Nine-Dart Lloyd Takes Irish Masters

COLIN LLOYD hit a perfect nine-dart finish to secure a 6-3 win over Dennis Priestley in the final of the Irish Masters in Rosslare.

The world number one bounced back in style from an 8-1 defeat to Phil Taylor on the opening night of the 2006 Holsten Premier League last Thursday with a brilliant display over the weekend at the Crosbie Cedars.

He led Priestley 4-3 in the final of the Irish Masters when he hit seven perfect darts - seeing an attempted treble 15 miss before he recovered to move to within a leg of the match.

Lloyd then went two darts better in the next to hit the nine-dart leg - switching to treble 19 after seven treble 20's before landing double 12 to seal a remarkable win.

"It's unbelievable," said Lloyd. "What a way to win it, this feels fantastic!

"It's the first one I've ever hit in competition and I'm delighted - it's been a hard tournament and I'm very proud to win this.

"I've beaten some superb players this weekend and I'm so happy with how I played."

Defending Irish Masters champion James Wade reached the semi-finals before losing out to Priestley - who reached his second final in a week.

Lloyd defeated Colin Osborne in the other semi-final, with the Derby-based rising star defeating Kevin Painter and Adrian Lewis earlier in the day.

Irish Masters
Final

Colin Lloyd 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Winner 5,000 Euro/12 ranking points
Runner-up 2,500 Euro/9 ranking points

Semi-Final
Colin Lloyd 5-1 Colin Osborne
Dennis Priestley 5-3 James Wade
Losers 1,250 Euro/7 ranking points

Quarter-Finals
Colin Lloyd 4-3 Mark Walsh
Colin Osborne 4-1 Adrian Lewis
Dennis Priestley 4-3 Ronnie Baxter
James Wade 4-2 Colin Monk
Losers 625 Euro/5 ranking points

Last 16
Colin Lloyd 4-3 Chris Mason
Mark Walsh 4-2 Steve Alker
Colin Osborne 4-0 Kevin Painter
Adrian Lewis 4-1 Peter Manley
Ronnie Baxter 4-2 Dennis Smith
Dennis Priestley 4-1 Denis Ovens
Colin Monk 4-3 Wayne Jones
James Wade 4-1 Richie Burnett
Losers 300 Euro/4 ranking points

Last 32
Colin Lloyd 4-0 Andy Hamilton
Chris Mason 4-0 James Flynn
Steve Alker 4-3 Paul Ellis
Mark Walsh 4-3 Matt Clark
Kevin Painter 4-3 Sean Palfrey
Colin Osborne 4-2 Terry Jenkins
Peter Manley 4-0 Simon Whatley
Adrian Lewis 4-3 Jason Cullen
Ronnie Baxter 4-2 Barrie Bates
Dennis Smith 4-0 Kieran Kehoe
Denis Ovens 4-2 Steve Maish
Dennis Priestley 4-0 Shayne O'Connor
Wayne Jones def Andy Jenkins
Colin Monk def Alan Warriner-Little
Richie Burnett def Adrian Gray
James Wade def Lionel Sams
Losers 150 Euro/3 ranking points

Last 64
Colin Lloyd 4-0 Paddy Nugent
Andy Hamilton 4-0 Paddy Corcoran
Chris Mason 4-1 Steve Hine
James Flynn 4-3 John King
Steve Alker 4-1 Mark Dudbridge
Paul Ellis 4-2 John Dunne
Mark Walsh 4-1 John Browne
Matt Clark 4-2 Chris Connery
Kevin Painter def Dale Newton
Sean Palfrey def John Murphy
Terry Jenkins def Geoff Wylie
Colin Osborne def Dennis Long
Peter Manley def Ray Farrell
Simon Whatley def John Scott
Adrian Lewis def Terry Pettit
Jason Cullen 4-2 Tony Lynch
Ronnie Baxter 4-1 Eddie Fitzgerald
Barrie Bates 4-3 Shayne Burgess
Kieran Kehoe 4-0 Andy Kehoe
Dennis Smith 4-2 Alan Cochrane
Denis Ovens 4-2 Jim Roche
Steve Maish 4-0 Tony Murphy
Dennis Priestley 4-2 Andrew Davis
Shayne O'Connor 4-1 Andy Smith
Andy Jenkins 4-1 Mark Robinson
Wayne Jones 4-1 Dave Jowett
Alan Warriner-Little def Gary Welding
Colin Monk def Billy Muchell
Richie Burnett def Martin Murphy
Adrian Gray 4-1 Keith Rooney
Lionel Sams def James Stapleton
James Wade def Andy Coulter
Losers 2 ranking points