Hard work pays off for Dundalk’s

DUNDALK boxer Amy Broadhurst (pictured)ripped up the history books at the weekend by becoming the first Irish person to win three European titles out of four consecutive appearances.

And her Dundalk colleagues, cousin Orla Garvey and Clann Naofa’s Shauna O’Callaghan also did the town proud by each bringing home silver medals.

Amy (18) won the European youth title during the week-long contests in Hungary where the best young female boxers on the continent competed.

It is a remarkable, unprecedented achievement for Amy, who trains full-time now after graduating from secondary school. Her coach, dad Tony, said his daughter had spent eight weeks training for the European competitions and is delighted to win gold for the 18-strong Irish team, of which she was captain for the first time.

He said: ‘The plan for Amy over the past eight weeks was to build everything up and we knew who some of her opponents were going to be and were able to watch clips of them and prepare her a bit. It’s amazing that all the preparation we did ensured that everything worked out exactly as we had planned. It’s like a dream coming true to reality and everything went right for her’.

And while being captain was an honour for the Muirhevnamor teenager, it did add to the pressure, Tony revealed. He said: ‘Everyone was saying to her: ‘Oh, you will have no problem, you are going to win gold’, and that’s a pressure.

‘The juniors boxed before the youths and there were girls getting medals and Amy still had to fight. However, when she boxed and got into a medal position, she became a lot more relaxed and really enjoyed the contests’.

In all, Amy boxed three opponents to lift the European title. First up was home girl Marietta Kiss from Hungary. Tall and awkward and ready to fight, Amy managed to stop Kiss in the fourth round, setting up a semi-final bout with Swede Sophia Nielsson.

Amy had already met Nielsson in contesst in Ireland and Germany and the Dundalk woman had won twice. Nielsson remained a dangerous opponent, however, but Amy managed to stop her in the third.

She met Italian Francesca Martusciello in the final and the Dealgan boxer was comfortable through the first two rounds. The Italian, who boxed at the world championships at the 60kg weight, came back in the third, but Amy gathered her wits and won the contest and the title.

Tony said: ‘Amy went there to win gold and anything else would have been a disappointment for