McDairmid takes singles title after thrilling final

This week’s action saw the last 16 players in the Gibby Bentley Singles face off in Pockets Snooker Club for the right to be called Paisley and District singles champion.

In the first match Ian McMunigle from Flying Horse was successful with a 4-3 win over Chic Walls from Court Bar.

That scoreline was matched in game two as Craig Low of Pockets A defeated League chairman Robert Stevenson 4-3 to set up a quarter final match against McMunigle.

Game three saw yet another 4-3 win, this time for David Carmichael of Clachan Arrows as he beat John McCulloch of Hagg Bar C with both players swapping high finishes, Carmichael first in leg five with a 127 finish, which was then followed by a 135 from McCulloch to set up the last leg shootout.

In yet another very close 4-3 match it was Mick McDairmid of Arthurlie Inns who edged out previous champion John Williamson of The New Saints, with both players really hitting the highlights all the way through.

The game had a watching crowd enthralled as McDairmid had a 14 dart leg, a 180 and a 126 finish with Williamson hitting a 12 dart leg, a 180 and a 136 checkout.

The result set up a quarter final clash between

Clachan Arrows’Carmichael and Arthurlie’s McDairmid.

In the bottom half of the draw the first game was a much-anticipated clash between Pockets A player John McCallum and The New Saints’Alan Ferguson Jr. It was the Saints player that came out on top with legs of 13, 17, 14 and 16 darts which included a score of 177 in a 4-0 win.

Hagg Bar A’s Dean Fitch was the next player through as his opponent Michael Bain of Pockets A was on holiday on finals night. He progressed to face Ferguson Jr.

Game six was between Keystone C player Ryan McGregor and Court Bar’s Ben Barilli, and it was the Keystone player that was the better player on the night as he went through with a 4-2 win.

The last game of the round saw another Keystone C player, George Miller progress in the tournament after a 4-3 win over Flying Horse player Kieran Adams.

That meant the Keystone C teammates would meet in the next round with the winner claiming a semi-final spot.

In the first of the quarter-finals matches it was another very close game as Pockets A’s Craig Low and Flying Horse player Ian McMunigle played out a 7-leg thriller which could’ve gone either way but ended with a 4-3 win for Low.

The next game between Arthurlie’s Mick

McDairmid and Clachan Arrows David Carmichael ended in a 4-1 win for McDairmid after he took an early 2-0 lead before Carmichael won a leg.

Games five and six went to McDairmid in pretty fast fashion, with winning legs of 17 and 18 darts to set up a semi-final clash with Pockets player Low.

Game three saw another game that could have gone either way as New Saints player Alan Ferguson and Hagg Bar A’s Dean Fitch faced off.

Fitch took the first leg in the game before Ferguson rattled off the next three to put him on the verge of a semi-final spot.

But with the score at 3-1 Fitch came back with a 112 finish in leg five and took the next leg to square the match at 3-3.

Ferguson would not be denied and fired in a 15-dart leg in the decider to go through with a 4-3 win.

The last of the quarter-final games was between teammates Ryan McGregor and George Miller, with Miller playing better to seal a 4-0 win.

In the semi-finals Pockets A’s Craig Low faced Arthurlie Inn’s Mick McDairmid and McDairmid proved just too accurate as he rattled up a 4-0 win to put himself in the grand final.

In the second semi-final New Saints player Alan Ferguson Jr faced George Miller. Ferguson Jr took the early lead before being pegged back to 1-1 by Miller. The next two games went the same way and with the score at 2-2 it looked like another seven leg thriller was on the cards.

Ferguson had other ideas though after a 16 dart leg in game five and another win in leg six he was in the final with a 4-2 win.

The final was as good as everyone expected with Alan Ferguson Jr taking an early 2-0 lead, only to be pulled back by Mick McDairmid as he won legs three and four with a 180 in leg four proving crucial.

With the score at 2-2 it was McDairmid who took leg five before Ferguson levelled in leg six with a 16 dart leg - despite a 180 from McDairmid.

Leg seven was another 16 dart leg, with this one going to McDiarmid to take the lead again but Ferguson was not going to give up without a fight and took leg eight to level at 4-4.

It all came down to a last leg decider and the leg could’ve gone either way as both players had a chance at finishing the match to take the title.

It was McDairmid in the end that held his nerve and hit the last leg double to claim the match and the Gibby Bentley Singles title.

Next Monday sees the last tournament of the year being played out when the Champion Of Champions tournament takes place in Pockets Snooker Club.

Every team sends their top two players to compete for the coveted title.