Gallery and round up: No love lost at Kildare GAA Fight Night
Kildare's footballers swapped the size five O'Neills for boxing gloves on Saturday night as they entered the ring for the annual Kildare GAA fundraiser in the Osprey Hotel, Naas.
The 'Fight Night' proved to be a great hit among the fans in attendance, who were treated to some top quality boxing and plenty of enthralling encounters as 20 fighters went at it hammer and tongs to take some bragging rights back to the training pitches in Hawkfield.
Having trained for 11 weeks in Ryston Boxing Club, the footballers looked completely at ease in the ring, and there were some big hits landed in plenty of the bouts.
The opening two were really something to savour, with Mark Donnellan and Tommy Moolick going blow for blow in a heavyweight encounter in the second fight, while Paul Cribbin and Fionn Dowling also put on an entertaining show to open the night's proceedings.
Cribbin and Donnellan won the initial two bouts on the judges' decisions, while the first stoppage of the night arrived in the third bout as Athy's Mark Hyland knocked Cian O'Donoghue to the canvas with a sweetly struck shot to the chin.
David Slattery -a newcomer to the Kildare senior team- knocked Niall Kelly to the floor in the next bout too, as the Confey man showed his hard edge to produce a polished display.
Two members of the Ladies All-Ireland Intermediate Championship winning side were next up, as Tara Hallinan and Rachel Reidy faced each other. It was the former who came out on top in that battle, which proved to be the last bout before the interval.
Upon the resumption there was a clash between another couple of young newcomers to the senior panel, with U21 Sarsfields duo Conor Hartley and Con Kavanagh putting their friendship to one side in an entertaining clash. The longer reach of Kavanagh proved decisive as he won on the judges' decision.
The liveliest affair on the night was the meeting of Chris Healy and Darren Maguire as both men skipped around the ring and regularly traded big shots. Maguire had just finished sitting a long exam in UCD earlier in the evening, but he still managed to perform brilliantly and bloody up his opponent and take victory.
The final fight on the night was one that many in attendance had been waiting for. Kildare captain Eoin Doyle squared off against vice-captain Peter Kelly, and there was no shortage of aggressive haymakers thrown in the opening minute. The frantic pace dropped somewhat after that as both fighters settled into a more composed style of boxing, but it remained highly entertaining nonetheless. A tight one to call, but Doyle got the decision from the judges.
The boxers were supported by their county teammates at ringside, while club players from all over the county also came to cheer on the fighters from their own clubs. It proved to be a fine night's entertainment, and there were undoubtedly some sore heads on Sunday morning when the participants shuffled out of their beds.
Fight results
Paul Cribbin beat Fionn Dowling
Mark Donnellan beat Tommy Moolick
Mark Hyland beat Cian O'Donoghue
David Slattery beat Niall Kelly
Tara Hallinan beat Rachel Reidy
Con Kavanagh beat Rachel Reidy
Shane McNamara beat David Hyland
Darren Maguire beat Chris Healy
Daniel Flynn beat Kevin Feely
Eoin Doyle beat Peter Kelly
Photos taken by Pat Tinsley
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