' - Crawley Town fans react to Cioffi leaving | I really hope they make a choice that meets the supporters’ expectations - Crawley Town opinion

Assistant manager Julian Miller believes Horsham YMCA’s 2-1 defeat at Pagham was ‘the worst display’ he has seen since he joined the club in August 2016.

Pagham took the lead on the half-hour mark through a Joe Clarke header but Tony Nwachukwu fired YM level through a header of his own in the 70th minute.

But the Lions quickly retook the lead when Toby Funnell knocked in a deep cross at the back post.

The result leaves YMCA in 12th place in the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division.

Miller was aghast at the result. He said: “We thought it couldn’t get any worse but that’s probably the worst display I’ve seen from YM since I’ve been here.

“It wasn’t good at all but we’ve got to keep going. We’re making a lot of changes at the moment, with people not available through injuries and suspensions but there’s no excuses.”

It’s their second consecutive defeat to a bottom five side and Miller is unsure as to what might be behind their poor form.

He said: “After last Saturday, and both training sessions, the warm-up looked very promising but we failed to deliver. There wasn’t a lot of positives.

“Two or three of them came out with a half-decent game but everybody else was well below par.”

He continued: “It’s going to be tough. They’ve got to start understanding that they’ve got to earn the right to play. Last year we had one of the best defences in the league and this year we have one of the worst.

“Is it confidence? Is it because we’re just not as good? Is it because they’re not bothered? We’ve highlighted that they’re not as fit as last year so we’re trying to put that right but it’s December now and we’re playing catch-up.”

Miller also believes they deserve their mid-table placing. He added: “We’re in that position because that’s where we deserve to be.

“We’re so erratic, we’re definitely playing like a mid-table side at the moment but we’re trying to put things right and we’ll just see what happens.”

The home side took the lead when Clarke headed home from a pin-point Jamie Carroll cross and Pagham thought they’d doubled their lead when Tom Chalaye slid the ball into the net from inside the penalty area but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Nwachukwu equalised for the visitors with a close-range header, but the hosts quickly regained the lead, with Funnell knocking in a long cross in at the far post.

The game then degenerated into a nasty affair and Clarke was sent off after a 21-man brawl on 77 minutes.

YM host near-neighbours Alfold on Saturday.

Horsham YMCA: Jeal, Carden, Evans, Gilbert, Harding, Gedling, Nwachukwu, Wadhams, Ryder, Mobsby, Clarke. Unused: Pavlovic, Frankland, Godfrey, Sim, Eales.

Picking out a baby name can be a tricky decision, particularly when there are so many to choose from.

But despite thousands of potential options, some monikers still remain a firm favourite among new parents, with these 10 boy’s names proving to the most popular choices in 2019, according to BabyCentre. Which one would you go for?

One of the senior health officials in Sussex is moving to a new NHS post.

Family doctor Elizabeth Gill, the clinical chair of the High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), is to become the chief medical officer for Sussex CCGs.

Her move comes as the seven CCGs across Sussex become three after a series of mergers aimed at saving money – about £5 million a year – by cutting the number of NHS managers.

Dr Gill, 53, a GP (general practitioner) at Buxted Medical Centre, in Framfield Road, Buxted, near Uckfield, will step down as clinical chair at the end of the month.

She told a CCG governing body meeting on Wednesday December 4: “It has been a privilege and an honour to have led this organisation since 2012.

“We have achieved much together and the commitment of the governing body and the executive and management teams has allowed us to achieve many successful improvements for our population.

“A process has begun to recruit an interim chair to lead the merger.

“I am not leaving the system. I am proud to have been appointed as the chief medical officer for the Sussex CCGs alongside my job share partner Dr Tim Caroe.

“This role will allow me to build on my passion for transformation and integration of services and care that I firmly believe needs strong clinical and managerial leadership working hand in glove together.”

Dr Caroe, 45, is a partner at the Lighthouse Medical Practice, in College Road, Eastbourne. The practice also has a surgery in Langney.

Dr Gill qualified from St Bartholomew’s Medical School, known as Barts, in 1996. She worked in various hospital jobs, including in A&E (accident and emergency) at the Royal London as part of the trauma team.

She then moved to Brighton to pursue her career as a GP, joining Buxted surgery in 2003 where she completed her GP training. She became a partner and GP trainer in nine years ago.

