Brilliant performance by the progressive Mark Doyle secures Golden Gloves victory

 

Mark Doyle was the toast of his native Taghmon and Wexford a short while ago when he made a successful trip to Belfast to take on Ireland’s best in the boys 15 and under age group in the famed Golden Gloves annual ranking event.

 

Constant and ongoing achievements saw the youngster seeded 2 in his event but such was the quality of the field assembled against him that it would require a series of outstanding performances to reach the final, much less topple the impervious Mikie Kelly, Galway, the current World and All Ireland champion. Mark had been on the receiving end in recent clashes with the top seed but on this occasion he turned things around to record a brilliant 15-6, 15-5 victory in a classic final.

 

The promising Doyle has been one of Wexford’s best juveniles in recent years but he knew further progress would be required if he were to close that narrow gap between himself and Kelly. How well he managed that could be gleaned not just by the margin of victory in the final, but also the quality of the performance he produced in doing so.

 

Earlier he had beaten number 3 seed Rory Grace, Tipperary 15-7, 15-2 in the semi final, Tiernan O’Rourke, Monaghan 15-6, 15-1 the quarter final and prior to that Aidan Cunningham also from Monaghan 15-0 15-2 in the opening round.

 

Now that he has toppled his toughest opponent, 2019 could be a defining year for Mark Doyle, but sometimes staying ahead of the chasing pack can be as difficult as catching them up. For now however he will enjoy this achievement and what it represents.