Donnelly boxes for Irish title this weekend

The All Saints boxer reached the final of the 64kg class of the Irish Senior Championships by beating Holy Family's Sonny Upton 8-6 in a pulsating final in Dublin's National Stadium.

But it took a frantic final round for Donnelly to secure his place in the decider, in his first year at this level.

The Ballymena man was 4-2 ahead in the second but trailed 6-5 early in the third before a big finish saw him edge home.

"Steven was a wee bit hesitant early in the fight and in the end, he had to throw caution to the wind and go in, as opposed to boxing," said coach Gerry Hamill.

"I was a wee bit concerned that he wasn't getting his shots off quickly enough and he maybe made it a bit harder than it should have been."

Donnelly now takes on Westport's Ray Moylette, who sprang a surprise by beating reigning champion and title favourite Philip Sutcliffe.

"Moylette is a former youth world champion who has stepped up to the seniors this year. He has lost to a couple of opponents that Steven has beaten but that doesn't really have any bearing on this contest.

"Steven knows himself he needs to up his game and improve and he'll be working hard on it this week.

"He has two great sparring partners in Thomas and Dermot Hamill and he couldn't ask for anyone better," added Gerry.