Dr Gill also has a bachelor’s degree in fine art and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), helping her in her role as a GP trainer for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Deanery.

She told the CCG governing body that the High Weald Lewes Havens CCG membership had voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new constitution which enables the CCG to merge with the Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford CCG and the Hastings and Rother CCG.

A similar process will result in the merger of three West Sussex health bodies – Coastal West Sussex CCG, Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG and Crawley CCG.

Brighton and Hove CCG will continue in its current form, with a number of senior management changes as part of the new Sussex-wide arrangements.

The three CCGs will have the same boundaries as East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council.

Dr Gill added: “This will facilitate the formation of an ‘integrated care partnership’ that can promote and deliver improved outcomes for our population by streamlining health and social care and addressing the wider determinants of health in line with the aspirations of the NHS Long Term Plan.”

While there are thousands of names to choose from, these 10 baby girl names have proved to be hugely popular among new parents, and ranked as the top choices in 2019 according to BabyCentre. Which name would you go for?

West Sussex County Council has received a clear ‘get on with it’ from one of its own committees following a meeting about Woodlands Meed special college, local democracy reporter Karen Dunn reports.

Staff, parents and governors have been waiting since 2012 for a new college to be built so older children don’t have to be educated in prefabricated buildings which have been described as ‘not fit for purpose’.

Suggestions that an independent specialist should carry out a review to see if the modular buildings, in Birchwood Grove Road, could be brought up to scratch did not go down well with members of the children and young person’s select committee today (Wednesday December 4).

Their recommendation to Nigel Jupp, cabinet member for education, was that the college should be rebuilt from the ground up and a planning application submitted to Mid Sussex District Council soon.

The committee also said the council had all the information it needed about the college site, that no extra review was needed, and a ‘firm and clear’ decision should be made by the end of January.

Chairman David Barling (Con, Bramber Castle) said: “We must have a new school and not in any way a sticking plaster. I’m quite clear that a new-build school is the way forward for the future.”

Mr Barling made it clear to Mr Jupp that, if the committee’s recommendations were not followed, he would be ‘invited’ back to tell them why.

The meeting was well-attended by members of the school community, including chairman of governors Marion Wilcock and the Complete Woodlands Meed campaign group.

Mrs Wilcock said the council should ‘stop prevaricating’ and remember its statutory duty to the 103 children at the school.

She was one of several people who took issue with the report presented to the meeting, which implied the need for better facilities had only been going on since 2016.

It has actually been ten years since the council declared the prefabricated buildings at Birchwood Grove Road did not meet the standards or statutory requirements needed.

Mrs Wilcock said: “We need a quick reality check here because you have managed to whitewash 10 years of our history.”

That criticism was echoed by leader Paul Marshall, who said the report was ‘poor’.

Mr Marshall said the way the Woodlands Meed situation had been handled over the years was ‘an embarrassment’.

Apologising to the school community, he added: “It’s been difficult to try to understand what has gone on.

“This journey of Woodlands Meed has just developed its own interpretation and legs and it’s been extremely frustrating that we as a county council have not been able to articulate our position clearly.

“It’s highly frustrating that we do not have a clear position – and it’s an embarrassment as well.”

One of the main questions on many lips during the meeting was what had changed since February when the council announced that £20m would be included in its capital programme to fund the new college?

There had been enthusiasm with that pledge, that building could soon start and the September 2021 opening date would be met.

That enthusiasm faded each time the final decision was pushed back – first to November and now to January – and the dream of meeting the target date has faded with each passing day.

Mr Jupp explained that £6m of the £20m was made up by a government grant, which the council had not yet received. He told the meeting that the funding approval given in February had been subject to a business case being made – and the £6m grant had been ‘absolutely crucial’ to that case.

Mr Jupp said he was ‘minded to recommend to my cabinet colleagues that the council honour the commitment made by it in February for new investment in the college’.

That recommendation, though, would only come on the back of an independent report into the state of the buildings and their suitability to meet the needs of the children.

He told the meeting the work had already started and he hoped the report would be ready by January.

There were concerns among the committee that an option to spend £2.36m on new modular buildings had been added, with some asking if the council planned to cut costs and take that route.

The committee’s preferred option was for £21m to be spent on a new one and two-storey college for 136 children, with a sports hall added once the current college site was demolished.

Fortunes were mixed fortunes for University of Chichester sports teams in the latest round of matches – and a number of fixtures fell foul of the weather.

