BRILLIANT ALLEN SIGNS OFF IN STYLE WITH JDC GIRLS SERIES WIN ON BLACKPOOL STAGE!
BRILLIANT ALLEN SIGNS OFF IN STYLE WITH JDC GIRLS SERIES WIN ON BLACKPOOL STAGE!
Rebecca Allen said she couldn’t have asked for a better way to sign off from JDC Girls Series action than by winning the title with a 5-4 win over Macy Gibbons in Blackpool.
The 17-year-old has been a star of the girls’ game in the JDC for many years – and made up for last year’s loss to Paige Pauling on the Winter Gardens stage by ensuring her name was etched onto the trophy.
The Irish player, from Carlow, peaked at the right time after finishing second behind her opponent in the league standings. Allen had won two of the eight Girls Series in which she competed, while 16-year-old Gibbons won six events during the regular season. On the big stage in Blackpool, Allen averaged 78.59 to Gibbons’ 78.80, and it was Gibbons who started fastest, breaking throw in the opening leg with a 106 checkout. Allen broke back straightaway with a checkout of 81 – and then held throw to lead 2-1. Gibbons held with a 13-dart leg as the two players matched each other in a fantastic final, before Allen edged in front on her own throw. Gibbons responded with a hold of her own to make it 3-3 – and then broke throw for what looked like a decisive breakthrough at 4-3. But Allen took out 76 to break straight back – and then closed out the win in the deciding leg. She almost sealed the title with a spectacular 118 – but had to wait until the following visit to secure the crown on Double 1.
Allen said: “I’m so happy. It feels great. Obviously last year I was in the final and I lost 5-2, so this year being my last year, my last chance to do it, I’m really pleased with how it went. “Last year when we played, it took so much longer for me to settle into it, but this year I felt the second I went up I was into it straightaway. I think last year helped a lot, because I knew what to expect. I knew the way everything was going to work, I knew where to come in, where we were going to be sitting, where we were going to be practising, the walk-ons, and where everything was.
“It just takes away a lot of the nerves when you know what you’re facing. I’m so proud. For ages I kept getting to finals and getting beaten, but all my wins have started coming in one big go now, so I’m really happy. I couldn’t ask for a better way to sign off.”
