Gurney loses in inaguaral final

Dolan powered to another local title at the weekend as he claimed the inaugural Weigh Inn All Ireland invitational grand slam of darts.

The number 14 in the world beat fellow PDC professional Gurney 7-3 in a final.

Forty of Ireland’s top throwers took to the oche on Sunday with Dolan clinching the title after topping his group and eventually beating the genial John Flood in a hard fought semi-final 6-4, the highlight, a 136 checkout in the final set.

It was dart for dart in that semi-final as the North West veteran led 3-2 before Dolan finally took charge with some super cool finishing to clinch the final three sets.

Gurney only showed brief glimpses of his quality after a commanding run through the round robin and early knock out stages.

The Waterside man having to battle all the way against one of the country’s best up and coming players Dave Concannon in the last four.

Four maximums in the semi-final eventually saw him through to the final as Concannon took the first two sets.

Gurney at times struggled but a couple of errors from the young thrower allowed “Dude” back despite missing out on a double ten finish on two visits to the board in set six.

The final was expected to be a pressure cooker but a storming start from Dolan put Gurney on the back foot, 3-0 up the Fermanagh thrower was playing controlled darts but a rare slip allowed Gurney back and at 5-3 after two maximums in set eight the North West man looked to be back within striking distance.

Normal service was restored by Dolan as he once again stamped his authority and hit a simple double five to wrap up the tournament.