Brett McGinty (left)
BY CHRIS MCNULTY
ST JOHNSTON’S Brett McGinty is just one Donegal native aiming for glory on the national stage this weekend.
The fifteen-year old, who boxes out of the Oakleaf ABC in the Brandywell area of Derry, goes in search of his sixth Irish title when he squares up to Christopher O’Reilly (Bracken) in Saturday’s Youth 1 70kgs final in Dublin’s National Stadium.
McGinty, a bronze medalist at the 2012 European Schoolboy Championships in Russia, is in blistering form at the moment, having recently won Ulster 9 Counties and Ulster Youth titles.
In th 9 Counties final, McGinty overcame Conor Vint in December before he stopped Cavan’s Martin McDonagh in the opening round of their Ulster Youth final. A volley of thundering blows forced the referee to stop the contest before it had time to settle.
Last weekend, he was again showing good form as he soared to a 3-0 win over Nathan Doran (Bay City). From start to finish, McGinty was in command and he now faces O’Reilly in Saturday’s final.
Chasing Irish title number six, he is one of the leading hopes heading to the capital this weekend, where he is joined by cousin Callum Toland, another out of the Oakleaf house, who faces Sean Purcell of Marble City in the Boy 1 54kgs final. Toland dispatched Matthew McDonagh of Geesala last Friday before edging Joseph Kennedy (Westside) in the semi-final. A first Irish title is now within his grasp.
Kevin McMonagle (Dungloe) is in the Youth 1 46kgs final against Shane Flavin from the Paulstown club in Kilkenny after he took a walkover win in his semi-final, while John Moran (Illies Golden Gloves) was excellent when overcoming Daniel Hurley (Togher) as the Donegal man surged to a 3-0 win and he faces Avona’s Michael Maughan in Saturday’s final.
Joseph Reddin (Illies Golden Gloves) will be up against Jack Doyle (Clonmel) in a Youth 2 semi-final at 66kgs after he scored an impressive 3-0 win over Paulstown’s Jimmy Jackman last weekend.
Liam Callaghan (Carndonagh) at 50kgs, Ryan Greene of Illies at 57kgs and Twin Towns’ Conor McGlynn have yet to box, and all three are looking ahead to semi-final in the Youth 2 Championships.
Last weekend, there were defeats for Convoy’s Bryan McNamee, Illies Golden Gloves’ Eamon Sweeney, Stephen Bonner of Buncrana, Brian Elliot from Letterkenny and Finn Valley’s Leon Gallagher.
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