Carlisle Villa ABC could not have got their new season off to a better start, with Brian Watson and Watson Miller putting on great performances on the Larches and Savick open show.

Watson, 17, and 11-year-old Miller were both making their boxing debuts for the club on Friday and carried out the instructions from their coaches perfectly, as Miller performed well and Watson earned a win.

First up for the Villa in bout two of the 15-bout card was Miller who was matched against Harry Gaitens in a skills contest which consisted of three 90-second rounds.

Miller started well, showing great skill for someone who was taking part in his first contest. He pushed forward throughout the first round as he landed some quality shots to keep young Gaitens away.

The second round was much the same as the first, with Miller utilising his superior reach advantage, forcing Gaitens on the back foot with some sharp jabs and the occasional right hand.

Gaitens, spurred on by the home crowd, came forward in the final round but couldn’t land anything significant on Miller to force him back. But Miller, once again, took control from the centre of the ring and kept the bout at long range, finishing the contest strongly.

Watson had to wait until bout 10 to get his taste of action, being matched against another Larches boxer in Luke Feeley in a youth contest of three, two-minute rounds.

The Villa lad started positively, working well behind his jab and landing sharp right hands when he was at distance. Feeley was hurt by the first one that hit the target and was stuck on the ropes.

Watson followed up with four straight shots which hit the arms and gloves of Feeley, but they still did enough to keep Feeley pinned on to the ropes.

Feeley was allowed to move to his left along the ropes but Brian followed him, throwing single and double shots that were scoring well. After a number of unanswered punches, the referee had no option other than to issue a standing eight count.

A nice one-two combination from Watson had Feeley on the back foot, once again, at the start of the second round.

Watson pushed forward, landing with some quality left and right punches to the head that Feeley had no answer for and, after a sharp straight right to the head which landed flush to the chin, the referee stepped in to issue another standing eight count.

And once the bout resumed, Watson was on Feeley like a flash and forced him on to the ropes where he landed a barrage of shots before referee moved in to wave the bout off to save Feeley from further punishment.