The men’s basketball team suffered another heavy loss, falling 72-36 at home to St Mary’s. Jacob Green was the only player to score in double-digits as he notched ten points.

A fourth straight defeat leaves player-manager John Fisher pondering how the Thunder can recover their season as they languish rock bottom of the league.

St Mary’s made their presence on the court felt within the opening minute when their small forward drove into the paint and threw down a powerful dunk that had the visitors’ bench on their feet roaring.

They started to pull away from Chichester, showcasing their talent with some impressive athleticism and cunning close to the hoop that the hosts just couldn’t defend against.

St Mary’s began the second quarter like they ended the first, causing the Thunder serious problems with their drives towards the interior. The home crowd let out a roar when Henry Pang showed incredible defensive acumen to leap across and block a layup that would have put St Mary’s 20 points ahead with only 13 minutes played.

St Mary’s closed out the quarter with a 15-2 run that saw them up by 33 at half-time.

After the break, it became apparent luck just wasn’t with Chichester and hot attacking threats such as Green and Darren Sam saw their shots just fail to drop. Sam, who has been one of the few bright sparks for the Thunder so far, finished on only six points.

Chichester played their best basketball of the game in the third quarter and began to heat up from long range as Seb Galardo landed the Thunder’s first three-pointer after nine previous attempts by the team.

Pang sank a corner to take his personal tally to five points. However, that was as good as it got for the home side as St Mary’s then closed out the game to seal their away victory.

Chi’s men’s rugby ones drew 13-13 away to Imperial (Medics). Matt Hunt scored two penalties and one conversion after Ciaran Mohr got Chichester’s sole try. The home side might have won it late on but Chichester stopped a driving maul on the five-metre line just before the final whistle.

The Chi men’s badminton team picked up a point at home to Surrey twos in a 4-4 draw, Chi’s women’s hockey ones lost 3-1 against Sussex and the men’s hockey ones beat Sussex 7-1.

In football there were heavy defeats for men’s football ones, who lost ground on league leaders East London with a 5-1 defeat at Brighton and Surrey fours beat the sixes 8-2.

Chi’s men’s lacrosse beat Kingston 6-5 in a close encounter but men’s volleyball lost in straight sets away to Kent.

In netball the ones lost agonisingly 44-43 to Brighton, the twos were beaten 20-16 by their Brighton counterparts, the threes won 62-28 at home to Royal Holloway, the fours lost 72-29 to Portsmouth and the fives lost by two in a tight 28-26 home game with St Mary’s.

Dominic Di Paola admitted that ‘it wasn’t an easy night’ for Horsham as they secured passage to the quarter-finals of the Sussex Senior Cup after a penalty shootout win at Littlehampton Town on Tuesday night.

The Hornets were below-par in the first half and fell behind to the Division 1 leaders five minutes before the break.

Horsham rallied in the second half but had to wait until the 88th minute to level.

Alex Kelly bagged his first goal for the club to send the game into extra-time.

After a goalless half-hour, George Bentley was the Hornets’ spot kick saviour.

He saved two penalties to help Horsham win the shootout 4-2 and advance to the final eight for just the second time since 2012

Di Paola said: “Littlehampton are winners. They don’t lose many games and they were bang up for it.

“They put bodies in the way, they grafted and they closed down well. It wasn’t an easy night for us.

“Two boys took nearly four hours to get there. The four London boys took nearly three hours.

“There was a massive amount of rustiness in the group. The extra-time, at the time, was a pain but that’s put some extra minutes in the players’ legs.

“There were more positives than negatives. I don’t think we were as up to it as we needed to be, but from the second half onwards the boys can take credit for adjusting their mentality and taking the game to them.”

The Golds were the better side in the first half. Former Hornet George Gaskin capitalised on a mistake from Joe Shelley and was sent one-on-one with Bentley but his lob went wide.

READ MORE Horsham YMCA deliver ‘worst display’ in loss to Pagham | Leaders Horsham 'can't rest on their laurels' after disappointing defeat | IPL audition awaits for Horsham and Sussex star
A header from a Mitch Hand free-kick was parried by Bentley and Dan Hegarty’s headed rebound was cut out.

The hosts had dominated and deservedly went ahead on 40 minutes. Poor marking from a corner saw Dan Swain smash home before half-time.

