Darts in Ireland

NEWS - February 2010

It's a Long Way to Tipperary - - - for Round Four !

Photo - Clonmel Park Hotel

Clonmel Park Hotel in County Tipperary is the venue for Round Four of the 2010 Ireland Players' Championship on Sunday next, February 28th.

Once again there will be a packed programme of events on the agenda with the Men's, Ladies' and Youths' Championships in addition to the trials for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 team.

Wednesday, February 24th., is the closing date for entries for the Men's Championship and entries for the Ladies' and Youths' events will be accepted at the venue at 12.30pm. Players are reminded once again that they must compete in at least three rounds of the Championship to be eligible to qualify for the Grand Finals - - - so, if they have not played in any of the previous rounds this is their last chance to be eligible for the finals. Matches on Sunday will commence at 12 noon sharp. Entries for the Under-21 Trials will be accepted at 3.00pm and these matches will get underway at 4.00pm.

Kathleen Wins Raffle

Kathleen O'Neill

A raffle in aid of the Republic of Ireland Under-21 was held at the recent Tramore Winter Gala and Kathleen O'Neill from Cavan won the first prize of a Weekend Break for Two at o'Shea's Hotel in Tramore. Sincere thanks to everybody who donated prizes and who supported the raffle.

Sky Bet "Sets and Legs" Title for Shane O'Connor

The annual Sky Bet "Sets and Legs" Tournament was held on Sunday, February 21st., at Shirley's Pub in Kells, Co. Kilkenny, and it resulted in a victory for Shane O'Connor who defeated Denis McCarthy by 3 sets to 1 in the final.

Shane O'Connor

In the semi-finals Shane defeated Connie Finnan 3-2 while Denis had a 3 - 1 win over Benny Grace in the other match. The beaten quarter-finalists were David Coyne, Paddy Meaney, Mark Kinsella and Ian Dobson.

Results:

Quarter-finals:

Benny Grace 3 - 0 David Coyne

Denis McCarthy 3 - 0 Paddy Meaney

Shane O'Connor 3 - 1 Mark kinsella

Connie Finnan 3 - 1 Ian Dobson

Semi-finals:

Benny Grace 1 - 3 Denis McCarthy

Shane O'Connor 3 - 2 Connie Finnan

Final:

Denis McCarthy 1 - 3 Shane O'Connor

Darts Players Rally to Support Sean

A Benefit Fund has been set up for one of Ireland's top darts players, Sean Marshall from Kerry, who was diagnosed with cancer and who is undergoing extensive treatment and surgery in a Dublin hospital.
The good news is that a suitable donor has been located and Sean will be receiving a Bone Marrow

Transplant very shortly.

A number of events, including raffles, marathons and exhibitions, are being organised to aid Sean and his family during this very difficult period and it is hoped that darts players and supporters around the country will rally to this very worthy cause.

Sean's local, Parker's Pub in Kilflyn, are organising an exhibition and barbeque on Wednesday,

February 17th., with two top professionals, Colin Lloyd and Dennis Priestley, in attendance. The organisers of the Ireland Players' Championship will be organising a Monster Raffle in aid of the fund and raffle cards will be available at Round Four of the Championship in Clonmel on Sunday, February 28th.

Many prizes have already been pledged for the raffle, including holidays, weekend breaks etc., and

donations of prizes will be gratefully accepted and acknowledged.

Sean was ranked at Number One on the Rankings List for the 2009 Ireland Players' Championship when he was diagnosed with cancer but he battled on to qualify for the Grand Finals as a seeded player in the top eight. He won his Group in the Grand Finals and was unlucky to lose 3-5 in the last sixteen to the eventual winner John Elder.

Hopefully, Sean will get over this major hurdle and that we will see him back on the oche in the not too distant future. We look forward to your support - - - - -

John Flood Wins Con Sean Cup in Donegal

John Flood {left} receiving the Con Sean Cup from Francis McShane

2007 champion and Donegal county player John Flood defeated John Damien Gallagher from Killybegs 5-1, Flood becomes only the second player to win the prestigious Con Sean Cup twice - Kilcar’s Kenneth Kennedy is the other. En route to the final he beat last years finalists Dermot McGuire and Declan

Cunningham.

This is Cope House’s John Damien’s first Con Sean final he defeated his brother Philip in the first round and teammate Irwin Muirhead in the third round and on this performance he will be in more finals in years to come. In the semi finals 2008 champion John McGinley lost 4-2 to John Flood and first time semi finalist Kenneth Byrne was beaten 4-0 by John Damien in the quarters.

Raymond Hegerty (Bridge Bar) had chances to beat John Flood but lost 3-1, James Byrne (Bridge Bar) was 2-1 up on John Damien (Cope House) but lost 3-2 in a game that could have went either way while Mike Naulty (McIntires) was beaten 3-0 by John McGinley (Roartys) who had a 127 checkout in the game.

David Gallagher (Cope House) lost 3-1 to Kenneth Byrne (Glenhead) in the other quarter-final. The proceeds of the competition were donated to Killybegs Hospice.

Results:

Final

John Flood 5 John Gallagher 1

Semi Finals

John Flood 4 John McGinley 2

John Gallagher 4 Kenneth Byrne 2

Quarter finals

John Flood 3 Raymond Hegerty 1

John McGinley 3 Mike Naulty 0

John Gallagher 3 James Byrne 2

Kenneth Byrne 3 David Gallagher 1