Donegal quartet to box in Ulster 9 County finals

Donegal boxers Conan Kearney, David Tennyson, Jack McElroy and Joey O’Hara are gunning for glory in finals at the Ulster 9 County 4-7 Championships in Belfast on Saturday.

St Bridget’s Clonmany man Kearney, O’Hara from Twin Towns BC and Raphoe BC pair Tennyson and McElroy will box in finals on Saturday at the Corpus Christi Boxing Club.

Kearney will go up against Townlands’ Brandon Sweeney in the Boy 4 66kgs final.

Kearney defeated Oliver Plunkett’s Gareth McCann in his semi-final with Sweeney overcoming Emmet Og Quinn, both claiming unanimous decision.

Kearney was the Irish Boy 2 56kgs champion in 2021 and a gold medal winner at this year’s William Wallace Box Cup.

HSK Box Cup winner Tennyson will contest the Boy 4 57kgs final against Caolite Jones from Kilkeel.

Tennyson was handed a 4-1 split decision from his semi-final with Eoin Tranior of the John McCoy club while Jones overcame Liam Ward from Sacred Heart, Newry on a unanimous decision.

His club-mate McElroy will take on Cohen McCabe from Castleblaney in the Boy 6 63kgs final and O’Hara - who overcame Erne’s Darragh Kelly on a 3-2 split on Saturday - squares up to Philip Rooney (Sacred Heart Boxing Club/Academy Belfast ) in the Boy 6 75kgs final.

In the Boy 5 50kgs final, which was held on Sunday last, Raphoe BC’s Rian Patton lost out to John Joe Boyle, who claimed the narrowest of 3-2 split decisions.

Four Donegal boxers are already assured of titles via walkover victories: Jack Boyle (Dunfanaghy, Boy 4 75kgs); Kerry Brown (Convoy, Girl 4 55kgs); Lani Lafferty (Girl 6, 70kgs); Oisin Dobbins (Illies, Boy 7 92kgs).

At the weekend, Dunfanahy’s Irish champion Conor Durning was stopped by D-Box’s Jake Daly in the second round of a Boy 6 60kgs quarter-final while St Bridget’s man Fintan Roberston lost out to Rathfriland puncher Lorcan Clancy in a quarter-final at Boy 4 54kgs.

In semi-finals on Saturday, Caoimhin Connolly (Twin Towns), Gary McNamara (Raphoe), Luke Kelly (Dunfanaghy), Kieran Cunningham (Carndonagh) and Paul McCloskey (Illies Golden Gloves) were on the wrong end of decisions.

Connolly lost out to Finn Gilmore (Bainbridge) at Boy 4 46kgs; McNamara was stopped by Nous Samatakus (Portadown) at Boy 5 60kgs; Kelly was edged on a 3-2 split by Aaron Foster (Cairnlodge) at Boy 5 66kgs); Cunningham lost at the hands of Archie Ritchie (St John Bosco, Belfast) at Boy 5 70kgs; and McCloskey was beaten by Lee Hanna (Townland) at Boy 7 67kgs.