Two boxers from the Neilstown club in Dublin marched into the National Senior Championships finals without having to lift a glove at Thursday night’s semi-finals at the National Stadium in Dublin.
Irish captain Ken Egan and his clubmate Alex Vedernikov both received walkovers from William Mitchell and Luke Tyson Fury.
Egan, who is targeting his eighth senior title on the trot, stopped Mitchell in the first round of last years 81Kg final, and will now meet Ciaran Curtis in the light heavyweight decider.
Vedernikov advanced to face defending super heavyweight champion Cathal McMonagle.
Defending bantamweight champion Ryan Lindberg surrendered his crown after losing out to John Joe Nevin.
The Cavan man proved to be much too evasive for his Belfast opponent, using hit-and-move tactics to consistently maintain at least a three-point lead.
The Eric Donovan and Ross Hickey showdown was a classic and went right down to a countback which saw Hickey claim victory after being declared a 15-13 winner.
The most eagerly-awaited Irish senior boxing final in years is on after middleweights Darren Sutherland and Darren O'Neill both recorded semi-finals victories.
Defending champ Sutherland, from the St Saviours club in Dublin, forced Sean Shevlin into two standing counts in his semi-final before the ref stopped the contest in the second with the Dubliner 11-1 up.
O'Neill had a much more testing passage into the final against the experienced Edward Healy, with both boxers tied at 2-2 at the end of the first.
However, the Paulstown ace opened up in the second and third, connecting with lefts and rights en route to recording a convincing 15-3 victory.
Irish 2008 Olympian Paddy Barnes and Jimmy Moore received byes into the light flyweight final.
The 2008 National Senior Championships will conclude with finals in all weight categories at the National Stadium tonight. Friday’s finals begin at 7.45pm.
