WHEN Brendan Dolan pinged in his sixth 180 in the fifth leg of the sixth set of his last 32 clash with Michael van Gerwen at the PDC World Championships, it appeared to be little more than a last hurrah for the Fermanagh man.
With Van Gerwen looking to mop up 80 to win the match 4-2, it seemed like a formality for the Dutchman.
However when MVG strayed into a treble five with his first dart and then failed to clean it up, Dolan was given an unlikely chance to take out 70 and bring the match to a last set decider.
Like Van Gerwen, though, Dolan uncharacteristically strayed into the single 4 bed when seeking out a treble 18 and his chance was gone, with his relieved opponent coming back to win the match on double 8.
It was a case of what might have been for Dolan and summed up the near misses of all the Irish at the Ally Pally.
Dolan's good pal Mickey Mansell came within a whisker of knocking out Jonny Clayton earlier in the competition before eventually losing in a sudden death leg.
Clayton's next opponent in the last 32, Derry's Daryl Gurney, also brought him to a last set decider after coming from 3-0 down but just couldn't get over the line in the end, with a host of missed doubles costing him.
With a bit of fortune, it could have been either Mansell or Gurney playing a last 16 clash with Gerwyn Price, while Dolan could very well have been eyeing up another run to the quarter finals or beyond had he despatched Van Gerwen last night.
Josh Rock also just missed out on a last 16 spot as he lost 4-2 to Chris Dobey in a high quality game that really could have gone either way.
Tipperary's Dylan Slevin also made his mark on the tournament with a victory over Limerick's Willie O'Connor, but just couldn't repeat the trick against Dimitri van den Bergh as he lost every set in a last leg decider.
It's left all the Irish players with a gnawing sense of what might have been had Lady Luck been in their favour.
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