Portlaoise BC’s O’Reilly lands gold and Casey bronze at European Under-15 Championships

Portlaoise Boxing Club pair, Thomas O’Reilly and Rosaletta Casey certainly played their part in what was a hugely successful European Under-15 Championships for Ireland in Montenegro last week.

The former completed his march to gold in the 75kg division following his impressive triumph over Yusif Adhakishiyev in the decider, while Casey secured a brilliant bronze in her 42kg field.

In all, Team Ireland bagged a hugely impressive 13 medals at this competition, including four gold, three silver and six bronze, leaving the squad joint second in the ‘raw’ medals table alongside England, with Ukraine emerging top on a total of 19.

O’Reilly was handed a bye in the last 16 of the 75kg division, setting him up for quarter-final bout against England’s Levi Valler, to whom he had lost out in the Barum Box Club earlier in the year.

But the experience of that contest stood to the Portlaoise lad, who turned the tables on his rival and earned a unanimous 5-0 victory this time around.

“That English lad really tested Thomas in the Barum Box Club, but Thomas was really tuned in this time,” said Portlaoise Boxing Club head coach, Pat Ryan. “He had a much better attitude and his boxing sense then came into play.” That victory set O’Reilly up for a meeting with Yenerhan Eroglu of Turkey in the penultimate rounds, and again the Portlaoise competitor delivered another very convincing 5-0 triumph.

Standing in his way of the European crown was Azerbaijan’s Aghakishiyev, but O’Reilly served up another tremendous performance to secure a third straight unanimous decision and, with it, gold.

“For his Azerbaijan opponent, it was his to lose, but he didn't realize the calibre of boxer he was coming up against in Thomas,” Ryan told the *****Laois Nationalist*****.

“Thomas boxed on the back foot, on the counter, because he just has that amazing reaction speed. His reaction times are brilliant and he just couldn't miss him. He turned him around in the second round and there was no doubt about the winner.

“The first round I think was 3-2, it was tight, but in the second round and then the last round, Thomas was just boxing on the flow,” he said.

After receiving a bye in the last 16 of the 42kg division, Rosaletta Casey came up against Poland’s Alicja Laniecka in the quarter-finals, emerging a 4-1 winner from that contest.

Next up for her was the challenge of Scotland’s Sinita Kaur in the semi-finals, Casey seeing her campaign draw to a close at that point, despite a tenacious display.

It was a tremendous experience for the Portlaoise competitor who will be eligible to compete in these very championships again next year, and Ryan is backing her to make another strong push.

“Rosaletta was very good,” remarked Ryan. “She’s a very good listener and she'll always endeavour to try and do the right things. She takes instruction very well and she's absolutely immersed in boxing.

“She got her hand up in these Europeans and she’s now won a bronze medal, so she'll have that bit more experience and a little bit more know how going forward,” he said.

Both O’Reilly and Casey had secured their place on the Irish squad for these Europeans after landing their respective National Under 15 Championship titles back in August.

The latter surmounted a huge test from Isabelle Nolan in the final, the Ballinacarrow boxer having previously pipped her in the Monkstown Box Cup.

But the Portlaoise girl exacted revenge when she emerged on the right side of 3-2 decision in the final to earn her place on the team for Montenegro.

Certainly Ryan was delighted to see both boxers reach the podium on the European stage, the Portlaoise head coach pointing out “that brings to a total, 18 boxers from the club who have won medals at juvenile, youth or elite in European competition. That’s a phenomenal achievement,” On another note, Ryan himself was helping oversee four boxers at an international box cup competition in Lithuania last week, including Johnny Harty, Cody O’Reilly and Lorcan Holohan from Portlaoise, along with Shane Cunningham from Cork.

It provided these competitors with more valuable international experience that will serve them all well, particularly Harty and O‘Reilly who, along with clubmate, Jimmy Doyle, are gearing up for next month’s National Senior Championships.