Double joy for Clarke's Bar as McHugh's and Bagnall's 'A' denied

Westmeath Darts League

As we come down to the last month of Phase 1 of this year's WDL, three sides in Clarke's Bar, Mullingar, The Wagon Wheel, Ballynacargy, and Western Gem, Ballinalack, find themselves locked together in their quest to reach the Top 6.

After a difficult start to the season, Clarke's bar are right back into contention following two winning performances against McHugh's, Raharney, and Bagnall's 'A' - winning both games 6-3 and 5-4 respectively, and taking the sixth place for now.

Against McHugh's, it was the fast start that saw the key to victory being 4-1 up after the first five games. Damien Maher/Davey Gilgan were to the fore in the opening singles games.

Against Bagnall's 'A' it was the opposite as the back three stepped up to seal the win having been 4-2 down. Jason Masterson's strong scoring gave Clarke's a good start to the singles, but Jayzer Moran's scoring was superb and Ger Forde also impressed as the Rochfortbridge side took control. Clarke's responded impressively as Killian Kelly hit a 180 before Terry Kelly and Damien Maher took the final two games in a very tense finish.

At this stage of the season finding different ways to win is massive and with a Week 8 game against Bagnall's 'B' to come, they will be confident of keeping this upward bounce in performances going.

For Bagnall's 'A' even in defeat they still sit 4th with a 9 point cushion on the chasing pack and with Jayzer Moran/Ger Forde in good form they will be looking to rebound next week at home to Kerrigan's.

Kerrigan's themselves continued going about their business on Friday night against Tom's Bar with a strong 8-1 win.

Tom's set up their side to box cleverly and pick off a couple of games in the back end but Mickey McKnight and Keith Mahon closed the door on them with strong wins.

Beech Tree and Bridge Bar continue to sit behind in joint second after wins on Friday night.

The 'BB' were pushed throughout the first half of their match against Shamrocks as the scoreboard read 2-2.

Chris Matthews will be disappointed to not see out game 5 against Kevin Gilmore and once the dust settled on that the usual suspects of Willoughby, Cullen Jnr, Baker and Nugent made sure of the win.

Beech Tree certainly didn't have it all their own way at home to the Western Gem in a game that can only be described as 'Chess on a Dartboard' with selectors Graeme Corcoran and Keith Kilduff using their chosen resources effectively to navigate a result for their sides.

The Gem started strong as Andy/Derek McCormack defied Johnny Broughton's 180. Niall Boland pinned a D10 last dart in hand before Bilal Moran's D5 meant they were 2-1 up.

Broughton brought out the heavy artillery with another 180 in a win against Derek McCormack who himself hit a 90 checkout (20, 20 Bull).

Chris Connor himself had more than a scare in his 3-2 win over Andrew McCormack, who will rue two missed match darts, Connor with a 112 checkout on the night.

Jay McCann reeled in the years going 2-0 up on Chris Cole before a trio of D16's from the Ballinalack man brought the game back to 3-3.

Match of the night saw Mark Corrigan take out Damien Kelly 3-2, the first four legs all going against the throw including a 100 checkout from Kelly (Treble 20, 20, D10). Corrigan punished Damien in the fith leg to bring the Beech Tree 4-3 up.

With the game on the line and 2-1 down in the 8th, Bilal Moran pinned a D1 against Ian Meares and brought the game to 4-4 before the two selectors in question met in the ninth with Graeme Corcoran taking the victory for the Beech Tree.

The Wagon Wheel had a back and forth battle with McHugh's in the penultimate game of WDL W7.

McHugh's led 2-0 before the 'WW' went 3-2 up through Joe Crotty/Padraig White winning singles game. Pete Doyle brought it back to 3-3 only for Derek Maguire to wrestle back the advantage with a win over Colm McKeogh.

The drama didn't stop though as Aaron McHugh continued his good start to the season winning the 8th before the anchor men on both sides met in the ninth, Loughlin McHugh and Thomas Murtagh with Murtagh taking a last leg shootout to take the game 5-4.

In the final game of the week, Maypole bounced back after a couple of poor results with a 8-1 victory over Bagnall's 'B'. Jimmy McCormack and Alan McManus settled the nerves in the singles, while Barry Kiernan had a 90 checkout (Treble 18, D18) before Ger O'Toole got something for Bagnall's 'B' efforts on the night with a 3-2 win over Cathal Og Fagan.

While the overall result looks like a gulf in class over the night, the breakdown was 20-10 in legs to Maypole so it shows that it's the big moments in 4th/5th legs that was the main difference.

Table after week 8

(Sponsored by Stephen Lynn & Co Accountants/Auditors)

Kerrigan’s 49, Beech Tree/Bridge Bar 42, Bagnall’s ‘A’ 39, Maypole 36, Clarke’s Bar 30, Wagon Wheel 29, Western Gem 29, McHugh’s 25, Shamrocks 20, Bagnall’s ‘B’ 18, Tom’s Bar 15

Fixtures

Western Gem vs Shamrocks; Maypole vs Bridge Bar; Beech Tree vs McHugh’s; Clarke’s bar vs Bagnall’s B; Bagnalls ‘A’ vs Kerrigan’s; Wagon Wheel vs Tom’s Bar

Paddy Gilgan Memorial Knockout Cup

(Sponsored by Geerah’s Daybreak)

We now have our semi-final lineup for this year’s PG Memorial Knockout Cup as Kerrigan’s will play Beech Tree and Wagon Wheel will take on Bridge Bar in January’s semi-finals.

All four sides won away from home which is rare in this format. Bridge Bar were 6-3 winners over the Western Gem in Ballinalack, Kerrigan’s had a routine 6-1 win over Bagnall’s.

The Wagon Wheel overcame Shamrocks, 6-5, in a last leg shootout while McHugh’s will rue missed chances in their 6-4 loss to Beech Tree. With three of the current top four through, this cup will prove hard for any of the sides left in it to win.

League sponsor confirmation

The WDL committee can confirm that Stephen Lynn & Co Accountants/Auditors have come on board as this year’s title sponsor of the WDL. We thank Stephen for his contribution to this year’s league. Company website can be found at stephenlynn.ie