Sport

O’Sullivan and Croft twins finish with victories

Published

6 years ago

July 5, 2018

CRYMYCH’s peerless Croft twins finished a winning season with a flourish by bagging golds at the prestigious Monkstown Cup tournament in Dublin.

Cardigan ABC duo Ioan and Garan came through six tough bouts in a top-class event which drew around 830 entries from 18 different countries.

Southpaw Ioan secured his second Monkstown triumph in the 60kg 2001 class with a unanimous points win over Louis Joey Barra, of the US, while Garan improved on last year’s silver medal by beating Ireland’s Eric Byrne, again on a unanimous decision, in the 62kg class.

And on the same day in Cardiff, Fishguard’s Mikey O’Sullivan captured a Welsh schoolboy title by recording a unanimous points verdict over Guto Owen (Caernarvon ABC) in the 35.5kg 2006 category.

In the Monkstown Cup quarter-finals, Ioan Croft boxed Jo Jo McArdle, of Belfast, in what proved a closely-matched contest.

The Crymych 16-year-old began well, maintained constant pressure and dictated the fight from start to finish en route to a unanimous decision.

Garan boxed England’s Max Curtis and dominated from the start on his way to a unanimous points victory.

The following day saw Ioan pitted against Belfast’s Jack McGivern in a semi-final which proved his closest and toughest test of the tournament.

“Jack’s an all-Ireland champion who we had watched beating a top American the day before,” said Cardigan ABC head coach Guy Croft.

“We knew he was going to be hard to beat, but Ioan pulled out all the stops from the start, just edging every round with a sharper work rate and strong front foot boxing to win by a split decision.”

Garan proved too strong for Ireland’s Trefor Hegarty in his semi-final – a couple of powerful right hands checking his opponent’s progress early on.

The doctor was called in twice in the first round to inspect the Irish boy’s nosebleed and the towel came in as Croft really started to go through the gears.

Barra, a stocky, powerful Mexican who had looked dangerous in close in the semis the day before, was expected to be a daunting final opponent for Ioan.

However, the Welsh teen produced an outstanding display, catching Barra from all angles as he strove in vain to close the gap on his elusive opponent.

By the end of the third round the bloodied US boxer looked battered and deflated – Ioan securing his second Monkstown gold with ease.

Garan saved his best until last, keeping his composure against the aggressive Byrne, picking his shots and landing a succession of good punches throughout the fight.

“I was suprised Eric wasn’t given at least two counts during the fight because Garan landed some crackers,” said Croft senior.

“He won by unanimous decision to take the gold, having had to settle for silver last year after losing to Mikey Stokes.”

Meanwhile, over at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, club-mate Mikey O Sullivan began his schoolboy final against Owen in his usual whirlwind fashion, virtually overwhelming the north Walian with an endless barrage of punches from both hands.

Only a good defence kept Owen in the contest, although he did take a standing eight count in the second round, and the result was never in doubt.

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Sport

Clarby stand in the way of Goodwick double

Published

10 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Herald Sport

Two thrilling semi finals last weekend has meant Goodwick United and Clarbeston Road will meet in the senior cup final this coming Saturday.

Goodwick faced Pennar Robins in their semi final who pushed the champions very hard. Carl Vincent will be disappointed but proud of the Robins as they gave a great account of themselves. However in the end Goodwick’s quality and experience just was too much for Vincent’s team.

The other semi was an absolute thriller, and after a nail biting game Matthew Fox’ Clarby progressed to the final. A offside call has sparked a lot of debate around the county. However it seems that linesman Jenkins made an absolute perfect call so credit to him for that.

Both teams would have wanted a nice week of preparation for the final, maybe without any games to play. Unfortunately this hasn’t been possible due to the fixture backlog and both outfits have played already this week.

Goodwick will be favourites of course, however if anyone can upset the apple cart Saturday it’s this Clarbeston Road team. Fox’ outfit have impressed over and over this season. Without too much pressure on them, they are in a good place going into the final.

The double at one staged looked like the minimum Goodwick would be aiming for this season. However losses in other cup competitions, means its Senior Cup success or just the league title for the outstanding team of the season. Oddly becoming champions with no cup success maybe seen as a huge disappointment considering their dominance this season. A unique pressure. However if anyone can handle that pressure it’s O’Sullivans outfit.

Sport

Swifts eyes on double.

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Herald Sport

Monkton Swifts reserves have blown away the second division this season and now have the double in their sights. They face Merlins Bridge reserves in the semi final of the second division cup and lived up to their favourites tag.

Swifts won comfortably with key player Butland getting three assists and Josh Sture grabbing a brace. Waterman and Rhys Sture added the other goals as outstanding Monkton won 4-0.

Herbrandston and Johnston played in the other semi final and this was a much harder fixture to call. The promoted Herbie a younger and perhaps less physical outfit in comparison to the Tigers. Johnston quickly took control of the game when they found themselves two up after just 29 minutes.

However when Scott Murray was shown a red card just eight minutes later, Herbie would have been confident of staging a comeback. Despite being a man light, Johnston held Herbie until the final minute of the 90, when Alex Ouzman gave Herbie late hope. The Tigers held firm however and progress to the final where they will be underdogs. A tag that I’m sure the players and manager Steven Allen won’t mind too much.

Sport

Tenby hit five against downbeat Bridge

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Herald Sport

On a beautiful day in Tenby, the hosts welcomed Merlins Bridge to The Clicketts, fresh from their West Wales semi final defeat midweek.

The Bridge squad was missing some influential players after picking up some injuries and the visiting team asked questions over the fitness of the pitch, which, according to the Bridge management, was too hard.

The referee waved these away and the game was on, with the Tenby squad clearly thinking they were already in the heads of the Bridge team.

Almost straight from Kick off Tenby set their stall out with some great attacking play, which Jerome Mansbridge benefitted from in just the second minute putting the home team ahead.

The bridge players weren’t at the races and Tenby capitalised scoring a further 4 first half goals, including a Mansbridge hat trick, leaving the away team bewildered and 5-0 down at half time.

What could have been a hugely embarrassing defeat for a team that harboured title hopes at the beginning of the season, turned around somewhat at half time, when Dai Davies, the club captain, almost singlehandedly dragged them to a much higher level in the second half, ensuring his players kept their discipline and worked hard against a very good Tenby team. Undoubtedly Merlin’s Bridge were the better team in the second period, but the damage had already been done in the first half, and despite Bridges best efforts, the score remained 5-0 to the home team.

In a game which saw Tenby jump to 4th in the league, they can be hugely proud of their season and will look to build on that for their next in Division one.

A fantastic game on a beautiful day with a good home crowd watching, the team from the Clicketts will be justifiably happy with their afternoons work.

Tenby 5-0 Merlins Bridge.