Newbiggin girls take titles again
NEWBIGGIN produced explosive girl power at the England Boxing Junior Championships in Sheffield when both Alex Brown and Courtney Scott were yet again crowned national title winners.
Birtley’s Jack Dryden and Leon Harris of Wearmouth also struck gold in the male section of the championships.
Alex Brown defeated North East opponent Alicia Parks of Houghton in the Class B 46kg final while Courtney Scott was another unanimous victor over Neve Dilks Taylor (Freedom) at 52kg.
“This was Alex’s third national title,” said Newbiggin coach Paul Scott. “Courtney had also won two national titles and is the current European No 2 after a silver medal in the last Europeans in Bulgaria.
“In a one-sided display and after a long overdue count in the third Courtney took the unanimous decision and collected her third national title.
“The Three Nations Championships will be next against Wales and Scotland in preparation for the European championships in Russia in October.”
Birtley’s one major success after having a mass entry through to the two-day semis and finals saw Jack Dryden hit the jackpot while Josh Robson, Jay Conway, Shaun Huddart, and Brandon Morrison all agonisingly fell at the very last hurdle by the narrowest of margins, a 3-2 split decision.
Dryden didn’t bother the judges stopping Woking’s Awais Hussain.
“Jack was determined to make it national title No 3 and it showed from the off,” said Birtley head coach Graeme Rutherford. “He never shirks in the gym and he is like that in the ring.
“Jack dictated behind his jab and right hands landing repeatedly and when Hussain rushed at him Jack took a step off and countered. Hussain took two counts in the last round for the referee to rightly wave it over.”
Birtley’s Jake Slater and Isaac Milburn were crowned Area champions in the Senior Elites at Hartlepool, but Joe Laws was forced to withdraw after his quarter-final victory over Redcar’s K Dalton.
“Joe was feeling unwell after the bout and on the advice of the doctor he attended hospital,” said Rutherford.
“He had a nasal and lung infection. We had no option but to withdraw him. It is devastating because Joe had a great chance of winning the national title.”
Ben Rees defeated P Leviman (Brandon) in his semi-final and will now box Jimmy Tyres at Middlesbrough in the Area final tomorrow night.