Di Paola restructured the Hornets at the break and they were much improved after the restart.

Kelly, Gary Charman, Shelley and Jack Brivio all had chances but they would have to wait for their equaliser.

With two minutes to go, Harry Mills played a perfectly weighted ball for Kelly to neatly slot home and send the game to extra-time.

Horsham bossed the extra half-hour, Mills hit both posts and Charman and Chris Smith both headed narrowly wide, but they couldn’t find the winner as penalties beckoned.

Both teams converted their first kicks but Bentley made a superb save down to his right to keep out James McKernan.

Smith put Horsham in front with a strike that crashed off the bar before Bentley excellently stopped Swain’s kick.

JJ O’Sullivan then made no mistake from the spot and Hand scored to keep the Golds in it.

But Lea Dawson’s converted penalty ensured the Hornets advanced to the quarters.

Horsham: Bentley, O’Sullivan, Sparks, Kelly, Shelley, Merchant, Pamment (Charman 46), Dawson, Smith, Harris (Mills 71), Roberts (Brivio 75). Unused: Metcalf, Goddard.

A new Horsham town centre restuarant has opened its doors for the first time tonight.

Izmir Bar and Grill opened for the first time this evening (December 4) in East Street.

Owner Shehzad said: “We had a very good response.”

He said the restaurant, which is on the former Strada site, held a soft launch yesterday which 144 people attended.

He added: “We’re ready now. We have got a really nice atmosphere.”

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It was the most memorable of FA Cup journeys, but it had to come to an end some time.

And so it did on the Wirral as League One Tranmere Rovers made sure they avoided a major upset.

But as Chichester City played in the second round for the first time in their history, scoring in the ‘proper’ rounds for the first time too, they put in a performance to be proud of. Never mind the final scoreline: City exit the FA Cup with their heads held high.

The Isthmian south east side bravely held their own for an hour until the team more than 100 places above them in the league structure showed their quality, Rovers striker Morgan Ferrier hitting an 11-minute hat-trick to shatter any hopes of a Chi miracle.

At the death, Ryan Peake made history for Chichester as he scored the club’s first FA Cup goal in the non-qualifying rounds to cap what’s been an extraordinary adventure, one which fans, players and staff will remember forever.

Manager Miles Rutherford named an unchanged side from the XI that beat Phoenix Sports 3-2 a week earlier, and that meant it was a fairly attacking line-up with Josh Clack, Gicu Iordache and Kallem Haitham all involved to support Scott Jones up top.

Goalkeeper Ant Ender and midfielder Theo Bennetts were on the bench alongside Emmett Dunn, Matt Axell, Rory Biggs, Peake and Jimmy Wild for the tie.

Chi got things under way and began brightly as a good counter-attack from the underdogs ended with a Jones effort being blocked after a skilful lay-off from Clack.

The pair combined again and City were inches away from the unthinkable. Clack held off Rovers centre-half Manny Monthe and crossed to Jones, but the striker sent his header just inches wide of Scott Davies’ post. What a moment that could have been.

Tranmere started to build pressure with Jake Caprice’s low cross well held by Steve Mowthorpe and an outstanding recovery tackle from Corey Heath preventing Ferrier’s progress.

The hosts had a couple of chances come and go.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy dragged a low shot into the side netting, then last round’s matchwinner for Rovers, Kieron Morris, had an effort deflected behind for a corner.

On the half-hour, Corey Blackett-Taylor, who Rovers signed from Premier League Aston Villa, squandered a great opening as he clipped the bar after good initial work from Ferrier.

A cross from Liam Ridehalgh out on the left found its way to Hepburn-Murphy, another Aston Villa loanee. But he was denied as Mowthorpe produced a stunning save to tip over his header and make sure City went in goalless at half-time.

The hosts made a change at half-time as they looked to get past a resilient Chichester defence when top scorer Connor Jennings replaced Hepburn-Murphy up-front, a sign perhaps that Tranmere realised they had taken City just a little too lightly in the first half.

Rovers started the second half quickly, and more heroic defending from Heath prevented Blackett-Taylor getting in on goal.

Tranmere pressure built as the hosts searched for the opener.

Blackett-Taylor was again denied by Mowthorpe, then at the other end, Iordache fired an awkward long-range effort at Davies – but the keeper was equal to it.

