European Championship boxing: Pat McCormack joins twin Luke in finals

Pat produced another skillful performance in the U69 kilo semi in the Ukraine, ending the hopes of the host nation's Ievgenii Barabanov when he took a unanimous points decision.

Luke set the ball rolling on the afternoon session with a fantastic display against Lithuania’s number three seed, Evaldas Petrauskas, in the U64 kilo semi.

The pressure was therefore on Pat when he lined up in the blue corner against the home hero.

And Pat, the silver medallist at light-welter at the Euros two years ago, duly delivered in Kharkiv.

All five judged scored it for the Birtley boxer, Belarus and Morocco giving him all three rounds, with Germany delivering a 30-25 scoreline. Italy and Turkey's officials marked it 29-28, but whatever the numbers, there was no doubting the validity of the winner.

It was a cautious start from both boxers, McCormack landing some sweet rights against the southpaw, who finished the opener with a good burst of shots to Pat's head.

Barabanov went down early in the second round though, strangely, the Cuban referee did not rule it as a knockdown.

Pat used his feet superbly, stepping in with long rights before moving back out of range, before scoring with a series of left-right combinations.

Barabanov did connect with a couple of head shots but all the class in the middle session came from the boxer in blue.

Round three had a scrappy start but, again, the better quality work came from McCormack, whose right hand proved slick, throwing a good left hook in for good measure.

Pat looked confident at the final bell, and with justification, as he collected a 5-0 result to reach tomorrow's final.