Mullingar and Moate sides through to league final
Westmeath darts league
Defending champions Mullingar Shamrocks stormed into the final of the Westmeath Darts League with a clinical display against The Wagon Wheel, Ballynacargy on Friday evening.
Leading 6-3 from the first leg, Mullingar Shamrocks won every game of the doubles and secured victory in the first of the singles games thanks to Ross Kelly's win over Regan Maher.
It was 1-1 in the opening doubles match before a cool 79 checkout from Sylvester Keane (who also hit a maximum earlier) helped the home side steal a march. Regan Maher had levelled matters and it went all the way in the third before Shamrocks edged it.
Ross Kelly and Aidan Reilly were next, against Derek Maguire and Joe Crotty. Aidan put Shamrocks ahead, while Ross finished it off on double 12 in the next. At 2-0 on the night and 8-3 overall, the lead was unassailable.
Brandon Gilsenan, with the help of a 180, pressed on ruthlessly and Mickey McKnight weighed in with a 121. The visitors were caught in a tsunami as Mickey finished tops.
Jack Doran's double five kept the match alive, though as he and brother Shane hung on, but Gilsenan applied the coup de grace in the next, completing a clean sweep in the doubles and leaving the reigning champions just one away from the final.
Ross Kelly duly polished it off in the first singles of the evening, denying Regan Maher. Double one is known as 'the mad house' in darts for a reason and it thwarted Kelly for a while, but eventually he got there. That was after a 177 in the first left him 52, but he ended up losing the leg before eventually winning out.
Shamrocks will face The Grand Hotel, Moate in the league final. The latter produced a great display to come from 6-3 adrift and deny The Maypole Inn, Collinstown in Friday's second leg. They certainly made maximum use of home advantage.
The Maypole Inn came in leading 6-3 and needing just four games to reach the final, but they lost the three doubles and the momentum was all with the Grand Hotel, who went on to win 10-8.
Gerry Devereux and Dan Beegan were denied (2-0) by Ben Corcoran and Sean Watters in the opener. Derek Delaney and Paul Radford had at least 15 darts to win, but lost to Graham Corcoran and Damien Claffey. Barry Kiernan and Ray Enright also endured a bout of finishing fever and Mark Corrigan and Mark Dolan took the honours: Kiernan came agonisingly close, but hit double five instead of tops at the vital stage.
It was now 6-6 and the tide had turned. Stephen O’Farrell then had a super win against Ben Corcoran (2-1) as the Maypole Inn found their spark. Paul Radford followed that up, beating Mark Corrigan, leaving it 8-6. It was Ray Enright against Mark Dolan at this juncture and Dolan took it 2-0. Barry Kiernan faced the impressive Sean Watters, who took it 2-0.
Then Graham Corcoran denied Derek Delaney (2-1) before Damien Claffey won it for the home side, overcoming Dan Beegan. So, Mullingar Shamrocks will now face Moate in the final, the date for which is to be confirmed, but not likely to be held before April 12. There are no darts next weekend, while the All-Ireland 'B' is on the weekend of April 5 and 6 in Trim.
The Westmeath shield competition is also on the horizon, with Bagnall's playing either Clarke's B or The Bridge Bar, Mullingar.