City’s Jamie Horncastle picked up the first yellow of the game after he was forced to bring down dangerman Ferrier in a dangerous area. Tranmere played a short free kick and Jake Caprice crossed only for skipper Connor Cody to head clear, but he injured himself in the process.

With Chi a man down as Cody received treatment on the sidelines, Tranmere finally got the breakthrough on 62 minutes through Blackett-Taylor, who was not to be stopped by Mowthorpe for a third time. A Caprice cross was met by Ferrier, his header struck the bar, but Blackett-Taylor was there to tuck home the rebound.

Just two minutes later the League one side doubled their lead through Ferrier.

A mix-up between Cody and Heath allowed the striker to get in on goal and produce a composed finish past a helpless Mowthorpe.

A lovely passing move from Rovers ended with Ferrier stinging the palms of Mowthorpe at his near post.

Ferrier got his second after another mistake between the Chi centre-halves, though he had plenty to do in lobbing Mowthorpe after hesitancy between Cody and Heath gave him a sniff.

And that was quickly followed by a stabbed effort home to complete an 11-minute hat trick and seal Rovers spot in the third-round draw.

City had to make their first change – Cody couldn’t solider on after his injury and Peake came on in his place.

Hat-trick hero Ferrier was replaced on 78 minutes to a standing ovation from the home fans.

The hosts got their fifth after another cross from Caprice was sent into the Chichester danger area.

Heath did well to get a head on it, but the ball dropped to Blackett-Taylor and his low volley nestled in the bottom corner to earn himself a double.

Mowthorpe almost gifted the home side another with a poor clearance but the Chi shot stopper made amends with a fine save at his near post to prevent Blackett-Taylor from getting his hat-trick.

In the closing stages great trickery from Iordache earned his side a corner.

Substitute Matt Axell produced a perfect ball for a flying Peake to get the deftest of touches and create history as City got the goal their valiant efforts deserved.

The goal sparked wild celebrations in the away end and even the Tranmere fans applauded the goal as City ended their FA Cup run on a high.

The post-match plaudits for the players from the 437 City fans in the away end were returned in kind as Rutherford’s men showed their appreciation for the backing they had received.

And now, it’s back down to earth. Tonight (Wednesday) Chichester face Lewes in the Sussex Senior Cup. In any other season it would have been one of City’s biggest matches of the campaign. This time it wasn’t even their biggest of the week. Saturday brings another stiff test in the form of a league visit to league leaders Hastings.

As much as the FA Cup has been great for City this season, it may soon seem like a distant memory as normality returns.

Joshua, 30, seeks to reclaim his WBA, IBF and WBO world titles following his surprise seventh round loss to Ruiz in New York last June.

Schedule

Diriyah Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Andy Ruiz Jr v Anthony Joshua (WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles) - ring walks expected at 21:00 GMT

Dillian Whyte v Mariusz Wach (non-title heavyweight fight)

Alexander Povetkin v Michael Hunter (WBA world heavyweight title eliminator)

Filip Hrgovic v Eric Molina (WBC international heavyweight title)

Mahammadrasul Majidov v Tom Little (non-title heavyweight fight)

How can I watch Joshua vs Ruiz 2?
Sky Sports Box Office begin their broadcast from 5pm GMT.
It costs £24.95, with the full undercard and main event shown.
You can also live stream for the same price on your computer, mobile and tablet devices.
Sky Sports Boxing Facebook and YouTube channels will show an hour of build-up - including Majidov vs Little - for free from 4pm.

What will the fighters earn?
Joshua, despite being the challenger, is reportedly earning £66m for the Clash on Dunes. It's the biggest payday a British boxer has ever received. The champion Ruiz Jr is said to be earning £10m for the rematch.

What are their records?
Anthony Joshua has lost once in 23 fights, winning 22. 21 by KO.

Andy Ruiz Jr has won 33 from 34. His one loss was in a title fight to Joseph Parker. 22 of those wins have been by KO.

What the fighters said?
Andy Ruiz Jr: “I’m confident about the rematch, but I don’t underestimate any fighter. I know AJ’s going to come stronger and more focused but inside the gym, like Mike Tyson says, everyone has a plan until they get hit.

“I’m sure everybody was trying to look for an excuse and reason why he didn’t perform and why he lost. I think it was down to the style. Styles make fights and I’ve been calling AJ out for a while. I knew his style was perfect for me and that’s why I plan to do the same thing.”

