Leitrim 4 Sam is now a thing and it has taken hold of the Ally Pally darts crowd

Mayo 4 Sam

Tried that, tried it again, got really, really close, fell short. All the eggs are in the Leitrim basket now. If one thing will encourage Emlyn Mulligan to fight back from a third cruciate injury just to help the Leitrim cause again, it's the new storm of optimism that's apparently taking over the county. https://twitter.com/emlynmulligan/status/864856476619354112 Mulligan, who has been vocal in his thoughts that the championship needs to be restructured to make it more attractive for the weaker counties, should've watched the darts on Sunday night to see the Alexandra Palace crowd - or at least one person amongst the madness - holding out hope that Leitrim could yet hit the big time. As James Wade made his way to the stage for what would be the shock of the round as Keegan Brown dumped out the 11th seed of the competition, Leitrim folk were hijacking his walk-in and all the air time that comes with it. This rampant enthusiasm used to be copyrighted property of the Mayo faithful. Not anymore. Leitrim folk don't concern themselves with the World Cup of Darts - they went for the World Championship instead and put their county and the senior football team on a global map at prime time during the first round. It's been a terrible start for the Irish at the championships with both Willie O'Connor and Brendan Dolan falling in their first round clashes. It leaves just two remaining, with Derry's and Carlow's finest contesting on Monday and Wednesday.

• Daryl Gurney (Derry) v Ronny Huybrechts - Monday
• Steve Lennon (Carlow) v Michael Smith - Wednesday

Thanks to Shane McCarthy for sending this our way. If you have any pieces of content you'd like to share with us, hit us up on Facebook or Twitter or send us an email at editorial@SportsJOE.ie. Don't be shy.