Matthew McCole stars as Donegal toasts Ulster Elite hat-trick

Matthew McCole hit new heights on Friday night as Donegal boxing celebrated a hat-trick at the Ulster Elite finals on Friday night.

McCole and his Illies Golden Gloves colleague Cahir Gormley toasted titles at the Girdwood Community Hub in Belfast while Letterkenny man Jack Harkin, representing the Derry-based Oakleaf BC, also had his hand raised in victory.

In the case of each, it was their first Ulster Elite titles and so impressive was McCole the Dungloe native was named as the boxer of the tournament.

McCole followed in the footsteps of Donegal boxing legend Paddy Doherty in winning the Ulster Elite light-middleweight division.

The Illies southpaw exacted revenge on Holy Trinity favourite Jon McConnell. In an Irish Elite semi-final in January 2023, McConnell edged McCole on a 3-2 split.

Those cards were reversed in style on Friday night just off the Crumlin Road in north Belfast.

Four-time Irish Colleges champ McCole has been knocking on the door of Elite titledom in recent years, but finally the 25-year-old got his night on Friday.

McConnell might’ve proved a tricky opponent, but McCole had his number,

Off the back of defeat to Eugene McKeever in the Irish Elites pre-Christmas, McCole maintained the hard graft. His night arrived at last as the 2022 FISU University World Cup Combat Sports bronze medalist topped the charts, given a 3-2 split and officials awarding him as the best boxer of these famous old championships.

His Illies club mate Gormley had won the welterweight crown, emulating Illies great Willie McLaughlin, who took the same title in 2007 and 2011.

Gormley was also on the right end of a 3-2 split decision to take the 67kgs title at the expense of Cairnlodge’s Gianni Richmond.

Gormley, a 2017 European Schoolboys bronze medalist - then boxing with the Maydown Olympic club - did enough to get the nod having beaten Charles McDonagh in a semi-final on Wednesday night.

Harkin powered his way to bantamweight honours. The Letterkenny teenager earned a 4-1 split decision in his meeting with Churchlands’ Matthew Boreland. Harkin had to overcome a slow start with Boreland on top after the first verse. Boreland featured in a belting exhibition against Cherry Orchard’s Karl Sheridan at the Rumble In The Hills pro boxing show in Letterkenny in November, but Harkin was able to up the ante in the middle stanza and kept up his work in the last.