Anthony Joshua: "I'm punching loose and heavy - rhythm and flow. Before I was trying to bench-press a house. I used my body to get where I needed but then I started realising the sweet science of the sport. I am punching like a horse kicking backwards right now.

"When Muhammad Ali was training he said he would build a shack to train in. There are clues to success and you have to go back to what it takes to be a great heavyweight champion. We had to bring in hard, rough sparring partners. I brought in the toughest and roughest."

Predictions

I think Joshua will be far more cautious in this contest and he will not want to taste Ruiz's rapid combinations once again. Ruiz is fast, powerful and durable and I expect Joshua to keep the fight at long range and look for a late stoppage.

If Joshua tries to slug it out once again, Ruiz could well triumph as he has quicker hand speed. I'm going for Joshua in 10 or 11...but I'm not totally convinced.

Jay Lovett believes his side need to be sharper against Three Bridges if they are to make an impact. The Hillians picked up another important win on Saturday, beating Sittingbourne 2-1 at the Green Elephants.

But with a week between games, the new manager knows what he has to work on.

He said: “We will need to start better and sharper against Three Bridges if we are to make an impact so that’s what training will be about this week. But the boys need to keep believing in themselves and what we are doing and together we will keep pushing on.”

The win lifted the Hillians up the table to 16th and put them three points ahead of Saturday’s opponents.

Lovett said: “I was pleased with the overall performance on Saturday, but I did wish away the the first 20 minutes as we never got going at all and conceded very early.

“Our first passage of play ended up with our first goal through Andrew Briggs, with a nice piece of football.

“After we scored that, we continued to get on top of the game and created a few more chances.

“Second half we started brighter and I never really felt to troubled until the last 10mins when we went down to 10 mens.

“Sittingbourne were a very direct and physical side, but I was impressed with the way my boys soaked up a lot of pressure, took pride defending their goal and managed the game brilliantly to see out the win.”

The Hillians fans were at their best on Saturday and Lovett said: “As always the fans at the club sang their hearts out and really do create an exciting atmosphere which was pleasing we could reward that commitment with three points.”

The Hillians also face Brighton and Hove Albion in the Sussex Senior Cup game next Tuesday (December 10), at GES, 7.30pm Kick off.

BHTFC General Manager, John Rattle, said: "It’s been a few years since the club has played against BHAFC. It will be to good see how we play against a premiership clubs ‘emerging players’ - we hope the game attracts a good crowd and with good support behind us, we can progress into the quarter finals ! ‘

All pay on the night - ticket prices as follows : Adults £10, Concessions £6 ( inc students) U18’s Free

At the end of last week, Lovett added two more to his squad. Kayode (Kay) Conteh joined, having recently left South Park – where he became a mainstay in the Sparks’ side.

They also confirmed the signing of forward Mason Doughty from Worthing – as reported by us last week.

Junior Baker has left the club. The club said: “We would like to wish Junior all the best for the rest of the season and thank him for all of his efforts during his short time at the club.”

Chichester City Ladies FC have played their first game at their new home ground at Selsey FC.

They kicked off their new era with an FA Cup tie against a very strong Ipswich Ladies, who triumphed 6-0.

The move to Selsey comes after the ladies decided to move out of Oaklands Park, which they said didn’t feel like home any longer and where they were unable to get all their ladies and girls’ teams playing and training in one place.

Chairwoman Caz Evans said “It has been a very hard and stressful few months of continuous meetings, emails, phone calls with everyone involved with this move but we know it’s the best move for our club.

“The players (both youth and senior) are our main concern, we want every girl who joins our club to be included, accepted, valued, listened to, but most of all have a place they can call home when playing the game they love.

“Our time at Oaklands has come to an end – we have tried and failed to keep the club going there and we were left with three options that we put to it committee, the majority voted for one and that was time to leave Oaklands Park.”

With a couple of successful seasons under their belt and an expansion of youth teams, Chi City were unable to keep up the finances that it costs to have eight teams train and play at different venues across West Sussex and Hampshire each week.

To make sure all teams were able to play high quality football and had access to facilities, Selsey FC made the club an offer they couldn’t refuse.

The whole club are accommodated with enough pitches for all youth teams to play in the same place each weekend and a high quality first-team pitch for the senior teams to enjoy. There is also the opportunity for the club to make a profit on matchdays from various outlets to invest back into the women’s game.

