Jennings puts icing on cake of a home party

THE Guernsey boxing team have something to be proud of. At Beau Sejour on Saturday night every one of them fought valiantly to secure a remarkable 10-5 win over the North of England Select team. It was remarkable considering that after the first five bouts they were down 4-1.

Even those who lost put up a brave effort.

Tom Maunder got Guernsey off to a great start when the 12-year-old defeated Dale Arrowsmith by a unanimous decision.

Maunder hit his taller opponent with a number of crunching lefts that saw him deservedly win the home side's best-boxer accolade from the North of England coach, Steve Walshaw.

'I wasn't nervous at all, but I was at the last one,' said Maunder, who now has four bouts under his belt.

'I've never won at home before. He was good but I've seen him box before so I knew the jiff of him.'

Maunder was followed by three local debutants in Perry Bentley, James Ozanne and Josh Harvey. Unfortunately they all came undone against stronger opposition.

St Peter Port School's Bentley lost by a unanimous decision to Manchester's Michael Bolger in their flyweight clash.

'I was little bit gutted to lose,' said Bentley, 14.

'He's had seven fights and that was my first.

'But it was a great experience and I can't wait for my next one.'

Sean Saville, who was also experiencing his first competitive bout, stopped light flyweight Ozanne in the second round. Then Harvey lost on a majority decision to Antony Stenton.

Next up, Gage Demoor defaulted to Lancaster's Jack Ray when he did not come out for the third round.

A serious defeat now looked on the cards for the home side but young light heavyweight Alan Myers changed the tide for the Sarnians by forcing Ross Biggins into retirement in the second.

It was great moment for the big-hearted Myers.

'It was awesome,' said the 16-year-old.

'I had to take the weight off for it as I came in too heavy. I had to sweat off two kilos this morning in the Fitness Factory but I felt all right.'

Matt Sawbridge then got a third win for the home team when he won a majority decision over Preston's Ian Power. That was followed by a first-round stoppage of Steve Kremner by Alderney's Ashley Foster.

The visiting boxer suffered damage to his lower jaw from an inconspicuous knock by Foster. He was taken straight to the PEH but was given the all-clear.

'It was an accidental elbow that did it and we hold no malice about it,' said Walshaw the day after.

'They said he should be OK. His bottom six teeth were laid flat down and you could see the bottom of them.

'We pushed them back in and he seems to be OK now. He's just eaten some beef.'

Big-hitting Sarnian Adam Baker then gave Guernsey the lead when he stopped Nathan Dargue in the second before crowd favourite James Woolnough faced Preston's Ryan O'Hagan in their light-welterweight bout.

After looking to the heavens and with his arms outstretched in a prayer to the boxing gods before the first bell, the 16-year-old Woolnough got behind his jab to win a unanimous decision, with the judges' scores 9-6, 13-8 and 13-8.

'It was a tough fight and I had to dig deep to pull it out of the bag,' said Woolnough.

'It was one of the toughest I've ever had and his coach said to me afterwards that they want a rematch.'

Callum Pearson continued the winning run for the greens when the powerful light heavyweight stopped Luke Munroe in the third round after landing some terrifying blows that knocked the Penrith boxer down a couple of times.

Next up local Scottish carpenter Wayne Calladine, who was 23 on the day, gave himself a great birthday present by winning a majority decision over Lewis Donnelly.

It was a good, old-fashioned, toe-to-toe scrap.

'It was a hard fight and he was a very strong boxer,' said Calladine afterwards.

Shane Le Patourel was due to take on Christian Flynn in the next bout but when the Lancaster boxer came in overweight, Matt Clarke was brought in at very short notice to replace an unlucky Le Patourel.

The stocky southpaw who is always a hit with the crowd had not been regularly training and must be admired for stepping into the ring.

'I got called at 12.30 today. I've done some training but I keep myself fit,' said Clarke before his fight.

It was no surprise, therefore, that he looked rusty as he tried to rough up his opponent. But the classy Flynn danced around Clarke and picked him off some good blows before Clarke was stopped in the third.

Alderney's Adam Rose and Chris Healey proceeded to give the best bout of the night in the penultimate fight of the show.

In what was a real humdinger, the two light-heavyweight southpaws did not budge an inch over the three rounds, but it was the 21-year-old Ridunian who came out on top with a unanimous decision in his favour.

At the top of the bill, Guernsey's finest Matt Jennings took on Neil Smith and the 30-year-old local cruiserweight did not disappoint his fans as he stopped the burly Smith in the second.

Like most of Jennings's opponents, Smith came out strongly looking to dominate, but after overcoming the initial barrage of punches, Jennings soon settled and the result never looked in doubt, even though the 25-year-old Smith looked aggrieved when the fight was stopped.

'I think he could have carried on but it's up to the ref,' said Jennings.

'He looked to put some pressure on me and I always take some time to warm up. I had a good sweat on before I got in there and I was ready for him.'

Before the show, Walshaw had predicted a win for his team. He now says that they will be back for revenge.

'We didn't come away with the victory but there were some fantastic bouts and everything was superb,' he said.

'It's been a fantastic evening and we'll be back with a vengeance.'