ABS Talent ID Head of Coaching and Selection , Danny Lee, reports on another successful trip for the ABS Schoolboy team.
The party of 21 ABS representatives, gathered in the arrival lounge of Edinburgh airport at 04:15am on Saturday 11th August 2012.
We boarded the flight to Dublin airport where we were met by the Ireland team manager, Stewart Leahy, who was waiting for us and made us feel very welcome on our one hour forty minute bus trip to Kilkenny.
Ireland Team:
Team Manager – Stewart Leahy
Time keeper – Billy O’Connor
M.C – Sheamus Dowling
R & J – Bob Shortal, Jim Murrin, Mark Sheridan, Larry Durand and Peter Clifford.
Summary of Bouts
35Kg – Dylan Arbuckle (Scotland) beat Thomas McCarthy (Ireland) – (10-9)
This was a hard fought contest with Dylan coming out on top after 3 rounds. The first two rounds were boxed at a very high pace with both boxers scoring points from fast straight punches. Dylan lost most of his points from a slack defense at his back hand on the way out of a clinch. However his defense tightened up going into the last round and he scored with his back hand over his opponent leading hand hook, to win a great contest.
40Kg – Nathan May (Ireland) beat Ryan Ball (Scotland) – (12-9)
The first round in amateur boxing is very important especially when boxing away from home. 5-1 down after the first round, Ryan worked hard to close the gap but on this occasion he was unlucky – This was another good contest.
40Kg – Calvin Turner (Ireland) beat Callum Cook (Scotland) – (15-5)
Another classy Irish boxer and another good contest which was fast and all action. This was a big improvement by Callum which he must now carry forward on the back of this performance.
41kg – Conor Quinn (Ireland) beat Callum Stuart (Scotland) – (18-6)
Callum took on arguably the best boxer in the Irish team. This was a great experience for Callum and he will take a lot from this contest.
43Kg – Nathan Shaw (Scotland) beat Eamon Sweeney (Ireland) – (10-4)
Nathan was still on a high from his win at the GB Schoolboys. Straight from the bell, Nathan dominated the contest, controlling his work rate and the distance. A great and confident performance from Nathan.
45Kg – Owen McCarthy (Ireland) beat Leighton McKenzie (Scotland) – (13-11)
Leighton boxed extremely well for the first two rounds, controlled the distance and maintained a great shape. Leighton was two points up going into the last round but started to concede the distance he was keeping and his shape. Leighton will learn a great deal from this contest.
45Kg – Oliver McCarthy (Ireland) beat Jack Crawford (Scotland) – (13-5)
Jack worked very hard in this contest and again will gain much experience from it given this was his best performance in a Scotland vest to date.
48Kg – James McGivern (Ireland) beat Stephen Knox (Scotland) (11-7)
This was a very tactical contest featuring two southpaw boxers. Steven boxed a very good counter puncher but still managed to control the contest for long periods, by countering his opponent, controlling the distance and forcing the contest. Steven will learn a great deal from this contest.
50Kg – William Stuart (Scotland) beat Aaron Harkin (Ireland) – (14-10)
What a great contest – Billy set a fast and furious pace from the first bell and it was hard to see the two boxers keeping this pace up for three rounds, but they did. Billy’s determination, fitness and work rate, won the contest for him. Billy is on great form, winning the GB Schoolboys and starting his International career with a bang.
52Kg – Thomas Logan (Scotland) beat Brian McNamee (Ireland) – (15-10)
Thomas started the contest very quickly catching his opponent with straight punches as he moved in and out. Thomas was controlling the distance and the contest. Thomas boxed very well.
54Kg – Matthew Davis (Ireland) beat William Hutchinson (Scotland) – (15-10)
This was another tough contest which saw William box extremely well at a high pace and he looks like he is getting back to his best again.
62Kg –John Docherty (Scotland) beat Kevin Kehoe (Ireland) – (9-6)
John was only asked to box at this international 10 days prior to the contest and produced a great performance – Well done to him and his club for getting him ready to box the local Irish boxer. John controlled the distance by punching and moving for three rounds and demonstrated great fitness.
62Kg – Christopher O’Reilly (Ireland) beat John Lee Joyce (Scotland) – (7-7) COUNTBACK
This was another tactical contest with both boxers counter punching trying to draw each other. Jon Lee scored some nice uppercuts and back hand wide hooks. This contest was all square going into the last round, where I feel Jon Lee was unlucky to loose on count back. Another great performance from the Scottish boxer.
56Kg –Conor McGregor (Scotland) beat Noel Kehoe (Ireland) – (10-7)
Conor, like John (Docherty), was boxing the local boxer and also controlled the contest. This time it was controlled on the front feet with lovely one-two combinations from the start. He then introducing the one-two, leading hook. This was beautiful boxing from Conor on the front feet. The bout followed this pattern for the first two rounds. Conor was two points up going into the last round and the instructions for the last round were to keep his opponent on the back feet as he did in the first two. This suited Conor and he did not try and defend his lead. This was despite the local boxer looking good on his front feet and the partisan crowed roaring him on.What a great performance from Conor!
ABS and the Talent ID team would like to thank Ireland for the opportunity to test our boxers against an extremely strong, very well organised team. It was interesting to note that five of the Irish team will be representing Ireland in the 2012 European Schoolboy Championships and this dual match was another measure of how much the Talent ID boxers have progressed in the last year.
The Talent ID coaches would like to thank the young Scottish team for their superb effort in Kilkenny – A big well done guys.
