Darts is all about focus... Focus about confidence... and confidence built on self-belief! Tuesday night proved that a match between these two solid darters would find one of them attaining all three of the above: Focus, Confidence and Self-Belief.

Merlin, Ontario has produced some fine people and groups of people over the years... Michele Wright put Merlin on the map in the 80s and 90s in song, strong local support in groups and organizations have spoken well of the close knit community. When it comes to darts, the oldest and best known name in the village - Larry Barks.

Larry has given his all to the game over the years, posting numerous victories in singles, doubles and teams events. Now in his sixties, he has represented more than one county legion in zone dart shoots and has always brought a steady solid game to the oche... this year was no exception in the CKPDL! He's always known that there will be younger, fresh talent in the dart world, and by all means knew he was up against one Tuesday night. "Scott's a good player, he's done well to bring his game up to where it is this year!" Barks, when asked, was quoted at a recent PDC event. The Scott he was referring to... of course is Scott Kelly.

Coming off an upsetting but not unsettling basement finish in the 2008 league, Kelly found himself taking a new approach to the game. "More practice, that's all there is to it." Kelly was quoted at the end of last year's season. It seemed Kelly took his own advice earning him a more than respectable finish of 5th place in the league this year. Kelly left more than one opponent standing at the board shaking their heads... myself being one of them... I was up 12-6 in our league match, only to find 50 minutes later I had to settle for a tie. Coming back and winning 6 legs in a row to earn the tie, Kelly began to show what he was made of. Another of those opponents this year was Barks as Kelly beat him by a few legs towards the end of season. Would Barks have his revenge?

Larry came out strong in the quarter final match Tuesday night, taking the first set from Kelly quite handily. "He came out on fire and took the first 3 legs to win the first set!" Kelly stated... "all I could do is keep my focus and wait for the breaks". And the breaks came for Kelly. He took set number 2 losing the first leg but kicking it in strong for legs 2 through 4. This must sparked a fire in Barks again as he came on strong again with a handily won 3 legs in the third set. Down 2 legs to 1 in the 4th and facing elimination, Kelly reached down to that vault of experience and never counted himself out. Winning the next 2 legs off Barks to force a 5th and final set was his goal, and he did it!

The final set saw Kelly and Barks exchange for legs 1 and 2, but Kelly proved his self belief would be enough to gain him entry into the CKPDL finals by finishing on double top in leg 4 to break Barks.

Darts have always been a serious aspect of Larry Bark's life. He once said to me, "The day I feel I can't compete, is the day I hang them up!". Larry, obviously upset with the outcome of the match, waved his goodbyes, and found his way to the door quite soon after the final dart was thrown. Whether Larry perceives the defeat at the hands of Kelly as his final competitive dart match... only time will tell... but time and time again Larry Barks has proven that he can throw focused darts with confidence, he may only need some self belief to get him to the end of a tough match.

A combination of focus (from hours of practice), self confidence and belief have proven once again this year that Scott Kelly is the real deal! He now finds himself awaiting the results of the Wayne Dragstra / Kevin Markowski match... will he meet the 2008 CKPDL champ, or will he face off against a regenerized up and comer? , Kelly stated, "Whoever it is that I play, I still have to come and bring my A game. That's what I did tonight... it seems the practice has been paying off.". And that it has, earning Scott Kelly a birth into the CKPDL 2009 semi finals! dc