Over the Easter period Armagh Amateur Boxing Club continued their rich vein of form by sending a history-making eight Ulster Champions to Dublin’s National Stadium to compete in the Boy/Girl (B/G) 1,2,3 (year groups between 2013-2011) All Ireland Championships.
First up on Easter Tuesday was Malachy Nugent in the B3 52kg Quarter Final. Malachy made short work of his opponent who was the Dublin champion, forcing the referee to stop the contest in round one and moving forward to the semis.
Second up was reigning All Ireland Champion Phoebe Clarke in the G3 53kg against the Connacht Champion. She showed her class and experience by cruising to a unanimous decision and progressing to the semis.
On the same day they had their 1st semi-final with Liam Moore B2 56kg against the Connacht Champion. Liam – also being a reigning All Ireland Champion – continued from where he left off last year. His high work rate and tenacity saw him progress to the final.
On Wednesday, the team’s morale was at a high and the atmosphere full of trepidation as it was now the turn of their B/G 1’s competing for the 1st time on the big stage.
Caoimhe Smyth competing in the G1 37kg was up against the Dublin Champion. For those in attendance it was like David and Goliath, unfortunately it was the latter who got the decision. Caoimhe can hold her head high as she gave a tremendous performance and left it all in the ring but lost a close fight by decision to the eventual All Ireland champion.
This was followed by Fiedhna-Rose O’Neill in the G1 43kg. Fiedhna had her head guard on and gum shield in ready for action only to be told her opponent, the Antrim Champion had withdrawn. This meant she progressed to Friday’s final.
Last of the day, was Brendan Bell in the B1 50kg against the Connacht champion. For those present, his variety of punch selection and work rate was enough for the win but to their amazement the judges gave the decision by virtue of a 3-2 split to the Connacht champion.
On Thursday Malachy and Phoebe where back in action. Morale in camp was still high and tension in the National Stadium was beginning to grow as there became more at stake with a place in Saturday’s final.
Malachy was up against the Munster Champion but he proved to be too sharp from the get go and worked his angles leaving his Munster opponent frustrated and bamboozled, thus winning by 4-1 decision.
Phoebe had the Munster Champion in her opposite corner this time around. She was relaxed and controlled throughout, switching from orthodox style to southpaw to keep her counterpart guessing. In the second round she forced the referee to give her opponent a standing count and instead of rushing in for the finish she used her experience to take a wide points decision and get a few more rounds in the bank.
After Thursday’s proceedings Armagh ABC had six finalists.
On Friday it was the turn of their three debutants. This being their first year of competing, the main aim for them was to enjoy themselves and gain experience. That being said they weren’t just there to take part and showed their competitive edge that got them here in the first place.
Their first final was Leroy Mc Ginley in the B1 27kg against the Leinster Champion. Leroy battled gamely and put his opponent under pressure from start to finish. He left no stone unturned but fell short this time and all that know Leroy know this will only make him more determined to come back next year.
Fiedhna was next in the ring against the Leinster Champion at G1 43kg. She has progressed at a rapid rate in the space of four months surprising not least her coaches and to be in an All-Ireland final at the first time of asking was an unbelievable achievement. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be her year but this is only the start of her journey.
Phoebe getting her arm raised for the win
Katie Daly was last of the trio to enter the ring and after supporting her team mates had to wait around until the end of the day to get her chance. Despite the long wait which would’ve hindered many athletes she stepped into the ring at 9pm to take on the Dublin Champion in the G1 66kg. She made up for the wait by forcing a halt to the contest within the 1st round to be bring an early end to the contest. She was too strong and quick for her opponent and soon overwhelmed her to become an All-Ireland Champion.
With the team on a high after Katie securing a gold it was over to the more experienced members of the squad on Saturday.
Liam was first and his opponent this time being the Leinster Champion. Liam has been accustomed to producing action packed contests and this one was no different to the delight of the packed-out stadium for finals day. It was too and from for the full three rounds but it wasn’t to be for Liam this year.
Armagh ABC’s second finalist of the day was Malachy Nugent. A classy operator who had been to the stage before. Malachy started off brilliantly and dominated round one from beginning to end. The next two were a scrappy affair with his opposition spoiling at all opportunities. When the final bell went all Armagh supporters where full of optimism only for them and the hard-working Malachy to be devastated by a split decision against him. Malachy is one of the hardest working boxers on the circuit and there is no doubt that it will pay off.
The final contest for this young group of boxers was Phoebe. This was more of a local derby with her opposition being from a very skilful boxer from Banbridge. This started as a bit of chess match but Clarke, the reigning champ, showed her class and stepped it up a level to become the club’s first back-to-back All Ireland Champion.
Armagh ABC are growing from strength to strength each year. Their success is attracting more attention from other clubs and they are growing increasingly weary of drawing an Armagh ABC boxer in all competitions.
The future looks bright for this young club, so watch this space.
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