The club, based at Crescent Farm in Sidney Road, sent under nine, 10, 11 and 12 teams to the festival and all will now get the chance to play at Twickenham.

The club, which was featured in the News Shopper last year after a double

winning tour tour of South Africa, beat off competition from around 50 teams for the honour of playing their final before the annual Barbarians versus league champions fixture.

The Sidcup teams played around seven games each to qualify for the finals with the youngest age groups playing seven minutes each-way and the eldest players competing for two halves of 12 minutes.

ACE COACHING: Sutton and Wilmington Lawn Tennis Club is offering coaching sessions for all ages beginning on Saturday and which run for 15 weeks with an anticipated 100,000 taking part nationwide.

No previous experience is necessary to take advantage of the sessions and the club has made an application to the lottery board which if successful will mean all coaching will be free. Otherwise the coaching will cost £1 per person, per session.

Coaching for eight to 10 year-olds takes place between 2pm and 3pm, 11 to 13 year-olds' sessions are held between 3pm and 4pm with players 15 and over attending from 4pm to 5pm.

The Wilmington-based club in Oakfield Park is also looking for new adult members. For more details, call Keith Saunderson on 01322 862056.

FIRST CLASS: The opening fixture of the Kent League Women's season saw Bexley AC seal a fine win, finishing 87 points ahead of their nearest rivals.

In the under 13 events there were wins for Alex MacDonald in the 75 metres sprint and 70m hurdles, Sarah

Foster in the 1km walk and Laura Jeaner in the javelin. And in the sprint relay Alex, Sarah and Laura were joined by Kerry Heaphy to clinch victory. And in the seniors event, pride of place goes to Lara Carroni, who sealed a hat-trick of wins in the 100m

hurdles, the 400m, and the high jump.

There were also victories for Tracey Cunningham in the 100m and Claire Colmer in the 1,500m and in the sprint relay Sacha Hatfield, Helen Horwood, Lara Carroni and Tracey Cunningham were victorious, while Sasha, Lara and Helen were joined by Claire Colmer to also win in the 4x400m relay.

PHOENIX ARE CHAMPS: Phoenix Sports wrapped up the Kent County Football Division One title and

promotion to the Premier Division in the best possible way, winning 9-1 away at AFC Lewisham .

The Bexleyheath-based side needed a win in its final match of the season to guarantee the title after a 2-1 win at Fleetdown United in the penultimate game.

But Phoenix wanted to go up in style and did just that with the demolition job of AFC Lewisham.

STICK, STICK, HOORAY: Hockey in Bexley has been given a £4,500 cash boost from the Millennium Festival Awards for All Initiative.

The grant, to be used for equipment, coaching fees, training courses and publications, will be handed over to Bexley Community Development Group which is a consortium of three local clubs - Burnt Ash, Bexley and Belvedere and Bexley Invicta.

With the support of the sports development officer with Bexley Council, qualified club coaches will now be able to visit local schools with hockey sticks, balls and goal-keeping equipment purchased with the money.

If you are interested in playing hockey, at any level or age, call 0208 466 6354 or visit the Burnt Ash website on www. burnt-ash.planet-access.co.uk