As the boxing season draws to a close, the Erne Boxing Club finished on a high clinching two gold medals and two silver medals at the prestigious Monkstown International Box Cup in Dublin last weekend.

The Monkstown Box Cup is an international tournament for schoolboy/girl and junior boxers, staged over three days and attracted over 500 boxers from 10 countries.

The Erne Boxing Club entered a team of eight which included five of their own boxers and three from Ballinamore Boxing Club.

Harris Crowley was the first of the team in action in the Boy 1 (Under 12s) 36kgs class and despite boxing well and putting together an accomplished display he was very unfortunate to drop a points decision to England’s William Tyres in the quarter-final.

Also in quarter-final action on Day One of the competition saw Pearse Mulligan against Dublin champion Gareth Dowling (Dockland Boxing Club) in the Boy 3 (Under 14s) 42kgs class. Mulligan started tentatively but grew in confidence as the contests progressed and despite a spirited effort in the final round dropped a unanimous point decision.

Day two of the competition saw mixed success; Ciara Lavin (Ballinamore Boxing Club) scored a very good points win over Belgium champion Lamlot Maymen (Beauna Vista Boxing Club) in the Youth (Under 18s) 63kgs class semi-final. But younger sister Megan Lavin (Ballinamore Boxing Club) was outscored by Chelsea Buckley (Clara Boxing Club) in the Girl 3 (Under 14s) 52kgs class.

Dylan McMahon faced a tall order in the Boy 3 (Under 14’s) 48kgs semi-final as he was pitted against England’s Raheem Mohammed. McMahon tried his best and gave a very good account of himself but his English opponent was too physically big and slick for the Erne favourite and landed with the better punches to secure a deserved points win.

Day three of the competition saw four of the Erne team compete on finals day. Kaci Crowley claimed gold in the Girls Under 11’s 38kgs class and boxed very well in a skills match with Kasey Delaney (Whitechurch Boxing Club).

The Erne Boxing Club then won their second gold medal when Nikadim McKiernan scored a unanimous points win over Galway’s Jimmy Sweeney (Titans Boxing Club) in the Boy 2 (Under 13’s) 70kgs+ class.

McKiernan started fast and although very wild with his punches at times he landed with the only telling punches to claim all three rounds.

Ciara Lavin put in a very game performance against England’s Olivia Hussey (Wildcard ABC) but after three very competitive rounds had to settle for a well-earned silver medal. Hussey’s clean punches and solid counters were favoured over Lavin’s aggression. Shauna Lavin (Ballinamore Boxing Club) also had to settle for a silver medal after being outscored by Dublin’s Mary Gerathy (Phibsboro Boxing Club) in the Girl 4 (Under 15’s) 52kgs final. Lavin had her fair share of success but Gerathy just did that bit more work in each of the sessions to secure the win.

Erne Boxing Club Coach Sean Crowley commented: “To return from an International boxing tournament with two gold and two silver medals from a team of eight is a great achievement. This competition was all about gaining valuable experience and we competed in four international contests, three against England and one against Belgium.

“Although we only secured one victory in these matches, we were very unfortunate to not get one of the decisions and were very competitive in the other two matches so this bodes very well for the club. The performances demonstrate that our boxers can compete at this level and will give them more confidence.

“Overall the club is very proud of the team and delighted to be returning with four medals from an International Open competition especially as it was the first time our boxers had competed at an event of this type.”