JOHN KIELY saved some blushes for Ireland in the international against Italy at the National Stadium last night when he won the last bout of the night, at heavyweight, by a one-point margin. Ireland lost the contest 5-2 on a bad night for the sport here.
The Irish had got off to a very bad start when one of their two bantamweights, Willie Valentine from the St Saviour's club, failed to make the weight limit and had to concede a walkover to Carmine Molaro.
Things did not improve when Damien McKenna from Drogheda was beaten by Giuseppe Bergantino on a surprisingly low score of 4-2.
Aodh Carlyle from the Sacred Heart club in Dublin stopped the rot by beating his Italian opponent, Pasquale Caoine on a score of 13-3.
The young Dublin man took control in the first round and scored with both hands to the head in the second and third. The Italian staged something of a revival in the fourth round, but Carlyle forced the Italian to take a standing count in the fifth.
The Italians took charge in the lightweight division when Angelo Letizia beat Eugene McEneaney from Dundalk on a score of 11-5, and Ireland's woes continued when Ciro Di Corcia beat Patrick Walsh from the St Coleman's club in Cork 13-5 in the light welterweight division.
Ireland slipped 5-1 behind when Mark Wickham from Enniscorthy was beaten by 11 points to five by Antonio Diurno in the welterweight division. It was left to Kiely to rescue some of Ireland's pride, in the heavy-weight division, when he beat Giacchino Mocerino by 10 points to 9.
