ALL eyes were locked on Brendan Dolan. One shot at glory and he needed to land it to win so he composed himself as he looked at the target…
He let fly and, from near the sideline, the ball sailed over the Aghadrumsee bar and sent Belcoo into the final of the Fermanagh Intermediate Championship which they went on to win.
Dolan kicked that free with his left foot but it was his right arm that did the business on Saturday night at the PDC World Championships in London’s packed ‘Ally Pally’. Again he was faced with a difficult shot – double three – again all eyes were on him and again he seized the moment and landed his dart delightfully into the middle of the bed at the bottom of the board.
That brilliant finish against Gary Anderson sent Dolan into the quarter-finals of the tournament where he will meet England’s brilliant ton-80 teenage sensation Luke Littler (Monday from 12.30pm).
Darren Ray was a teammate of Dolan’s back in 1994 when he landed that free and he has played darts against him many, many times over the years since.
“He was a good footballer,” says Darren.
“He had a good left foot on him. He’s best known for scoring that free against Aghadrumsee – that was his moment of glory with the football.”
Football was a passion but darts was always a serious business in the Dolan household - Brendan’s two older brothers John Joe (a former Northern Ireland international) and Mickey were both talented players and the Ally Pally star had to bide his time before he could get a game with them.
“I remember when we were young he wasn’t allowed to play on the dart board in the house in case he hit the wall,” Darren explains.
“So Brendan had his own dart board on a chair in the kitchen and that’s how he used to practice until he eventually got good enough to get on to the other dart board. When he started to beat his brothers we knew he had something.
“Darts wasn’t big in Fermanagh at the time so he played in a Derry league and it kind of kicked on from there because the standard was a bit better up there. He started to take the darts more seriously then and he kept at it and eventually he got his tour card.”
The professional darts scene is a sink-or-swim environment. The cost of travel and hotels are a drain on resources and if results aren’t good and the prizemoney isn’t coming in reality quickly starts to bite.
Dolan had some early success but came very close to quitting the sport in 2011. Then, just in the nick of time, a spectacular breakthrough arrived in the World Grand Prix tournament. He sank a nine-dart to beat James Wade and made the final.
He lost narrowly to world number one Phil Taylor but the boost to his bank balance and morale gave him the confidence to keep pushing on.
“He’s had his ups and downs and he was on about quitting because things weren’t going well but getting to that Grand Prix final was a big moment for him,” says Darren who describes his friend as a “down-to-earth, civil fella”.
“He lost 6-3 to Taylor but he was in with a chance in a lot of those sets and the money he won meant the pressure was off financially and that led to the confidence improving and he kicked on.”
A dozen-or-so years later and Dolan is in the World Championship quarter-finals having already taken out two former champions in Anderson and, in round three, 2021 titlist Gerwyn Price. However, his toughest win so far came against his close friend Mickey Mansell in round two when, with the game tied 2-2 in sets and five legs apiece, a one-leg play-off was required.
Dolan won and he’s still going.
“Him a Mickey are very close, they travel everywhere together and room together,” Darren explained.
“Mickey comes down to play in the local competition that we have in Fitzpatrick’s Piano Bar (just across the Cavan border in Blacklion) every year and he has won it the last couple of years, beating Brendan on the way. It’s the best competition in Ireland – if you think you’re good enough come down.”
The ‘Fitzys’ competition starts on January 22 and runs for eight weeks. Could the reigning PDC world champion be in the field? All Irish darts fans will hope so.
“Brendan is a battler, he never gives up,” says Darren.
“He hung in there against Anderson and he took out the big scores at the right time. It looked bad when he went 3-2 down but he showed great character. Brendan is a character and he showed his determination to come back against the darts to level it and then hold his throw in the last set.
“He’ll not go up there and throw nine-darters in every game like all the big-hitters but he plods away and plods away and the next minute they miss one and he hits it. He’ll never give up, he’ll always stay in touch.
“There’s eight people can win that World Championship and he’s one of them. ‘Barney’ (Raymond Van Barneveld) got caught up in the razzmatazz against Littler and started playing darts with him but Brendan will play his own game and bring him down a peg or two and when you’re playing slower it’s easier to miss because you’ve more time to think about it.
“Everyone was out last night watching and cheering in all the local pubs in Belcoo and Blacklion and hopefully he’ll do the business against Littler and keep going.”