Portlaoise pair through to the last four of National Senior Cadet Championships

PORTLAOISE Boxing Club still has plenty of involvement in this year’s National Senior Cadet Championships after both Lorcan Holohan and Jack Cahill secured their place in the semi-finals on Friday night in the National Stadium.

The former, who had already seen off the challenge of both Kai Dynes of Immaculata Boxing Club and Oakleaf’s Lucas McIvor the previous week, picked up another unanimous decision win in the 63kg division when he faced off against Darren Joyce of Sacred Heart.

Cahill, meanwhile, chalked up his first victory in the National Stadium after he surmounted the threat posed by Jake Page from Clonard in the last eight of the 52kg class.

Speaking about Holohan’s latest success, Portlaoise head coach, Pat Ryan said, “It was a difficult fight. Joyce is a southpaw and very awkward. This lad was very tall, very rangy and so Lorcan had to be very cagey.

“You have to make sure that you plan your attacks sensibly and choose the right ones, but Lorcan is very methodical and he's improving immensely.

“That's his third win in the Stadium and he's building a bit of momentum. With that, comes confidence, and confidence, in itself, breeds success” he insisted.

That win sets, Holohan up for a clash with Patrick Myers in the last four of the competition on Friday night, the Spartacus BC competitor having successfully negotiated the challenge of Carndonagh’s Rocco McDaid 4-1 in his respective quarter-final.

Ryan anticipates another tough challenge, telling the *****Laois Nationalist*****: “That’s a 50/50 contest. It's sure to be very close and it’ll be the small percentages that make the difference in either winning or losing.

“But Lorcan is very good on offense and defence. I've never seen a lad develop as much in a year like he has. He's a marvellous attitude and he’s doing really well. He’s really a lad for the future” he insisted Ryan was equally delighted with his form of Cahill in last Friday night’s quarter-finals.

“That's his first win in the stadium. Jack and Lorcan are alike in many ways. They both have great attitudes, and they’re both seriously invested in what they're doing.

“Jack’s work ethic is superb and his ability to follow instruction his superb. If you give Jack a particular instruction, he will try his very best to implement that and execute it correctly, and they’re all the hallmarks of a lad who wants to win” he stressed.

Cahill’s triumph on Friday sees him through to the last four where he will face off against Paddy Nevin of Holy Family BC, who received a walkover in the quarter-final phase on Friday.

Completing the Portlaoise line-up in last weekend’s Senior Cadet quarter-finals was Fabian Berko, who came undone against Niall O’Driscoll of Muskerry BC when they met in the 66kg division on Saturday.

Despite the loss, Ryan still insists the experience will serve Berko well, telling the Nationalist, “He was at the youngest age of it and really, he should have been maybe two divisions below that weight category. He was boxing at 66kg, and he should be boxing really at 60kg.

“He did have a great start to the fight and won the first round, but waned after that. O’Driscoll was a bigger boy altogether and that physicality began to show.

“But it was a great experience for Fabian, and he will have learnt from it. He just needs more experience and exposure to competitions like that. It was his first time to be in the Stadium, so that's a big step in itself.

“Everybody will view the Stadium in different ways. Maybe it’s a stage that’s a step too far, or maybe not.

“For Fabian, it was his first time there. He's only boxing two years, and it was a big ask, but he really jumped at it. He took the opportunity with the both hands and the difference in the end was size and age,” he said.

Portlaoise will still, however, have plenty of interest in this weekend’s semi-finals, with Holohan and Cahill having secured further passage.

Certainly Portlaoise will be hoping to make their mark on this season’s Senior Cadets ahead of a busy summer of action that will start with next month’s National Elite competition , in which the club will be represented by Cody O’Reilly (60kg), Johnny Harty (65kg) and Tiffany O’Reilly (70kg).

Ryan was also hoping to field six boxers in the National Under 18 Championships, namely Neddy Harty, Louis Griffin, Patrick McDonagh, Rico McInerney, Paddy O'Reilly and Solomon Udeze, but the Portlaoise head coach and his team are undecided now, given that the age limit has been changed to Under 19.

Indeed, Ryan has his reservations about seeing his boxers line out in a competition in which, he feels, they could be at a disadvantage in terms of age and weight.