DARTS | Curtain falls on an eventful Tuborg Dundalk & District Darts League season

Players gearing up for latter stages of divisional competitions

The Tuborg sponsored Dundalk and District Dart League recently came to a close, bringing the curtain down on one of the most successful seasons in recent years.

A total of 27 teams were split evenly across three divisions with the quality of darts being thrown ensuring that each section went down to the wire.

In Division Two, the Punters Panthers secured the title with a last day victory over the Stags Sneerers, pipping the Bodhran Blues to the title.

It was a great tussle in this division with nearly all the teams taking points off one another to ensure a thrilling climax to the season.

In Division One, Johnny Mason’s secured the title after a four-way battle for most of the season. This division proved to be that tight that that a play-off was needed to determine the runners-up spot, Uncle Tom’s overcoming The Malthouse.

In the Premier Division, there was a ding-dong battle all season between The Nest and The Stags Black for the title.

Both teams were littered with seasoned DDDL campaigners so it was somewhat inevitable it would go right to the wire.

The league was decided on the penultimate week of the season when both teams played one another home and away in the title decider.

After securing a win in the Stag’s Head, The Nest had home advantage over Stag’s Black and secured the title with a draw.

Divisional competitions

With the league put to bed, the players are now getting ready for the Divisional Singles, Divisional Doubles, Open Shield and Divisional Cup finals.

There was an upset in the Division Two Cup semi-final last week when Windmill Whackers edged a narrow 5–4 win over league winners, Punters Panthers, to secure a place in the final against league runners-up, the Bodhran Blues, in the Final.

In the Division One Cup, league winners Johnny Mason’s beat the Malthouse and will face the runners-up in that division, Uncle Tom’s, in what should be an entertaining final after they beat the Commercial Club in the semi-final.

In the Premier Division Cup, league form went out the window with the Stags Blue and Jimmy’s Bar both securing shock victories to make the final.

Open Shield

The final rounds of the Open Shield are also due to be played in the coming weeks.

For the second year in a row, victory in this competition guarantees the winner’s entry into the Tuborg All Ireland event.

With this reward on offer, there promises to be some cracking games in the coming weeks in this competition.

Stevie’s nine-darter

One of the highlights of the season has been Stevie O’Hara of The Nest hitting a nine-darter, an amazing feat.

A nine-darter is one of those once in a lifetime moments for a lot of people and according to those present on the night there were unbelievable scenes after he hit the winning double.

You can get more information on the Dundalk & District Darts League on the league’s Facebook page.