Marathon session at Intermediate Championships

The National Intermediate Championships are now down to the semi-finals stage after a marathon session of quarter-final bouts - and a number of semi finals - were decided today.

Ciaran O'Neill and Ruairi Dalton both won their last four clashes this evening, O'Neill beating Paul McGrath 8-4 and Holy Trinity bantamweight Dalton out-pointing Liam McGuinness in an all-Belfast decider.

Meanwhile, Donal O'Leary, Michael Frayne, Mark Carlyle, Brian Fitzpatrick and Sean Allen triumphed in the first five quarter-final bouts of the late session.

Patrick O'Shea ensured that another Cork boxer reached the last four after his cruiserweight clash with Sean McHale was stopped in the second after the Ballinacarrow club-man suffered a facial injury.

Brendan Cregan and Robbie Burke had the audience on their feet after coming through an edge-of-¬the-seat 85Kg clash. Cregan was ahead for most of the bout, but Burke's relentless pursuit saw the Dubliner restore parity inside the final minute.

Cregan edged back in front inside the final 15 seconds. However, he then received a public warning for dropping his head inside the final ten seconds and Burke advanced by a one point margin.

Heavyweight Robert Kraska drew one of the biggest cheers of the night following his win over Lorcan McCann and Daniel Sherry had four points to spare over James Barrett.

Sean Turner, the current Irish U-18 and U-21 champion, who had Olympic champ Michael Carruth and Tony Davitt working his corner, was the pick of the super heavyweights.

The Drimnagh man, who was 5-1 up at the end of the first courtesy of a fine array of punches, beat fellow Dubliner Martin Stokes 18-3.

Daniel Sherry, Christopher Devanney and Kenneth Okunghbowa, who beat Stephen McMonagle, also posted wins in the super heavyweight category.

Meantime, Niall Murray was always in control of his welterweight contest with Paul Upton in the opening bout of this afternoon's session.

The Gorey featherweight was 8-0 up deep into the second round of this encounter and added another four points to his tally in the third.

Crumlin's Stephen Carroll caused one of the upsets of the day after registering a 7-4 win over Patrick J Ward. Carroll was 1-0 up early in this three rounder but Ward appeared to have regained the initiative after claiming the next two points.

However, the Olympic club-man was rocked by a big right hook midway through the second as Carroll - who was beaten 15-1 by Ward in the recent U-21 Championships - worked his way toward a well deserved win.

Emmet Brennan and Conrad Cummins also impressed today along with Bernard Roe, who edged out Andreas Soldar in a top class middleweight decider.

Luke Keeler came from behind to beat David O'Gorman in the final male quarter-final of this afternoon.

Impressive St Francis light welterweight Jessie Lyons saw off the challenge of Dungarvan's Ciara Doyle in the 63Kg female semi-final.

The Championships resume next Friday night with semi-finals in most weight categories. The finals will be held on Friday 11 December.

Evening Session:

Semi-finals
51Kg: Paul McGrath (Ballinvarrow) lost to Ciaran O'Neill (Dockers) 4-8
54Kg: Ruairi Dalton (Holy Trinity) beat Liam McGuinness (Immaculata) 10-5

Quarter-finals
81Kg: Stephen Barrett (Olympic) lost to Donald O'Leary (Rylane) 2-4
81Kg: Thomas Roohan (St Josephs) lost to Michael Frayne (St Marys) 5-10
81Kg: Mark Carlyle (Crumlin) beat Peter Lee (Oughterard) 10-6
81Kg: Brian Fitzpatrick (Ballina) beat Stewart Edgewortth (Edenmore) 6-1
85Kg: Sean Allen (Arklow) beat Patrick Gallagher (St Saviours OBA) 16-0
85Kg: Ciaran O'Griofa (Conomara) W/O
85Kg: Sean McHale (Ballincarrow) lost to Patrick O'Shea (Sunnyside) RSCI2
85Kg: Brendan Cregan (St Josephs) lost to Robbie Burke (Crumlin) 10-11
91Kg: Lorcan McGann (Drimnagh) lost to Robert Kraska (Portlaoise) 5-11
91Kg: Andrew Hanley (Golden Cobra) beat James Barrett (Olympic) 7-3
91+Kg: Daniel Sherry (Dealgan) beat Eamon Higgins (Universities) RSCI2
91+Kg: Sean Turner (Drimnagh) beat Martin Stokes (Crumlin) 18-3
91+Kg: Michael O'Grady (Galway) lost to Christopher Devaney (Ballincarrow) 2-9
91+Kg: Stephen McMonagle (Holy Trinity) lost to Kenneth Okunghbowa (Athlone) 10-16

Afternoon Session:

Quarter-finals
64Kg: Patrick Gallagher (Gleann) W/O
67Kg: Paul Upton (Holy Family) lost to Niall Murray (Gorey) 2-12
67Kg: Patrick J Ward (OLympic) lost to Stephen Carroll (Crumlin) 4-7
67Kg: Daniel Quinn (Glasnevin) beat Colin Dyas (Holy Family) 6-6 c/b 14-13
67Kg: Michael Bustard (Monkstown) W/O
71Kg: Vitaliy Steffanyuk (Castleblaney) lost to Emmet Brennan (St Saviours OBA) 2-13
71Kg: Paul Dooley (Finn Valley) beat Gary McNamara (St Francis) 7-0
71Kg: Shane Egan (Bracken) beat Daniel Foster (Brosna) 7-7,c/b 14/14, 3-2
71Kg: Jonathan Dowling (Paulstown) lost to JP Delaney (Immaculata) 4-6
75Kg: Conrad Cummings (Holy Trinity) beat John Corcoran (Drimnagh) 14-5
75Kg: Barry Barnes (Saviours Crystal) lost to Denis O'Donnell (Dungloe) 4-6
75Kg: Andreas Soldar (Sacre Coeur) lost to Bernard Roe (Dublin Docklands) 4-5
75Kg: Luke Keeler (Crumlin) beat David O'Gorman (Sacred Heart) 7-5

Semi-final
63Kg: Jessie Lyons (St Francis) beat Clara Fraher (Dungarvan) 14-7