The 3Arena was treated to some truly special moments on Thursday night, when the darts returned to Dublin for night four of the Premier League.
The raucous crowd needed no second invitation to lose its collective mind but that’s exactly what happened when Michael Smith hit a nine-darter in the fourth leg of his clash with Derryman Daryl Gurney.
Smith looked to be the calmest person in the 3Arena when he sunk his Double 12, securing the first Premier League nine-darter in three years.
NINE-DARTER!!!
MICHAEL SMITH STRIKES PERFECTION IN DUBLIN!
It's the first Premier League nine-darter since 2017!! pic.twitter.com/k2vebOPzYv
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 27, 2020
Gurney offered his opponent a polite round of applause, while the crowd was far less composed in its reaction to the remarkable finish.
Smith went on to take the match 7-5 and while the nine-dart finish would have been the most memorable moment of most evenings of darts, that honour was reserved for the walk-on of Limerick man Willie O’Connor.
O’Connor made his Premier League debut against the daunting challenge of world number one and five-time Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen.
O’Connor put forward a great account of himself but was beaten by the best in the world on the night, falling to a 7-4 defeat to MVG.
O’Connor’s walk-out, however, was inarguably the moment of the night.
THAT. WAS. SPECIAL.
Spine-tingling stuff as Willie O'Connor is given a hometown hero's reception with the Dublin crowd in full voice! pic.twitter.com/p2pqvBC39M
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 27, 2020
