CRYMYCH’s peerless Croft twins finished a winning season with a flourish by both bagging golds at the prestigious Monkstown Cup tournament in Dublin.

Ioan and Garan, representing Cardigan ABC, came through six tough bouts in a top-class event, which drew over 830 entries from 18 different countries.

Southpaw Ioan secured his second Monkstown triumph in the 60kg 2001 class with a unanimous points win over Louis Joey Barra, of the US, while Garan improved on last year’s silver medal by beating Ireland’s Eric Byrne, on a unanimous decision, in the 62kg class.

On the same day in Cardiff, Fishguard’s Mikey O’Sullivan captured a Welsh schoolboy title by recording a unanimous points verdict over Guto Owen (Caernarvon ABC) in the 35.5kg class.

In the Monkstown Cup quarter-finals, Ioan Croft boxed Jo Jo McArdle, of Belfast, in what proved a closely-matched contest.

The Crymych 16-year-old began well, maintained constant pressure and dictated the fight from start to finish en route to victory.

Garan boxed England’s Max Curtis and dominated from the start on his way to a unanimous points victory.

The next day saw Ioan pitted against Belfast’s Jack McGivern in a semi-final that was his closest, toughest test of the tournament.

“Jack’s an all-Ireland champion who we had watched beating a top American the day before,” said head coach Guy Croft.

“We knew he was going to be hard to beat, but Ioan pulled out all the stops from the start, just edging every round with a sharper work rate and strong front foot to win by a split decision.”

Garan proved too strong for Ireland’s Trefor Hegarty in his semi-final - with a couple of powerful right hands checking his opponent’s progress early on.

The doctor was called in twice in the first round to inspect the Irish boy’s nosebleed, and the towel came in when Croft really started to go through the gears.

Barra, a stocky, powerful Mexican, who had looked dangerous in close in the semis the day before, was expected to be a daunting final opponent for Ioan.

However, the Welsh teen produced an outstanding display, catching Barra from all angles as he strove in vain to close the gap on his elusive opponent.

By the end of the third round the bloodied US boxer looked battered and deflated and Ioan secured his second Monkstown gold.

Garan saved his best until last, keeping his composure against the aggressive Byrne, picking his shots and landing a succession of good punches throughout.

“I was surprised Eric wasn’t given at least two counts during the fight because Garan landed some crackers,” said Croft senior.

“He won by unanimous decision to take the gold, having had to settle for the silver last year when losing out against Mikey Stokes.”

Meanwhile, over at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, club-mate Mikey O’Sullivan began his schoolboy final against Owen in his usual whirlwind fashion, overwhelming the north Walian with an endless barrage of punches from both hands.

Only a good defence kept Owen in the contest, although he did take a standing eight count in the second round, and the result was never really in doubt.