Fine darts thrown in Dundalk despite distraction in Dublin

Frankie O’Hagan, Dundalk’s oldest competitor

With the stars of the Professional Darts Corporation gracing the stage in the 3 Arena in Dublin last week, the local darts teams had to do some personnel changes as players went up to see the world’s best in action.

The players who didn’t travel ensured that there was plenty of tension throughout the league venues with some great games being played in all divisions.

The Premier Division saw Harry’s Bar take on Stag’s Green and this was a game which was a victim of the PDC fever but still turned out to be a great game. The game started with Frankie O’Hagan, who recently turned 73, playing for Harry’s against Stephen Kells. Stephen won the first game for the Stags but that was as good as it got for the visiting team asHarry’s went on to record a good win.

In the First Division the Punter’s Sharks had a bye and this gave the chasing pack a chance to catch up with the league leaders . The Fane Bar have been in hot pursuit since the league began and they were facing the division’s draw specialists in Courtney’s. Once again the result ended honours even though as this result was Courtney’s eighth draw in league games so far this year.

The Avenue Celtic team was another team who postponed their match against Jackies’ Army in order to go see Phil “The Power” Taylor in Dublin in the hope of picking up some pointers for next week’s games. Also in the First Division, the Stag’s Blue team and Kehoe’s kept in the hunt for silverware by sharing the points in their game in the Stag’s Head.

Johnny Mason’s had a troublesome start to the season but last year’s divisional winners have started to find form and kept on the winning trail by beating the Malthouse Misfits in the Malthouse.

The re-signing of Martin “The Pup” McCartney for Johnny Mason’s has been a masterstroke and he has started to show some of the quality that had him such a successful player in the Old Dundalk and District Darts League in the late ‘Nineties.

The Commercial Hawks travelled out to Ferguson’s in Gyles Quay and with team captain Aaron Callan only off our screens from his “Don’t Tell The Bride ” appearance the team thought they would be travelling in a bin Lorry. There was no rubbish darts on the night but the Hawks were beaten by a Ferguson’s team who are still chasing the Stag’s White for top spot in the divisional tables.

Ferguson’s won 4-2 but the Stag’s White were determined to go one better and got a 5-1 result against the Punter’s Dragons. Tom Byrne was man of the match for the Stag’s team and he thoroughly deserved it with a very steady game.

The third Division has the Windmill Warriors on top of the table and they travelled to Brady’s of Clanbrassil street to play the ladies team, who have not managed to get their first win. The ladies have been steadily improving week after week and they are robbing legs and games from some of the other teams in the division. The Warriors took no prisoners and won the game 5-1 with Kate McKenna winning for Brady’s B.

The other team from Brady’s travelled to Fintan Callan’s and were unlucky to come up against a team who seem to be finding their form. Rodney McLoughlin was the star of the show for the team from the Castleblayney Road venue with a great show of scoring ability including hitting a maximum 180 on the night. He was pushed all the way by John Flynn who is another player who is returning to the game after a few years’ break.

The Tuborg Dundalk and District Darts League is growing every year and with teams from Gyles Quay and as far out as Fintan Callans it’s obvious that the good work of the committee is paying dividends.

The next week of fixtures sees the start of the Andrew McAlester Open Shield, with teams from different divisions meeting for the first time this year. It is always a competition that throws up a few shocks and the results will be watched patiently by all.

Open Shield First round
Home Team	vs	Away team
Fergusons	vs	Jackies Army
Bradys A	vs	Punters Sharks
Stags Blue	vs	Avenue Eagles
Kehoes	vs	Johnny Masons
Commercial 1896	vs	Avenue Celtic
Stags Green	vs	Fintan Callan’s
Punters Dragons	vs	The Stags
Punters Tigers	vs	Courtneys

The format for the competition is as follows

1. Team to consist of 7 players
2. Teams are picked out of a gat
3. Format is best of three
4. First player on each team Bulls up for the darts
5. Team that wins the bull gets darts in 1, 3, 5, 7
6. Winning team is responsible for the scorecard

All normal league rulings still apply.