So close, and yet so far.
Ireland’s World Cup team of William O’Connor and Steve Lennon shocked tournament favourites England and The Netherlands on the way to the final but lost out to the second seeds Scotland.
O’Connor, from Limerick, and Carlow native Lennon went on a fairytale run but there was to be no happy ending as Peter Wright inspired the Scots to a famous trophy win.
The final started perfectly for Ireland as Lennon beat Gary Anderson 4-2 to put them 1-0 up in the first to 3 points match-up.
Up next, it was O’Connor taking on Peter Wright. ‘The Magpie’ went toe-to-toe and throw for throw with Wright until he gave up the break by missng a double 16 to close out the fifth leg. Wright threw first on the next leg and closed it out to make it 1-1.
In the next round – the doubles – Wright ran amok. He was the driving force in all four legs as the Scots won it 4-0 to go 2-1 ahead and a point away from their first ever World Cup victory.
🔄 – They've turned it around!
Scotland take a 2-1 lead in the World Cup final against Ireland.
Watch live on Sky Sports Action now or follow: https://t.co/kN82uhlmJX pic.twitter.com/jvSFS0OBJy
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) June 9, 2019
The two form players – Wright and Lennon – went up against each other next. Wright, going first, raced 1-0 ahead and Lennon responded with a 180 in the next leg but could not close it out with 122 to finish and Wright took advantage.
Lennon hit back in the next when Wright missed tops to go 3-0 ahead and the Carlow native took the leg by doing that the Scot could not.
Wright was not going away, though, and he closed out from 86 to go 3-1 and but the Scottish team on the brink.
Earlier in the evening, the Irish duo blitzed the Dutch 2-1 to reach the final, with multiple world champion Michael van Gerwen and his partner Jermaine Wattimena left stunned by a 4-0 reversal in the doubles decider.
Lennon did the honours in the end with a clutch check-out against MVG.
The Republic of Ireland are in the World Cup final! 🌍🏆
The will face Scotland after defeating the Netherlands!
Watch live reaction on Sky Sports Action now or follow with our live blog: https://t.co/IXWYONOHBJ pic.twitter.com/v7xKuFuziS
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) June 9, 2019
Ireland beat Austria 2-1 in the quarter final to continue the giddy momentum from their Saturday triumph against England.
What an incredible journey for O’Connor and Lennon.
