Bronze for Niamh Fay after semi-final defeat in Serbia

Niamh Fay must settle for European bronze after the Ballyboughal bantam suffered defeat to World silver medallist Lacramioara Perijoc.

In their semi-final in Serbia, Perijoc secured her place in the final after taking a unanimous decision against Fay.

Perijoc arrived in Serbia with real pedigree having taken silver medals from the 2022 World Championships and the 2023 European Games.

The rugged Romanian had beaten Fay on her way to World silver in Istanbul two years ago.

Fay opened up her European bid with a fine UD win over Karina Tazabekova from Russia.

The withdrawal of Stanmira Petrova, the 2023 European Games champion, gave Fay a passage to the semi-final.

Fay, a European U22 and Youth gold medallist, tagged Perijoc with a tidy right midway through the opening round, but the judges were swayed by Perijoc.

The Romanian was 10-9 up on all five cards at the end of the first and it all seemed a bit ominous from there.

As ‘Niamh, one-two’ bellowed from the Irish contingent, the Phoenix of Ballyboughal clubwoman tried to rouse into action.

But Perijoc maintained the upper hand and had the victory pocketed by the end of the second.

Fay will leave Serbia with bronze and also $5,000 in prizemoney.