AS JORDAN BOYCE prepares to face Joshua Richardson in tomorrow’s BDO Lakeside World Youth Championship final, here’s a flashback to Donegal’s previous visits to the oche at the Lakeside.
SIX YEARS ago this month, Martin McCloskey became the first dart thrower from the Republic of Ireland in 20 years to win a match in the BDO World Championships.
Derry native McCloskey, who has lived in Letterkenny for 21 years now, defeated the English 11th seed Steve West, but he bowed out two nights later when he fell to a 4-1 defeat to Garry Thompson.
While he enjoyed the experience of playing in front of the 1,500-strong Lakeside crowd and under the watchful glare of the BBC cameras, McCloskey blasted two ‘plonkers’ who heckled him from the floor during his match with Thompson.
McCloskey was a set up and was 2-0 up on legs in the second set when the heckling began.
In the third set, after a series of warnings from officials the pair – sporting Ted ‘The Count’ Hankey shirts – were ejected. McCloskey felt the incident had ‘rattled’ him and in the process helped his opponent to move onto record a clinical victory.
“Everything was going to plan in the first set and then two plonkers in the crowd started jeering every time I moved to the board,” said McCloskey at the time.
“They were cheering on Garry Thompson every time I stepped up, they were shutting ‘come on Garry’ and they never shut up when I was at the oche.
“I let it go during the first set and I felt I was cruising at that stage. I won the first set and was 2-0 up in the second set and I was thinking, ‘I’m going to take this?’
“And when they kept shouting I said to the referee to do something about it. It definitely had me rattled, it was really off-putting. I lost the second and third sets and it really got to me. It seemed to help Garry improve his game.”
https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=gDMH5lVSBe4
McCloskey showed his class in recovering from a set down twice to record a 3-2 win over Wes, but ‘The Fox’ bowed out after his loss to Thompson.
“It was annoying because nerves didn’t affect me whatsoever,” he said. “I’m not making excuses, but they were just two prats that ruined the game for me.
“Every time I went to throw a dart they seemed to be cheering and it effects your concentration. They were Ted Hankey fans which, of course, makes it even worse, they weren’t even there to support Garry Thompson.
“It’s annoying because 90 per cent of the people in the Lakeside were there for the darts and then you get the odd idiot that ruins it for everyone.”
Ten years ago, in January 2006, Ballybofey man Gerald Porter created history in becoming the first Donegal man to throw in the BDO World Championships at Frimley Green.
Porter lost out against Martin Atkins and missed out on a match against then world number 1 Martin Adams.
Atkins took a 3-0 win on a day when Porter’s scoring let him down at vital stages of the contest.
https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=e2AXwvNVZyU
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