Ederney ABC put on a great show
EDERNEY Amateur Boxing club hosted an entertaining Fight Night on Saturday, November 19, which saw the Delaney Suite in Mahon’s Hotel Irvinestown full to capacity.
The best local talent from Ederney put on a fine display against their Ulster Select opponents who travelled from near and far to entertain the ecstatic crowd.
First up were the young guns, most of who were entering the ring for a first competitive time, and they didn’t take long to get acquainted with the large ring and got stuck in right from the start.
Jack Mcgonigle, Shea Mcfadden, Mikey Connors and Davin Mcgrath put on great exhibitions, followed by Daithi Maye, Conal Mcgrath and Felim Monaghan.
Caoilte Breen stole the show from the early bouts with his accustomed swagger and style of a boxer of much more experience.
Injury
After the break, hard-training Pauline Gallagher took to the ring but unfortunately had to withdraw in the second round due to a nasty looking injury to her shoulder.
The club wishes Pauline a speedy recovery and are sure this will not deter her from entering the ring again in the future.
Brett Mclean put on a great show on his first competitive bout before the experienced Charlie Mcnulty out-boxed his opponent with a fine display.
Next up was Christopher Mckeown, who showed great heart and deserved more for the effort he puts in at training, narrowly losing to his Omagh opponent.
The last fight of the night was eagerly awaited, and the crowd welcomed Luke Duncan into the ring against his heavier opponent, but Luke showed great skill and agility to avoid his big hooks and got to work on his opponent’s body before landing numerous big punches of his own.
A fine display
Fitness shone through for the hard-training Luke and he despatched his Clonoe counterpart with a fine display.
Ederney ABC were grateful for the two Mckenna brothers who are professional boxers from nearby Monaghan who gave out the trophies on the night, and also were courteous to all the young boxers and gave everyone a good insight into the commitment required to box at the very highest level.
Thanks go to all the travelling boxers and coaches from Enniskillen, Omagh, Carrickmore, Clonoe, Phoenix and St. Pat’s Newry; and also the referees and judges from the county board and all the sponsors, without whom the night would not have been possible.
Thanks also to the team at Mahon’s Hotel for again hosting the tournament and, of course, last but not least, the club thanked coach Olly Kelly who works tirelessly all year with the boxers, travelling the length and breadth of the country.
Next up is the Nine Counties Championship, where Ederney hope to replicate last year’s results and bring home a few Ulster champions.
ENNISKILLEN angler, James O’doherty was among over 60 young sports people from across Northern Ireland and representing over 15 different sports, to have received awards from the Mary Peters Trust at a special PWC hosted Athletes’ Academy.
Athletes are nominated and then selected following a rigorous process and each receive financial and general support to help them navigate and succeed in their sporting careers and ultimately achieve their individual goals.
The current tranche of awards was presented by Lady Mary Peters, who this year marks 50 years since winning an Olympic Pentathlon Gold in Munich, alongside MPT Chair, Barry Funston and Alchemy Technologies CEO, John Harkin.
Athletes were joined by parents and family members as well as MPT Board Directors; Jim Kirkwood, Eilish Rutherford, Ken Nixon, Julie Hastings and Awards Team Chair, Will Doggart.