A GRANDSTAND finish by Cardigan boxer Ioan Croft came just too late to capture the gold medal at the Three Nations tournament at Motherwell's huge Ravenscraig Sports Centre.

The 16-year-old from Crymych had been bidding to secure a second Three Nations crown to emulate his success of 2015.

And the fact that Croft beat Scotsman Nicholas Devlin in the semi-finals – the opponent he had defeated en route to Three Nations glory three years previously – appeared to be a good omen.

However, pitted against England's Joe Tyres in the final, southpaw Croft appeared to pay the price for an over-cautious start.

With the English boy seemingly taking the first round, Croft started getting into his stride in the second.

The Welsh teenager appeared to gain the upper hand in the third and final session, catching Tyres with a variety of good clean shots.

Yet it was not quite enough to make up for his slow start and a crestfallen Croft dropped a 4-1 split decision.

"It was very disappointing," the boxer's dad, Cardigan ABC head coach Guy Croft, said afterwards. "I thought he'd just done enough to win."

Although Croft had struggled to make the 56kg limit, his father refused to cite that as an excuse. "I'm not sure weight is all to blame," he said.

"Ioan's been finishing strong at the end of every round and his third round is always his best.

"He just takes a little while to get the measure of his opponent, which isn't such a bad thing, although on this occasion it probably cost him the fight.

"Joe has had something like 75 bouts, only lost 12, and was 13 months older. Ioan's had 62 and lost 10 so it was a good match."