IT was a case of gaining valuable minutes inside the ring for two different reasons when Malmesbury ABC duo Will Moore and Jacob Liddington made the trip down to Devon at the weekend.

Whilst Moore was facing his first-ever bout as a boxer, Liddington was making his return to boxing for the first time in five months.

Moore faced home boxer Sam Thomas in his first-ever contest and thoroughly enjoyed his first outing despite losing on points. He showed a great attitude towards the fight and the general consensus at the club is that he will do well in the future.

Liddington took a last-minute bout against the home favourite in the form of the very experienced south-paw Jed Davies over three, three-minute rounds.

It was an excellent contest between two very good and experienced boxers. It was a good hard contest and the Malmesbury corner felt that their man should have had his hand raised at the end, but it wasn’t to be and he lost on a split decision.

It was Liddington's first outing in almost five months so regardless of the decision, it was good for hom to be back competing.

"Jed is a great lad, so we’re not too upset!" said the coaches afterwards.

In other news, Malmesbury ABC had a busy Easter break as they contributed heavily to the homeless.

All boxers and coaches at the club donated chocolate Easter eggs to the Alternative Angels charity, an organisation that helps to feed those without homes in and around Swindon.

The eggs shown above were handed over to the Alternative Angels, who provided the homeless with them and other food on Easter Sunday.

"Thanks again for your donations, they put a smile on many faces," said the charity. 

"We served 86 people tonight and we’d like to give a special shoutout to those who donated, cooked and supported our charity this evening."