The club will still be called Chichester City Ladies and Girls FC, keep their places in their current leagues and play in green and white.

The first weekend at Selsey FC was a roaring success despite the first-team being knocked out the FA Cup. The committee say they are looking forward to creating a one-club feel in their new home.

If any backers of the ladies’ club still have a board at Oaklands Park and wish to have it moved to Bunn Leisure Stadium, please contact secretary@chichesterladiesfootball.co.uk

The committee said they would like to thank all the fans, sponsors and residents for their continued support of the ladies and girls.They added: “Let’s hope for a successful second half of the season and the bright future of women’s and girls football in Chichester."

Action to stop parking around two roundabouts within a new Bersted housing estate is set to be taken.

Elbridge Avenue is one of two roads providing access into the Willows Edge development, which when complete will total 800 homes, a community centre and a primary school.

Complaints have been received about cars parked on the paved area of the first roundabout, while vehicles left on the approach to the second are restricting sight lines and causing obstructions.

A Traffic Regulation Order for double yellow lines, which will be funded by developer Persimmon Homes, was approved by West Sussex County Council’s Joint Western Arun Area Action Committee last Wednesday (November 27).

County councillors heard that a number of households had more cars than allocated spaces, leading them to park on the roundabouts and surrounding roads.

A total of 22 objections were received to the draft TRO, with residents mostly arguing that parking on the first roundabout was necessary due to there being insufficient parking allocated to individual properties within the estate.

Officers said that the need for emergency services to safely access the development outweighed the inconvenience of people having to find more suitable places to park.

David Edwards, county councillor for Bersted, said: “It’s hugely dangerous. It’s difficult to find parking down there, but this is a safety issue without a shadow of a doubt.”

Paul Wells, a former district councillor, said some of the ways people were parking was ‘beyond belief’, with one case of an ambulance not being able to access a patient, while visibility was also an issue.

Hugh Coster, an Arun district councillor, was one of several to criticise the decision to allow this road layout in the first place.

He said: “It’s a serious design flaw that they have put four-bedroom, three-storey houses around that roundabout where there are bound to be families and families with children and teenagers who want cars.”

If they approved the TRO he felt the cars would ‘move to a side road and it’s someone else’s problem’.

He asked why both roundabouts appeared ‘unnecessarily big’ and whether the county council could go back to the developer and ask them to reduce their sizes so the roads could be widened.

Mr Coster added: “Just to slap yellow lines in there is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Officers described how the estate and its roads had been built to national standards.

Arun district councillor Matt Stanley said moving forward they needed to look at the size of garages and width of roads in new estates.

Surely it should be good that we are getting ‘smarter’, but how many highly intelligent people have you met over the years with no common sense? Perhaps that runs true for so-called ‘smart’ motorways that have been blamed for causing accidents.

Highways England insist they are safe, but critics have dubbed the use of hard shoulders during busy periods as ‘dumb’ rather than smart, with the AA saying using all lanes ‘makes a motorway hugely vulnerable when accidents or breakdowns occur’.

Variable speed control generally seems to work well (except when roads are obviously clear) but perhaps using hard shoulders is a step too far until connectivity between cars and road systems is perfected.

Then there is the wider use of ‘smart’ technology known as IOT (the internet of things) where items link to each other. At home that can be anything from appliances such as kettles or toasters connecting with heating, lighting, water and alarm systems and being operated remotely by smart phones.

At work, business systems may be controlled from design of a product through to delivery to a customer and all this innovation is likely to be accelerated as 5G or even 6G networks bring faster connectivity and downloads.

There is also more AI (artificial intelligence) on the horizon.

For those of a certain age IOT doesn’t seem as quaint as Dick Van Dyke’s breakfast-making invention in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and while there are obvious advantages when it works, all too frequently it doesn’t.

Technology lovers will cite convenience, efficiency and increased security but those with luddite tendencies will see more to go wrong, use by criminals and big brother concerns. I start in the ‘whatever next?’ camp, viewing new technology with mild disdain but then having used it and been convinced it works, I can become a convert who can’t do without it!

Take my car as an example, I haven’t bothered to try some features like voice recognition (I have tried it with the TV remote but it seems weird and it doesn’t like my voice) but now cannot do without cruise control.

