Geraghty's glee at first international call-up

Published on Thursday 3 April 2008 10:35

EDINBURGH SPARTA amateur boxing club coach Mark Geraghty admitted he was over the moon over being handed his first international squad call-up to assist Scottish National Youth coach Peter Harrison at the British Schoolboys' Championships in Sheffield on April 10.

A delighted Geraghty – a former top amateur and professional featherweight in the 1980s – said: "This is great news. I've often wondered if I'd missed the boat internationally but Peter Harrison told me a couple of days ago that he wanted me as part of his coaching team who will try to inspire the 19-strong Scottish Schoolboys' boxing squad to bring back British titles from Sheffield on April 10.

"Actually, it's a double honour for Sparta as our young bantamweight, Stuart Blackie, has been handed a place in the squad after beating Port Glasgow's Greg Quigley for the 54kg (1994 class) Scottish title at Lasswade last Saturday."

Gilmerton light-flyweight Conor McGregor is another Capital schoolboy who has been called into the Scottish team.

Meanwhile, Geraghty also revealed that Sparta would be playing host to Irish boxing club Bishop Kelly, from Omagh, who have agreed to bring a full squad to Edinburgh in June.