Success galore for Carlow at Leinster Darts Championships 

There was a whole host of success for Carlow at the Leinster Darts Championships last weekend in Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort in Wicklow as they picked up all three team events (Mens A team, Womens and Youths) with 15 year old Rebecca Allen also claiming the Ladies title. Carlow were well represented at the tournament with 2 Men’s teams, 2 Youth teams and 1 Ladies team.

First up were the men and women’s tournaments on Saturday. The women were drawn in a group of 5 with Wexford A, Dublin B, Laois B and Current All-Ireland ladies champions Dublin A. They lost their first game against Wexford 4-3 but rebounded with a 7-0 win over Laois B and a 6-1 win against Dublin B. A 4-3 win against reigning All-Ireland champions, Dublin A put them into the semi-finals where they would face neighbours Kilkenny. After going 1-0 down Carlow rocked back with Liz Butler pinning the winning double to give Carlow a 4-2 win and book their place in the final and a rematch against Wexford. Carlow went 1-0 down but pulled the game back and marched into a 3-1 lead with wins from Maeve O’Connor, Rebecca Allen and Sam Sheehy. Wexford pulled one back in a very close game. Next up was Liz Butler, who stepped up in a cadgy game but pinned double top with 1 dart left in hand to seal Carlow the title.

The men stormed into a 3-0 lead versus Dublin A and with each of the remaining games going with the throw Carlow ran out 8-5 victors. Louth came next and three new names came into the fray, Carlows youngest player Jamie French at just 14 years old, 19 year old David Lynch who has come through the youth ranks and Killian O’Shea all making their debut for the Carlow men’s team. After some cagey opening games Carlow ran out 10-3 winners securing their spot at the top of the group.

Onto the last 16 where Carlow faced Wicklow B who they quickly dispatched 7-1. Next up was neighbours Kilkenny with a scoreline of 6-1, Irish international Mark Cullen pinned the winning double to ensure safe passage through to the semi-finals. The semi final saw Carlow march through Kildare 7-2 starting with a 15 dart leg from Mick Kelly and ending with Shane Walsh pinning the double to set up a rematch with Dublin in the final.

Having started strong with Jimmy McDonald taking the first game, Carlow found themselves on the back foot 3-1 down and trailing for the first time all day. Carlow captain and new PDC tour card holder Niall Culleton along with David Lynch showed their character to pull the game back to 3-3. Dublin struck again to lead 4-3 but another of Carlow and Ireland’s finest youths 16 year old Jack Courtney levelled it again at 4-4. At 5-4 down, Killian O’Shea took to the occasion like a duck to water on his first day out with Carlow levelling the game at 5-5. Up steps a Carlow legend and the oldest player at 74 Joe Quinn who had years of heartbreak, never winning a Leinster title in his 54 years of playing with Carlow. The tears flowed as he came back to the team putting carlow 6-5 up.

There were two chances for Carlow now to win their first Leinster Championship. Dublin weren’t going to hand it away and fought hard to level the game again 6-6. It was winner takes all for the final game and Carlow called on “Dee one and Only” Adam Dee, a Lakeside Youth finalist and he proved why he’s been on the big stages before, winning his game 2-0 and pushing Carlow over the line.

The Youths had two teams attend on Sunday. The first team were defending last year’s title and their second team was made up of a younger squad. The second team made their way out of group stages in second place after a few fantastic group stage wins before coming up against a more experienced Offaly B team.

Carlow A team sailed through the group stages without any real challenges and then defeated Meath C in the Last 16 and Meath B in the Quarter Finals. It was then onto Kildare A in the semi-finals. Kildare came out fighting and took the first game but Carlow fought back and took the next 3 games putting them into the final where they played a strong Kilkenny team. Again Carlow went a game down but Luke Dooley pulled it back to 1-1. They went 2 1 down and Charlie Power levelled it up again. The final game came down to 14 Year Old Jamie French who took the first leg in 16 darts and the second leg on a dramatic 20-bull-bull finish to secure back to back titles for Carlow Youths.

In the women’s singles, Rebecca Allen stole the show, producing a superb performance to win the Leinster Women’s Singles title. Paddy Cullen and Jimmy McDonald reached the Last 16 of the Men’s Singles whilst Alan McLoughlin reached the Quarter-Finals.

Carlow A Youths:

Managers: Gillian Dee and Derek Courtney.

Jack Courtney (Captain),  Jamie French, Luke Dooley, Charlie Power, Daniel Nolan, Rebecca Allen, Con O'Reilly. 

Carlow Ladies Team:

Manager: Aaron Lawlor. Selector: Marie Kelly. 

Samantha Sheehy (Captain), Liz Butler, Maeve O’ Connor, Siobhan Doyle, Leah Coogan, Jamie Butler, Lauren McGrath, Leanne Walsh, Rebecca Allen, Danielle Munnelly.

Carlow A Men's team:

Manager: Billy Cummins. Selectors: Rickey Nolan and Gay Byrne.

Niall Culleton (Captain), Mark Cullen, Shane Walsh, Mick Kelly, Paddy Cullen, Brendan Kelly, Killian O’Shea, Adam Dee, Noel Bowes, Willie Bowes, Andrew Murphy, Jack Courtney, Jimmy McDonald, David Lynch, Joe Quinn, Rory Conway, Jamie French.