Girl Boxers on County Galway Team
(Connacht Tribune Sports Section)

         Boxing for girls in the county continued its steep rise when two girls were included in a representative County Galway team for the first time at the annual Stephen Griffin Memorial tournament held in Cork at the weekend. A number of clubs have provided facilities for females to enjoy the sport in the county for a number of years. Standards are high and quite a few have competed at national level.
         Indeed one of those who represented the county on Saturday night was recently crowned national champion. She is Jessica Dooley of the Tobar Pheadair club in Peterswell and she faced Ciara Nolan of the home team in the Girls 4:52kg category. Jessica was marked a clear winner by a minority of the judges and came close to winning the contest in the first round. She was extremely unfortunate not to be declared the outright winner and the decision puzzled many seasoned observers. Her fellow Galway woman Niamh Mannion, also of the Tobar Pheadair club, came up against an experienced campaigner in Kathleen O'Reilly in the Girl 15:63kg class. She gained great experience from her foray into inter-county boxing and will be an even more formidable opponent, after this outing.
         The tournament is an annual event and commemorates Galway soldier, Stephen Griffin, who was the first serviceman to lose his life during the Irish army's long and distinguished furlough in the Lebanon. Stephen was a keen boxer and put in stints with clubs in Cork and his hometown.
         The Tuam club had tremendous representation in the Ward brothers, Wayne (Boy1:33kg) and Patrick (Boy 4:57kg), who both put in excellent performances in winning their bouts. This was a great achievement for the two boys and their club, which was formed only a number of years back. Jamie Kyne of Monivea (Boy4:3kg) was unlucky not to join them in the Winner's Enclosure after possibly the most exciting competition of the night. The decision only went against him on the split in favour of the very promising Cork boxer, Daniel Murphy. Kyne carried the fight to his man throughout and the decision could easily have swung his way.
Another unlucky Galway contestant was Michael Ward, (GBC), who put on the most skilful performance of the night in the Junior:69kg bout against another technically proficient athlete in Tom McGrath, another winner on a majority verdict. There was a strong argument for the decision to go to the Galway man here. Patrick Corcoran, (GBC), whose brother Michael has an Irish Schoolboys title and international appearances to his name, showed the talent is spread throughout the family, when outpointing his opponent in the Junior:75kg contest. Martin Lawrence of Loughrea (Boy 3:36kg) also triumphed and Conor Byrne of Furbo also laid down a marker in winning Youth3:57kg confrontation.
         Best of the Cork competitors was Peter Keenan, who showed himself to be among the most technically gifted of boxers in his division (Boy3:42kg) in the country, when he saw off a game Oisin Fahy of Tobair Pheadair in an absorbing contest. Eddie Ward, also of Tobar Pheadair featured in the Boy4:52kg contest.
Also representing the county were Peter Faherty, Olympic, (Boy2:39kg), Conall Whelan, Loughrea, (Boy2:44kg), Sean O'Fatharta, Connemara, (Boy4:57kg) and Eoin Ward, GBC, (Youth 2:63kg).    The final tally was 10:5 against the Tribesmen, but they were unlucky, and might even have turned the tournament into a night of triumph had a number of the decisions, rightfully, turned their way.

   
          Team Manager was James Fahy, (Tobar Pheadair). Coaches were Coleman Flaherty, (Connemara) and Danny Culkin, (Monivea). Travelling Referee/Judges were Ferdy Whelan (Loughrea) and John Cahill, (Furbo).

Boxers on Galway Team
(Loughrea Notes)

         Loughrea Boxing Club kicked off the new season when two club boxers represented Galway against Cork last weekend. The tournament took place in the Glen Centre in Cork and the boxers enjoyed mixed fortunes. First in the ring was Conall Whelan who took on David Stephenson, a former kick boxing champion. The Cork lad proved too strong in the first round and built up a winning lead. The more skilful Whelan did manage to claw back some of this lead but lost on a points decision. Next in the ring was Martin Lawrence who took on Tom Foley from the local Glen club. The all action style of Lawrence proved too much for Foley and Lawrence won a deserved unanimous decision. This was one of the few highlights for Galway in a night when the rebel county ruled supreme once again.