EIGHT Swindon boxers progressed to the Western Counties Final of the National Schoolboys Championships on Sunday.

Staged at Downend ABC, Bristol, six Walcot and two Horseshoe boxers booked their place in the next round.

Getting the ball rolling for Walcot was 12-year-old Johnny McDonagh, making his debut in the compeition.

McDonagh met Arthur Parsons from Bristol’s Broad Plain Boys Club in the Class 1, 32kg category.

From the first round McDonagh took control of the contest, scoring comfortably with fast left jabs and straight rights.

The second saw McDonagh land combinations of hooks, uppercuts and straight rights, forcing his rival to take a standing count prior to the contest being stopped in the final round.

Win number two came courtesy of Jimmy McDonagh, brother of Johnny.

The 14-year-old took on John Coffey from Broad Plain Boys Club, at class 3 (44kg).

This was an all-action affair, with McDonagh on the attack with left hooks and straight rights whilst Coffey bravely tried to counter.

McDonagh kept up the high work rate for most of the bout and won every round for a unanimous points success Completing the hat-trick of wins for Walcot was Kieran O’Donoghue, also 14.

The two-time semi-finalist faced inexperienced George Richardson from the Horseshoe gym in a class 3, (48kg) match.

The opening round was a tangled affair, with few clean scoring shots landing.

O’Donoghue did most of the attacking with Richardson bravely trying to battle back. During the second round O’Donoghue clicked into gear and began to score with fast left jabs and straight rights.

After a sustained attack from O’Donoghue midway through the round, Richardson’s corner threw in the towel.

But there was disappointment for Walcot boxer Charlie Trinder at Class 3, 57kg.

He battled bravely against Charlie Ricketts from Downend ABC but could not land enough effective shots and lost on points.

Said Eltuyev, Milo Bolton and Ross Kennedy all received byes to the next round. Chief coach Harry Scott summed up the day, saying: “All the lads gave 100 per cent and did the club proud.

“We have six boxers going forward to the Western Counties Final on Sunday which is a great achievement for the club.”

Horseshoe ABC also celebrated some success with Gary O’Reilly beating Baker Street’s Martin Baker in the (48kg-50kg) class 3 category.

O’Reilly boxed well, eventually claiming a majority points decision and now faces Devizes star Ashley Wilkins - a former England international.

Kayden Connolly will also box in the next round having received a bye.

Horseshoe coach Brian Roberts praised his boxers, saying: “We put George in against Keiran for the experience.

“It was always going to be tough because he had only had two fights. But we’ve found it difficult to get him fights because he’s had two fights and two wins.

“Keiran is a very good boxer and he boxed well. Gary boxed very well and he deserved his majority decision.”