Newell despair in ABAs

JOHN NEWELL

OLDHAM'S John Newell bowed out of the senior ABAs at the quarter-final stage after an 18-9 defeat at the hands of Peter Martin at East Durham College.

The 18-year-old felt he had the better of the first round but found himself 7-4 down, and did not manage to overhaul his opponent's lead.

His dad Tony said: "John is understandably disappointed, big time. As has happened in the past, we don't agree with all of the decisions we witnessed but there is nothing we can do about it.

"No way do we think 18-9 reflects the way the fight panned out. John was confident, Peters had been stopped in the first round by three of the lads John beat on his way to the quarter-finals.

"But we cannot change what has happened and John, as disappointed as he is, will crack on and move forwards.

"At the end of the day he is a good guy, a real gentleman. He accepts the fact he has been eliminated from the competition."

On a brighter note, Newell has been called into the England squad for a tour of Canada at the end of April.