Golden show for exponents in Ireland

Arriving in Dublin early on the morning of the event the team travelled the 35 miles to the venue at Ardee centre were they held a short pre-fight training session before settling down to wait for their individual fighting categories .

First up was young Cody Clarke, who blitzed his way to the semi-finals with his determined kicking ability , he however lost 1-0, to the eventual more experienced winner but an excellent performance in what was only his second tournament and he looks like a great prospect for the future.

Cody has come up through the Tei Tigers training programme, run for 4-7 year olds, which has given him an excellent foundation from which to build his karate on .

Elize Bauld was the next fighter up and again fought well through the early rounds but saved her best for the final were she swept to the 2016 title. She was devastating with her kicks to her opponent's head to win 8-0 in the final

Maddison and Niamh Rowley both narrowly missed out on gold medals and took bronze in a tough section, again both girls fought very hard and with determined vigour and can be very proud of their efforts, in their first fights whilst abroad .

Lucy McDonald was next up and displayed great skill and composure to win her section and the 2016 title . Lucy is improving with every competition and is now showing the form required to reach the top levels of tournament karate.

Her dedication to her training and correct focus and attitude are now paying dividends .

Kenny Putka then fought in his black belt section and again swept through the early rounds improving with every bout.

A tough opponent awaited Kenny in the final but his sharpness and excellent technique saw him winning the 2016 Irish Open title.

Again Kenny is a dedicated trainer, who works very hard and will have a big karate future ahead on him .

Samantha Maxwell was next up, moving up in age and weight she blasted her way to the final against a tough experienced Welsh fighter.

However, her enthusiasm slightly got the better of her and she unfortunately was disqualified for excessive contact due to kicks to her opponents head, but a good solid performance from Sammi and another silver medal.

Melissa Maxwell won the girls U18 open weight before fighting in her own section.

Again moving up into the higher age section Melissa beat an Irish Internationalist in the first round 8-0, before winning three more fights to win the sections gold medal .

Richard Cairns was next up but like club mate Samantha unfortunately knocked his opponent out with a head kick and was consigned to the bench which was a bit frustrating given he was clearly ahead at the time, but these things happen and he will progress and learn for this in the future .

The older Cowdenbeath fighters then took the stage in the tournament with young black belt Jay Hogg up first. Again good early wins against difficult opponents put him in the final with a very good and experienced Welsh fighter who had always looked as though he would be in the frame for the title.

Jay fought a tactical and measured fight but scored at vital times during the match to win the gold medal.

Jay fights regularly across the UK karate circuit and is currently training with the Scotland squad, at Ratho, hopefully he can progress to full internationalist status soon as his skill and dedication to his sport warrants his inclusion.

Grant Robertson and Andy Wilson were next up and it was double gold for them, fighting in the male under and over 75kg sections.

Both men are stalwarts of the club and showed real determination in collecting their titles, Grant then entered the male open weight section and finished runner-up to a much larger fighter but again a great set of results for him.

Jason McCall also entered the over 35 years section and finished second which was excellent as he only returned to training in the last three months after a lengthy absence .

The final event was the black belt male senior championships where club instructors Allan Goodwin and Ben Smith entered.

Both gave great spirited fighting performances and reached the final, however, Ben received a very nasty cut below his right eye in the semi-finals and the doctors would not let him continue, so it was gold for Allan and silver for Ben.

Both men, who are natural light weights, gave away nearly 15kg in their fights but can through with flying colours.

The tournament concluded late Saturday evening so the team stayed in Dublin before any early morning flight home to Scotland .

Overall Cowdenbeath finished top of all groups entered in the Irish Open and the fighters were supported by coaches and many friends and family.

Club Instructor Gordon Maxwell commented: "A great result for the team, with many who are very young and were experiencing fighting abroad for the first time.

"But all, including the fighters who missed out on medalling on this occasion, gave it everything both on the day and in the training beforehand which was very intense .

"The real achievement, however, is for such a small club to mobilise and organise a team which can compete abroad and thanks goes to all who assisted in the process, fundraising by parents along with donations and support from local sponsors made this happen and we are very grateful to them for their assistance .

"This is a very young team with many who have graduated through our "tigers" training group run by Tam Martin, Ben Smith and assisted by Melissa Maxwell and that is very pleasing and brings us hope for the future "

The club runs out of it's own premises at the "Old Fountain" on Broad Street and new members are always warmly received and welcome were top class training is given with the results for all to see.

Again thanks went to sponsors "Diamonds Fitness, Smart travel and Dowie's Gym for their continued support.

The club, as well as fighting in tournaments , also practices basic traditional karate and will be starting lessons for basic karate fitness and kata training this week, interested phone 07904422968.