Successful night at the coast for saints trio!

Three St Marys juniors were in action last Friday evening on the Whitstable show in Herne Bay. First up was 10 year old Callum Boden in his first skills bout. Taking on the hosts S. Nash (Whitstable), Boden could have been forgiven for having some nerves and was a bit hesitant in an even first round. However, as the bout progressed, Callum listened to coach Dave Bowlers instructions, began to let his punches go and even worked the body of his seaside based opponent, getting him on the ropes several times. It was a very positive start to boxing for St Marys and is now a step closer to having his first competitive bout when he turns 11 next year. Next up was an NABC championship Kent V Sussex county round bout of the National championships, where St Marys 16 year old Joe Tindall pitted against R. Haffery (Hastings, West Hill). Boxing in the Class B under 54kg category, the experienced boxers felt each other out in a close round that Tindall looked to edge on some fast counter punches. The second round saw Gillingham based Tindall heed coach Jerome Xaviers calls to up his work rate against the strong Haffery, using his superior speed to fire off rapid combinations which knocked Hafferys head back several times. The final round saw Haffery go for broke and have some success when Tindall allowed himself to be caught on the ropes, but still did enough to be awarded a unanimous points decision by the judges, to book his place in the regional finals this Sunday. Final boxer in for St Marys was a club match between 16 year old Danny Sanders and Marley Sparks (Sandwich). Sanders came out eager to stamp his authority on the bout which was his first of the season and quickly landed several clean jabs and combinations on his shorter opponents to clearly take the first round. More of the same in round two had Dannys coaches very pleased, as he picked Sparks off with his classy combinations. To his credit, the strong Sparks stuck to his task and had some success in the final round with body punches as Sanders began to slow down. However, Sanders had already done enough to gain a points decision from the judges and now has a record of five victories from 6 bouts.