Five provincial titles for Clare boxers

CLARE boxers emerged from the Munster Youths Championships in Dungarvan last Sunday with five provincial titles and a bonus of progression to the Irish Championships, which will be held in the National Stadium in Dublin in a fortnight.
Competition was fierce in all three age categories (15, 16 and 17) and also in the ladies’ category, where 15-year-old Antoinette Keane from the Ennis club joined seasoned Kayleigh McCormack from Kilfenora on the winners’ podium. It was Keane’s second attempt at championship success after bitter disappointment last year when she lost out narrowly on a rather dubious decision and so vindication was sweet this year.
The star of the show from a Clare perspective was undoubtedly Ennis southpaw Lee Sherlock, who has shown tremendous promise to date and is unbeaten in all of his seven bouts in the current season. He outclassed Joe Dooge from Tramore in Sunday’s final and could well go all of the way in the forthcoming nationals. Sherlock began tentatively in a rather insipid first round on Sunday but found momentum in the second with sharp southpaw right-handers and he led 3-2 going into the third and final round. He upped his performance from the bell in this round and scored with fluency and power for a 6-2 victory. Young Sherlock believes that nothing is won as yet and his focus is firmly set on the nationals, where the competition will be fierce and where every punch will count. He has beaten two Irish champions in the past few months and is quietly confident.
West Clare’s Michael Flynn, a solid pre-championship favourite in the 60kg Junior 1 class, looked a winner all over in his final against Cork City boxer Pat McDonagh from the Leeside Lough Club but he allowed the initiative to slip ominously through the second round and capitulated rather tamely in the third with the referee stopping the contest in the second minute of the round.
Worse was to come for the Miltown Malbay-based club when pre-championship banker Joey Rouine came up short against the reigning champion, Bernard McDonagh from St Paul’s in Waterford. Rouine fought in his characteristic fast-forward mode, coming forward with big left and right hooks but was kept at bay by McDonagh’s accurate left jab and the champion built on his accuracy with some solid right hooks for a comfortable 11-7 victory.
West Clare’s Wayne Danaher came up trumps for the Clare contingent with a fine victory in the 66kg Junior 1 division against Lee Mitchell from Nenagh BC. Mitchell had been showing some good form this year and was victorious in the West Clare promotion in February but Danaher denied him space with good defensive ringcraft and accuracy from long range with his probing right-handers and won his title on a 3-2 scoreline.
There were good performances from first-timers Barry Coote and Daniel Egan, who both battled bravely against Patrick O’Reilly and Daragh Fitzmaurice, respectively. Coote brought his battle with the Waterford boxer right down to the wire and, except for a lapse of concentration midway through the second when he opted for a slugfest when his long range accuracy was compromised, the Ennis boxer was impeccable and possibly a little unlucky to lose on a scoreline of 6-5.
Both ladies, Antoinette Keane and Kayleigh McCormack, will join Sherlock, Danaher and Kilfenora heavyweight Paddy O’Connor in their respective quests for Irish titles at the end of the month in the National Stadium in Dublin.
Meanwhile, the remaining Munster championships in the boys’ 11,12 and 13-year-old categories will get underway this Saturday and Sunday, with the finals scheduled for St Patrick’s Day. Ennis will have the larger contingent and coaches Seán Carrig and Tommy Lyons are enthusiastic about the prospects in their eight-strong squad of boxers. Lee Brady will captain the squad and both Brian McDonagh and reigning champion James Galbraith look quite capable of capturing titles, while twin brothers Simon and John McDonagh are in good shape and in winning form. Two more girls will be in the Clare line-up, when debutants Sally Carrig and Caoilinn McCormack check in for action.
Incidentally, reigning Irish boys’ champion Keelan Sexton from West Clare will begin the defence of his much-coveted title and he will be joined on the scales on Saturday by clubmates Paul and Patrick Flynn and the enthusiastic Ronan Murrihy, buoyed by the meteoric successes of his favourite Kilmurry-Ibrickane.
The good wishes of all Clare boxers and officials will go to the Kilmurry footballers on St Patrick’s Day in Croker.