Bagnall's 'A' superb as Kerrigan's suffer loss

Westmeath Darts League

Bagnall’s ‘A’, Rochfortbridge, and Maypole Bar, Collinstown, come out of Week 8 of this year's Westmeath Darts League (WDL) feeling really good about themselves with strong results against Mullingar sides Kerrigan’s and Bridge Bar.

Bagnall’s ‘A’ inflicted a first defeat on Kerrigan’s this season with a 6-3 victory in Rochfortbridge, pulling themselves right back into the conversation again as title contenders. Coming out of the doubles format 2-1 up, Charlie O'Toole made it 3-1 before Sylvester Keane and Aidan Reilly rallied for Kerrigan’s to make it 3-3; Aidan on the right side of a 3-2 result against Jayzer Moran, a player mentioned a lot over the last few weeks.

Jason Matthews put Bagnall’s ‘A’ in the lead again over Michael Raleigh before 3-1 and 3-2 wins for Riaghan Grimes and Charlie Guinan ensured a strong victory over this year's league favourites. It’s a fine home win for the Rochfortbridge side and not many teams will fancy going there looking for points as the second half of the season beckons.

Elsewhere, #5 ranked Maypole played #3 ranked Bridge Bar and had to come from behind to pull off a 5-4 home victory. Kevin Gilmore/Sean Ward’s doubles win saw the Mullingar men 2-1 up going into the singles before Alan McManus levelled things up again. Gilmore and Matt Cullen Jnr brought it out to 4-2 for the away side before a strong back three performance from Derek Delaney, Barry Kiernan and Gerry Devereux swung the game back to the Maypole and consolidated themselves just outside the Top 4 in 5th place. Kiernan’s 180 shot was one of the highlights of the evening.

Meanwhile, speaking of consolidating, The Beech Tree, Streamstown, kept a firm grip on second place with a strong 7-2 victory at home to McHugh’s of Raharney. With the tie at 2-1 going into the singles, a burst of wins for Johnny Broughton, Mark Corrigan, Ian Meares and Ben Corcoran ensured victory for Beech Tree before the final two games on the night were shared between Sean Gaffney and Wille Moran.

Elsewhere, Ballynacargy’s Wagon Wheel side proved that they are always a strong team to face at home with a 8-1 victory over Tom's Bar and in doing so opened up a four-point gap on Clarke’s Bar, Mullingar and the Western Gem, Ballinalack, in the race to sixth place. The home side were 2-1 up going in the singles, which meant they were always on the front foot and they built on that momentum to take all six games. With another home game this Friday night coming against Bagnall’s ‘B’, it's clear they are determined to lock down sixth spot sooner rather than later

Meanwhile, Clarke’s Bar lost ground on the race to the top six with a 6-3 home defeat against Bagnall’s ‘B’, who were worthy winners in a gripping game that ended up 16-15 in legs to the Rochfortbridge side. The scoring was mixed, but there were plenty of 133 shots and a 140 from the visitors also.

Clarke’s started strongly, winning the first two doubles games before Bagnall’s broke in the third for a crucial point. The visitors then added the first three singles games, Stuart Hayes with a very solid win over Jason Masterson setting it up the night nicely for the visitors. Terry Kelly put a stop to things and brought it back to 4-3, setting up a good finale. The youthful and exuberant talent of Jack Murphy - great to see in the sport - got things back on track for the Rochfortbridge outfit, denying John Plunkett in a close game that went to the last leg. Jason Bradley completed a great night in the last match to give Bagnall’s ‘B’ six precious points as they look to build for a strong finish to Phase 1.

The final game of this week's action saw Mullingar Shamrocks come from behind in their away clash with the Western Gem. Shamrocks led 2-1 after the doubles only for Damien Kelly and Chris Cole to put 'The Gem' back in front.

Chris Matthews levelled before Andy McCormack put the Ballinalack men back in front. Shamrocks weren't to be denied on the night as Joe Farrelly overcame Jason Ford before Billy Conway won in a last leg decider to give Shamrocks their second win of the season. It’s a great win for the Mullingar men, moving them on to 25 points, 12 off sixth position.

An interesting subplot going on every week is that while the race to the top six is still alive for a number of teams (results depending). The fact that points carry over into Phase 2 for your end of season positions mean everything is still all to play for.

Maypole will be hovering around the top four of the championship while McHugh’s, Shamrocks and Bagnall’s ‘B’ will all think if they can get a run of three strong wins in the second half of the campaign, there's no reason why they can't come up with a #1/2 ranking in the shield section, giving themselves a home semi-final which history has shown is crucial in a knockout game.

WDL Table after Week 8 - Sponsored by Stephen Lynn & Co Accountants/Auditors: Kerrigan’s 52, Beech Tree 49, Bridge Bar 45, Bagnall’s ‘A’ 45, Maypole 41, Wagon Wheel 37, Clarke’s/Western Gem 33, McHugh’s 27, Shamrocks 25, Bagnall’s ‘B’ 24, Tom's Bar 16.

WDL Week 9 Fixtures

Shamrocks vs McHugh’s (10th vs 9th); Maypole vs Clarke’s Bar (5th vs 7th); Kerrigan’s vs Bridge Bar (1st vs 3rd); Bagnall’s ‘A’ vs Beech Tree (4th vs 2nd); Wagon Wheel vs Bagnall’s B (6th vs 11th); Tom's Bar vs Western Gem (12th vs 8th).

Shield sponsor

McNamee Tyres are the sponsors of the WDL Shield (phase 2) in January.