Olympics the target as Sutherland wins thriller

DARREN SUTHERLAND (St Saviours OBA) strengthened his Olympic qualification hopes with a 15-8 victory over arch-rival, Darren O’Neill (Paulstown) in an action-packed middleweight final at the National Stadium on Saturday.

The Stadium lacked the atmosphere of the senior championship finals when Sutherland won 21-15, but the small crowd was treated to another thriller as O’Neill — coming off injury — stood toe to toe with his opponent for most of the contest.

The former Kilkenny hurler spent two weeks on crutches with a foot injury since the seniors and, though he won a gold medal in a multi-nations tournament in Zagreb, his preparations had been disrupted.