Brian Magee has returned home from the European Championships in Minsk, Belarus, with a silver medal to continue a tradition which now stretches back to 1939.

Flyweight Jimmy Ingle (gold), featherweight Paddy Dowdal (gold) and Charlie Evendon (bronze) triggered a chain of Irish successes that the Belfast middleweight maintained when he was finally outscored 10-2 by Hungarian World Champion Zsolt Erdei in the European final yesterday. Magee was only the seventh Irish boxer to reach a European final and although in the end he was comprehensively beaten by an intelligent and classy opponent, he was subsequently rewarded with a place on a European team to face the Rest of The World in an event in China next month.

Magee's push for gold came undone quite early in the bout when he found himself trailing after the opening rounds. The 1996 Olympic quarter-finalist was then forced to chase his well-rounded opponent and, in an exhausting 10 minutes, ultimately perished in his efforts.

"He was a very tough opponent and perfect for boxing to the computer," said the 23-year-old after the fight. "It was so hard to score off him. I was looking to score some good clean shots from a distance, but he had an excellent defence in the early rounds.

"I went down two points at the start, so I'd to try and attack him and he was a very smart boxer. In the last round it opened up a bit and I had to try and take my chances. But, as I say, he was very suited to boxing to the computer. When we opened up a bit towards the end, we were both very tired. "He definitely wasn't that much of a margin better than me. The three points he got in the last round I don't think really painted an accurate picture of the overall fight. I believe I'm definitely good enough to beat him. He had nothing over me strength or power wise and in that way the fight gives me confidence."

Magee's talents have inevitably attracted the attentions of professional managers and promoters and he would be ranked as one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur next September. But his amateur career continues to be his main focus with the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 also an attractive proposition.

Despite being obviously disappointed in losing what was his seventh fight in total, including qualification, and his fourth of this competition proper, the Holy Trinity boxer left Minsk in a very positive frame of mind.

"It's definitely an important mark for me in my amateur career. Tonight or even tomorrow I think I will begin to think about it and think about what the silver medal means. If I had to give up boxing now, the medal would be there and I'd be proud to have won something, particularly a silver in a European Championship final. I've definitively learned from it."

Harry Hawkins, the manager/ coach of the Irish team championed Magee's ability to get so far against some tough opponents.

"Brian was never overawed by the world champion - no doubt about it, he did very well. The Hungarian was a class act. It was a hard week for Brian and it perhaps told on us more than the Hungarian. He went behind early and then they traded punches in the fourth and Brian caught a few. But he then chased it and swarmed all over him."

Russia dominated the championships, winning a total of 10 medals, twice the number of second-placed Ukraine. Turkey took third place at the championships, which were contested by 176 boxers from more than 30 countries, taking one gold, two silvers and one bronze medal.

Alexander Lebzyak, Russia's 1997 world champion, dominated the 81-kilogram category, winning all his bouts either on a technical knockout or preventing his opponents from winning a single point.

Lebzyak notched up the quickest victory in the finals, knocking down Englishman Courtney Fry twice in the first round, forcing his coach to throw in the towel.

Frenchman Frederic Esther secured his team's only gold medal at the championships.