Wagon Wheel edge towards top six in Westmeath Darts League

While the action that concluded Week three of this year’s WDL saw the same mix of teams at the top of the log, a closer look at the action shows that each side has an ‘any given Friday’ element to it and threats that all sides need to watch out for.

The Wagon Wheel, Ballynacargy, defeated The Western Gem, 6-3, at home and put themselves just outside the top six places; they seem primed for a big assault over the coming weeks to make the Championship. The game was remarkable for the performance of Gem's Ger Brennan ho had a fine 3-1 win over Wayne Kelly, including the third leg where he scored back to back 180s on his way to getting the visitors off the mark. It was excellent darts from Brennan.

The ‘WW’ came out of the block very quickly on the night, racing into a 5-0 lead with Jack Doran’s 3-2 win over Chris Cole the highlight, averaging just shy of 70 doing so. Damien Kelly got his first win of the season with a good 65 average performance against Gerry Keon, but three points was the max the away side were leaving as Padraig White showed his improvements over the last 12 months with a strong 3-1 win over Mark Gillen to leave the final score 6-3.

The action continued in Killucan as Tom’s Bar hosted Kerrigan's and it was the home team who took the early lead on the night before Sylvester Keane and Ollie McNamee made it 2-1 to the away side which became 3-1 with the second doubles match. Eoin O’Sulivan got another chalk on the board for the home team but that was as good as it got for Tom’s as Mickey McKnight, Keith Mahon and Ryan McNamee won their singles to leave the final score 7-2 to the Mullingar side and put them in the fifth spot in the league.

Last year’s champions Beech Tree travelled to Raharney to take on McHugh's and took a quick fire 3-0 lead on the night, Johnny Broughton winning both his games and Willie Moran promotion up the order to number paid off with a commanding win over Pete Doyle.

McHugh's fought back to 3-2 as Peter Rogers/Conor Raleigh combined for doubles win before Stephen Morley overcame Enda Seery in their singles game. Mickey Browne backed up a singles/doubles combination to leave the score at 5-2 to the away side before the final two games were shared as Loughlin McHugh defeated Tom Moran and Ian Meares got the better of Linda Greville to leave the champions top of the log.

Elsewhere, Clarke's Bar hosted Don’s Bar in Mullingar looking to make a fast start to matters and did so by taking a 2-1 lead early on, Killian Kelly getting the better of Jason Waters over five legs despite Jason’s 110 checkout.

The Moate side turned the tables by winning the next two matches. John Hannon hit a 140 and a 180 in the same leg of doubles for the visitors in the main highlight of the night. But Mel Kavanagh scored well and found double 10 to level matters by beating Alan McManus to give Clarke's a sniff at what could be considered an upset on the cards.

The doubles duo of Jason Conway/Jimmy McCormack put the Moate side back in front and the win was sealed when Conway got the better of Allen Gilgan in game eight. Terry Kelly faced off against Harmon Hannon and with the game at 2-2 both players missed chances to take it before the Moate player got over the line and keeps them at the top with the Beech Tree.

Another back and forth match took place in Mullingar as Murray's came out on the wrong side of a 5-4 result against a Maypole side which showed it metal for a fight. The first four games on the night were shared, including Aaron Gavin on his seasonal debut for the Maypole defeating Cian Penrose, aided by a 171 shot in the fifth leg of his game to turn the screw. Murrays retook the lead in game five as Dean Penrose defeating James Joyce took them to 3-2 up on the night.

Maypole showed what they were worth as they rolled off games six-eight through Paul Radford, Barry Kiernan/Aaron Gavin and Derek Delaney to seal the win on the night before Dillon Matthews got the better of Gerry Devereaux in five legs to ensure Murrays came away with four match points.

The Esker Inn of Tyrrellspass was the scene of another back and forth game as the Bridge Bar from Mullingar travelled to meet them. The home side took the lead through the doubles combination of Jason Matthews/Stuart Hayes before the ‘BB’ took games two through four with Kevin Gilmore, Rory Matthews and the doubles pair of Jim-Bob Baker/Kevin Gilmore all impressing.

Jason Matthews made it a double win for him in his singles game against Jim-Bob before Matthew Willoughby got the better of Ger Forde in five legs to put the Bridge Bar 4-2 up, aided with another call of 180 in his favour for the second week in a row. The Esker made it 4-4, taking the third doubles game and Charlie O’Toole continuing his strong season with another win before Matt Cullen defeated Mick Greaves in five legs to give the away side their second win of the season and cement their place in the Top 6.

League Sponsors

The WDL Committee would like to thank the following companies for their support of the league this year: Moran Construction & Carpentry – Overall WDL sponsor

Stephen Lynn Accountants/Auditors – WDL Championship sponsor; McNamee Tyres – WDL Shield sponsor; Quality Tractor Parts – WDL weekly fixture sponsor.

WDL Week 4 Fixtures

Kerrigans vs McHugh's, Wagon Wheel vs Clarke's Bar, Don’s Bar vs Tom’s Bar, Western Gem vs Murray's, Beech Tree vs Esker Inn, Maypole vs Bridge Bar.

Westmeath County Darts Trial number 11 recap

Johnny Broughton added his name to the list of WCD Trial winners this season by overcoming Simon Heffernan 3-2 in the final played in The Esker Inn last Sunday afternoon.

With this win, Johnny now places himself in the Top 10 of the rankings after a good day’s work while Simon's second consecutive final appearance consolidates his position firmly in the Automatic places given to the A Team this season.

Strong runs on the day were made by Willie Moran, Paul Radford and Ben Corcoran while Alan McManus won the 50/50 draw.

Trial 12 – Sunday 25th October – Bartley’s Bar, Drumcree. Eircode – N91 H921

Darts continues for all players this Sunday with the final WCD Trial of the season as Bartley’s in Drumcree sees out the regular season for those looking to qualify for the County Darts scene.

Players can register for the event by searching for 'Westmeath' on tv.dartconnect.com/events/dartconnect or can find the direct link on the 'Westmeath County Darts Facebook page.

Alternatively contact Mark - 086 105 0099 or Keith 085 755 0046. Entry fee is €10, registration ends at 1:30pm with Darts kicking off shortly afterwards.