The Donegal female development squad.
BY CHRIS MCNULTY
SHARON Scanlon (Finn Valley ABC) takes charge of the Donegal Female Development squad on Sunday as they meet Cork in an inter-county tournament at the National Stadium in Dublin.
In December, the Donegal girls defeated Connacht 8-7 in Ballina and now they’ll aim to make it two wins from two when they tackle the Rebelettes on Sunday.
The Donegal squad has been training on Sunday mornings at the Raphoe ABC gym and will be led by the likes of Carrigart’s European bronze medalist Maeve McCarron, not to mention national champions in the form of Jessica Clarke (Carndonagh) and Ciara Craig (Dunfanaghy) – who both have finals at the Ulster 9 Counties Championships on Saturday – while another national champion is Ciara Anderson (Twin Towns).
Anderson is the grand-daughter of former Irish Olympic boxer Brian Anderson, who boxed at the 1964 Games in Tokyo.
Sunday sees Ciara Anderson bridge a 50-year gap. In 1965, Brian Anderson slugged on the National Stadium’s canvas for the last time when he won the Irish welterweight title. Fifty years on, his grand-daughter dons the Donegal trunks when she meets Tina Carthy in a Girl 6 46kgs contest.
The Carndonagh club has six boxers in action, with Clodagh McGonigle, Shania McCloskey, Chantelle Dixon, Ciara Doherty, Jessica Clarke and Caitlin McKinney on the bill while Scanlon’s home club, Finn Valley, have four with contests matched for their rising punchers Leah Gallen, Inga Simane, Leona McBride and Patricia O’Brien-Quigley.
“It’ll be a great experience for all the girls to get a chance to box in the National Stadium,” said team manager Scanlon.
“The girls have been brilliant attending the squad training, which has been a great help to developing female boxing in Donegal. We had a great trip away to Ballina in December and we’re all looking forward to Sunday.”
Donegal coaches are Johnny Mulhern (Carndonagh), Danny Clarke (Carndonagh) and Billy Quigley (Finn Valley) while James McCarron (Carrigart) travels as the referee/judge with Peter O’Donnell (Raphoe) and Tara McCarron (Carrigart) acting as judges.
Contests
Girl 1 36kgs – Clodagh McGonigle (Carndonagh) v Rose Tallant
Girl 1 39kgs – Shania McCloskey (Carndonagh) v Sarah Rose
Girl 2 39kgs – Allannah Sweeney (Twin Towns) v Christine Kenny
Girl 3 54kgs – Chantelle Dixon (Carndonagh) v Chrissie Barrett
Girl 6 54 kgs – Ciara Doherty (Carndonagh) v Claire O’Kane
Girl 4 48kgs – Jessica Clarke (Carndonagh) v Charlotte Ryan
Girl 5 63kgs – Kristina McFadden (Dunfanaghy) v Anne Mullins
18-year-old 86kgs – Maeve McCarron (Carrigart) v Katie Walker
Girl 2 44kgs – Leah Gallen (Finn Valley) v Molly Lehane
Girl 6 46kgs – Ciara Anderson (Twin Towns) v Tina Carthy
Girl 4 44kgs – Ciara Craig (Dunfanaghy) v Susan Brennan
Girl 2 50kgs – Grainne Gallagher (Two Castles) v Lorna Dempsey
Girl 4 56kgs – Inga Simane (Finn Valley) v Louise Kelly
Girl 5 48kgs – Blaithnaid McGarvey (Omagh Boys and Girls) v Cathy Callander
Girl 4 57kgs – Leona McBride (Finn Valley) v Ellen Turner
Girl 3 57kgs – Caitlin McKinney (Carndonagh) v Evelyn Doyle
Girl 2 31kgs – Alannah Mayse (Two Castles) v Susan Kyle
Girl 2 46kgs – Chloe McDaid (Illies Golden Gloves) v Megan Logan
Girl 3 42kgs – Patricia O’Brien-Quigley (Finn Valley) v Edel Lynch
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