Exciting darts on show

McGowan (5-4) after having six darts for the match.

With O’Toole gone, three county men in the shape of Robbie Smith, David Glynn and John Quinn advanced to the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, all came up short against such talented competition.

The semi-finals saw Dave O’Connor take on Mick McGowan with McGowan advancing five legs to three. The other semi-final between Gareth Grey of Dublin and Andrew Kavanagh was a classic, with underdog Kavanagh playing superbly to lead 4-2. In the seventh leg, with Kavanagh on 76, Grey finished 121 with a bull finish and the momentum of the contest swung with Grey taking the remaining legs to scrape a 5-4 win.

The final saw two of Ireland’s finest darts players clash as McGowan took on Grey.

Grey, having got out jail in his semi-final, proceeded to steam roll McGowan with a display of scoring to rival any darts in the world. After six legs Grey led 5-1 with an average of 101.21. Although the last couple of legs were not as high-class, Grey did enough to win the contest six legs to two with a 94 average overall.

Another well ran competition in Wicklow with our county team getting good practise in before the All-Ireland in two weeks. The form of Glynn and O’Toole, who was unfortunate against McGowan, will especially have been satisfying for the county selectors.