With Walsh’s Bar shut down on account of the coronavirus the weekly game looked to be in danger of being shelved for some time. This would have been quite a blow as it has provided many a moment of light relief as it has served up some cocktail of thrill, spills and many memorable moments since its advent some ten years ago.
The players are determined however to carry on as they went the online route with all players lining up via a webcam in their respective houses. Following a rigorous and complex qualification tournament, two men emerged to contest the final in what was a very surreal experience indeed.
The Duke Divilly and Podsie “The Hornblower” Horkan were the two combatants who stepped up to the online ochie and fired darts simultaneously at their online boards with Governor Gus providing some modicum of scoring from his neatly appointed cyber station. When all the scores were totted up it was the Duke who declared the inaugural winner of the first online darts final as he just about edged out Podsie as he had a better scoring average overall. Both men exchanged cyber shake hands before and after with Gus ensuring all the rules were followed explicitly to the law.
Covid-19 or not the players are determined to pursue this online avenue as they strive to protect the sanctity of a competition that has now taken on a whole new existence and identity. More of the same next week boys with many in the community installing webcams on the back of the move to the online forum.