Donegal boxers hit back to defeat Mayo in thriller

Donegal staged a thrilling comeback to edge out Mayo in an exciting inter-county boxing tournament on Sunday.

Donegal traveled to the Knockmore Community Centre near Ballina and were behind 8-1 after the first nine contests.

However, Donegal boxers dominated the second half of the evening and won 11-10.

The early fights had Mayo on top, with the exception being a unanimous decision for Rian Patton of Raphoe ABC against Eoin McTigue in a Boy 3 46kgs contest.

Carndonagh’s Calvin Logue, Twin Towns’ Lee McGlinchey and St Bridget’s Clonmany man Daithi McGonigle were all edged on 2-1 split decisions.

Carndonagh’s Kieran Cunningham stopped Claremorris’ Jack McLoughlin in the second round of their Boy 4 66kgs clash and Laraith Foley of Ballyshannon stopped Abdelkader Al Swidani from Ballyhaunis in the first round of a Youth 1 middleweight bout

Letterkenny’s Charlie Leader also won inside the distance, the referee stepping in with him well in command against Swinford’s Scott Towey in the first verse.

Adam McDaid from St Bridget’s sealed the win for Donegal in the final fight of the evening, seeing off Golden Gloves’ Mark Harding in a senior 67kgs meeting.

Results, Mayo v Donegal: Rory McGuinness (Swinford) beat Galvin Logue (Carndonagh) 2-1, Shane Mullaney (Swinford) beat Cardin Keane (Twin Towns) 3-0, Brian Anderson (Twin Towns) W/O, Mike Warde (Claremorris) beat Killen Caldwell (Carrigart) 3-0, Joseph Moyles (Ballina) beat Lee McGlinchey (Twin Towns) 2-1, Eoin McTigue (KFC) lost to Rian Patton (Raphoe) 0-3, Sean Maughan (Ballina) beat Jack Gallagher (Dungloe) 3-0, Enda Lavin (Ballyhaunis) beat Darragh Porter (Carndonagh) RSC3, Brian Mongan (Ballyhaunis) beat Gary McNamara (Dunfanaghy) 3-0, Niall Keane (Castlebar) beat Daithi McGonigle (St Bridget’s), Shauna Keaveney (Ballyhaunis) lost to Caragh Murphy (Oughterard) 1-2, Jack McLoughlin (Claremorris) lost to Kieran Cunningham (Carndonagh) RSC2, Joe Roberts (Claremorris) lost to Karl McDaid (Carndonagh) 1-2, Andrew Smith (Geesala) lost to Danny McMenamin (Twin Towns) 0-3, Thomas Duffy (KFC) beat Riley Doherty (Raphoe), Daniel McDonagh (Geesala) lost to Anthony Doohan (Dunfanaghy)  0-3, Abdelkader Al Swidani (Ballyhaunis) lost to Laraith Foley (Ballyshannon) AB R1, Dale Neary (Castlebar) beat Joey O’Hora (Twin Towns) 2-1, Rhys Brett (Geesala) lost to Ciaran Crawford (Raphoe) 0-3, Cuba Rozuk (Geesala) lost to Tiernan Conwell (Raphoe) 0-3, Scott Towey (Swinford) lost to Charlie Leader (Letterkenny) RSC 1, Mark Harding (Golden Gloves) lost to Adam McDaid (St Bridget’s) 0-3.