I must get around to another that sounds great – it can be set up to defrost and warm up in the morning without being unlocked (to keep the insurers happy) but I know it will be complicated to set up.

If you look at the risks involved, there is a similar balancing act.

Take out human intervention and arguably less can go wrong, but you lose the human instinct (we blindly follow the SatNav even though your gut tells you it’s wrong) and when it does, it is probably best to have a human to hand.

Certainly, the increased reliance on inter-connected systems is bringing greater risk and will cause larger losses when things do go wrong. It is also clear that ‘cyber’ risks will become the biggest concern either indirectly causing fires or injury etc in the event of malfunctions or the ‘conventional’ cyber risks of virus, hacking, ransoms and cybercrime.

Insurance is adapting to these new connectivity risks but will also need to be more joined up and probably ‘smarter’ to keep pace.

Bognor Greens visited sunny Gosport Park for a friendly that ended 24-24.

An experimental team made too many errors early on and were punished by the pacy Gosport backline, who raced in two well-constructed tries.

Bognor fought back. Owen Thomas ruled the lineout, half backs Alfie Spurle and Hayden Kerr managed the attack to perfection, Bradley Smith ran hard and the ball was moved wide to winger Cellan Robinson, who rounded his opposite number to score.

Jack Trenham carried well and with MoM Charlie jays omnipresent in support, Gosport infringed. Hooker Ethan Teasdale hit Thomas and the ball was moved to the rampaging Jamie Foote who hit a great line to power over. Kerr converted to give Bognor a narrow half-time lead.

Charlie Weller, Teasdale and Trenham got the shove on in the scrum supported by Oscar and Harvey Henson. Elvis Millen and Tyrone Masaki’s running lines and variety caused problems for the Gosport midfield.

A Masaki break put Gosport on the back foot and the ball was moved wide to Trenham to crash over. Bognor went further ahead after debutant Enoch Hope and Ben Woolnough made good ground. A fluid backs move saw winger Edward Gilbert-Jones round his opposite man and bounce off three would be tacklers to score in the corner. Kerr converted majestically from the touchline.

With time running out, Gosport were rewarded by two converted tries, the last converted from wide out after hitting the post in the last kick.

Bognor Purples travelled to Trojans, where some fine performances were not enough as they lost 35-24.

Bognor Greens: Jack Trenham, Ethan Teasdale, Charlie Weller, Oscar Henson, Harvey Henson, Owen Thomas, Jamie Foote, Charlie Jays, Bradley Smith, Alfie Spurle, Hayden Kerr, Elvis Millen, Tyrone Masaki, Cellan Robinson, Ben Woolnough, Edward Gilbert-Jones, Enoch Hope.

Cranleigh travelled with a young side on Saturday, due to their long list of injured players who are still recovering, to play Sussex League One side Crawley in the RFU Junior Vase on Saturday.

Within the first ten minutes the Cranes put Crawley under pressure.

And this paid off with an electric break from Cranleigh in midfielder which eventually found Charlie Treasure on the wing with three men to beat.

From 60-yards he expertly outpaced them all to score under the posts and this was duly converted.

The rest of the first half was mainly played between the respective 22 lines.

Cranleigh, however, were penalised on their 22 for handling in the ruck and the Crawley penalty was duly converted.

But the Cranes added another and at half-time the score was 10-3 in Cranleigh’s favour.

In the second half Crawley upped their efforts and credit has to go to Cranleigh whose tackling and defence were solid.

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Unfortunately, after 12 minutes of the second half, a simple Cranes’ penalty was missed and they were pulled back four minutes later with a Crawley penalty which was well converted.

The penalty count increased against Cranleigh which was not helped by the referee’s decisions being constantly queried.

Crawley came to life ten minutes before the end by staging a drive from lineout which was joined by nearly the whole team and they scored a try way out, making it 11-10.

Then at a ruck, the referee yellow carded Cranleigh scrum half Luke Bargmen for apparently commenting on a situation in the ruck.

With very little time left, the Cranes were awarded a penalty just inside the half way line and Curtis Beecroft’s splendid effort just fell two-yards from the upright.

This was a disappointing result but there were some good performances, especially from Hugo McAlllster and James Moore in the first half and some great tackling and scrummaging from Mike Woodhouse.

Cranleigh will be hoping to get back to winning matters when they return to league matters on Saturday.

The fourth-placed Cranes host place-above Old Rutlishians.