Kerrigan's and Wagon Wheel maintain top spots

Westmeath Darts League and Cup

It's very much a case of no new trend emerging as Kerrigan's, The Beech Tree and The Wagon Wheel results on Friday night have all but seen them through now as top seeds in their respective championship and shield sections.

Mullingar side Kerrigan's achieved an 8-1 win away to their neighbours in The Bridge Bar and now only need five points from their last three games to qualify. There's no details from this match, but it's an impressive result for the league leaders.

Elsewhere, The Beech Tree (Streamstown) hosted Bagnall's A (Rochfortbridge) and came out of the traps quickly, getting a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion. That then became 4-1 as Mark Corrigan and Chris Connor won their games. Jayzer Moran hit a 15 darter in his 3-2 win over Ian Meares before Gerry Forde got the better of Donie Boland to bring Bagnall's back into the match.

Captains collided in the eighth game as Graeme Corcoran defeated Dave Hamilton before Johnny Broughton defied Riaghan Grimes’ 180 to give the home side a 6-3 win.

Meanwhile, the final game of the championship section was in Collinstown as The Maypole Bar hosted The Western Gem, Ballinalack. It was the away side who took the first three games of the night in the doubles before Jimmy McCormack and Chris Cole met for the third time this season. Jimmy went 2-0 up only for Chris to bring it back to 2-2 before seeing out the fifth leg to put the ‘Gem’ 4-0 up. There were 180s for both players in an excellent game.

Derek Delaney continued his good form battling his way to a 3-2 win over Seamus Mullen before Damien Kelly made sure of the win against Cathal Óg Fagan. It was at this point that the Maypole rallied for the rest of the night with wins for Barry Kiernan, Andy Price and Gerry Devereux to leave the final score 5-4 Western Gem. These two sides have had three great battles this season and will likely meet again in the play-offs for a fourth round.

Shield

Meanwhile, Bagnall's B did all they could do to close the gap in the Shield rankings with a strong 8-1 win over Tom’s Bar. The damage was done upfront in the doubles before a 1-2 combo of Jack Murphy and Stuart Hayes ensured a big win for the crew from Rochfortbridge.

Elsewhere, Clarke's Bar, who finished well in the previous round, built on that in the last Mullingar derby with a 7-2 win away to neighbours Mullingar Shamrocks. Leading 2-1 after the doubles, they took the first five singles games only dropping four legs against their opponents. Killian Kelly and Damien Maher chipped in with 180 and 177 shots in their matches. Dillon Matthews took the final game of the night for the home side, who were closer than the scoreline suggests but came up short at the end of legs. The fight for second place in the Shield is on again, with Clarke's closing the gap on McHugh's (Raharney).

The remaining game of R13 was McHugh's at home against The Wagon Wheel (Ballynacargy). The away side showcased their power on the board, similar to the tie against Clarke's as they produced that burst of singles wins in a row. Jack Doran, Padraig White and Joe Crotty were all on the right side of five leg battles. Colm McKeogh and Loughlin McHugh did the same themselves in games 8/9 to leave the final score 6-3 to the ‘WW’ whose experience is showing as the competition progresses. They're in control at the top, but it's very much all to play for in the race for second place.

WDL Championship Standings after Week 13 - Sponsored by Stephen Lynn & Co Accountants/Auditors

Kerrigan's 88, Beech Tree 80, Maypole 65, Bridge Bar 63, Bagnall's A 62, Western Gem 60.

WDL Shield Standings after Week 12 - Sponsored by McNamee Tyres

Wagon Wheel 60, McHugh's 52, Clarke’s 51, Shamrocks 49, Bagnall's B 45, Tom's Bar 26

Paddy Gilgan Memorial Cup Semi Finals - Sponsored by Geerah’s Daybreak Ballinalack

The Wagon Wheel are the first team through to the final of the Paddy Gilgan Memorial Cup with a 6-5 come from behind win to Bridge Bar. The ‘BB’ led 5-2 only for the ‘WW’ to take the last four games on the spin to book their place in the final. The other semi-final between Kerrigan's and The Beach Tree did not go ahead.

WDL Doubles

This Sunday February 1 sees the first major of this year’s WDL played out as the Doubles competition is on in the Beech Tree. Entry fee is €20 per pair and pairings having to come from the same team. The cut-off for last names is 2:10pm and the League Committee have provided guaranteed prize money upfront for this competition, so a big turnout is expected from the players.

League sponsors

Continued thanks is given to Stephen Lynn & Co Accountants/Auditors, McNamee Tyres, J.A. Shaw & Co. LLP Solicitors and Geerah's Daybreak Ballinalack for their sponsorship and support for this year Westmeath Darts League also.