Greyhound first past the post in Duleek Darts League
GREYHOUND 5 CARRANSTOWN 4
GREYHOUND’S Ollie Arnold showed nerves of steel as he picked up the decisive victory to hand Greyhound victory in this all-Duleek Premier Division decider at Maguires, Kentstown.
Nothing had separated these teams all year, with only a better game difference seeing Carranstown straight through to the final after both teams finished level on points in the league.
There was a lot of pre-match tension and adrenalin, but once the action got under way everybody seemed to settle down a bit.
Carranstown could not have hoped for a better start in defence of their Premier crown as they raced into an early 3-1 lead.
They had a decisive victory in the team 1001 before Keith Rooney defeated young Keane Barry 2-0, and although James Keogh put Greyhound on the board when defeating Stephen Murtagh 2-0, But Gary Flaherty put Carranstown back in command with a decisive 2-0 win over Johnny Byrne.
Thomas Brodigan then gave Greyhound hope when defeating Alan Flaherty 2-0 and when Brian Cudden came from behind to defeat Jack Traynor in the deciding leg of the sixth game - thanks to a 160 finish - the scores were level at 3-3.
The seventh game saw Niall Barry and Martin Seery go head to head and they shared the first two legs. Seery seemed to have a good advantage in the last leg but couldn’t hit that elusive double and Barry who checked out and put Greyhound ahead for the first time.
Game eight was a humdinger between Ollie Thompson (Greyhound) and Paddy Kavanagh. With both players throwing well, it went to the third leg where Kavanagh seemed well in control, only for Thompson to nearly dig out yet another big 160 finish, just missing double 20 with his last dart.
Kavanagh, though, held his nerve very well indeed and hit the required double to level it again.
And so it came down to the deciding match between the young Ollie Arnold of Greyhound and Paddy Campbell of Carranstown. As the tension grew, Campbell drew first blood in the first leg, and Carranstown supporters must have felt victory was on the way. However, Arnold battled back well to secure the second.
In the decisive leg Campbell was ahead most of the way and seemed set to succeed, but failure to hit doubles ultimately cost him as he let young Arnold in for a finish which he took with both hands.
Afterwards, League chairman Kevin Campbell made the presentations. Niall Barry of Greyhound received the Premier trophy, team trophies and cash prize and Paddy Campbell was presented with the team plaque, team medals and cash prize for Carranstown. The Man of the Match award went to James Keogh of Greyhound. GREYHOUND: Keane Barry, James Keogh, Johnny Byrne, Thomas Brodigan, Brian Cudden, Niall Barry, Ollie Thompson, Ollie Arnold, Rory O’Brien, Peter Connor.
CARRANSTOWN: Keith Rooney, Steven Murtagh, Gary Flaherty, Alan Flaherty, Jack Traynor, Martin Seery, Paddy Kavanagh, Paddy Campbell, Pat O’Brien, Ian Lowthe, Pat Connell. CALLER: Clive Fitzpatrick; Marker: Martin Russell.
•The League would like to also thank all the competitors involved in both finals; staff and management of Maguires of Kentstown and Valley Inn of Dunleer; and darts club members, markers and callers for all their help and assistance with hosting the matches.