LIMERICK darts star Willie O'Connor came within a whisker of making it to the final of PDC Players Championship 25 today as he lost out in a semi-final last leg decider to eventual winner Stephen Bunting.
The Magpie was in sensational form all day in Milton Keynes, posting some of the highest averages of any player through the competition.
He began his day at the Marshall Arena with a 6-2 win over Benjamin Reus, before repeating the same score over Callan Ridz in his second match.
That put O'Connor through to his board final with German Florian Hempel, with the Irishman putting in an impressive 100.69 average to record a 6-3 win.
He was in even better form in his next match against Irish World Cup team-mate Keane Barry, with O'Connor this time averaging 109.61 as he won his third game of the day by a 6-2 scoreline.
He was finished there as he then took out Karel Sedlacek 6-3 in the quarter finals, this time averaging just over 104.
That pitted O'Connor up against Bunting in the last four, with the game on the knife-edge right to the very end.
In a race to seven legs, O'Connor came from 6-4 down to force a deciding leg, but Bunting used the advantage of having the darts in that by getting to a double first, with O'Connor sat on 48.
It was decent day for the Irish, with Meath's Keane Barry setting up that last 16 clash with O'Connor by winning his board.
That included an opening 6-2 victory over Ryan Miekle, before Barry also then took care of Darren Beveridge in a 6-3 win.
In his board final, Barry streaked into a 4-1 lead over Jamai van den Herik of the Netherlands, but then had to hold his nerve as he was pegged back to win a last leg decider in 16 darts.
Elsewhere Steven Lennon, who a good run to the last 16 of Players Championship 24 on Monday, had to settle for the last 64 this time.
He picked up an impressive 6-4 win in his opening match over Kim Huybrechts, before losing out in his next match to Scotland's Cameron Menzies.
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