Former Scotland international footballer Kevin Kyle has admitted playing darts in front of 200 people in Monifieth on Saturday night was more nerve-jangling than running out in front of 50,000 fans for Rangers.
Kyle, who also played for Sunderland, Kilmarnock and Hearts, started playing darts after injury forced him to retire from football in 2014. He was performing in his first exhibition at the Panmure Hotel.
Behind the Oche’s Game of Throws extravaganza featured some of the biggest names in world darts including three-time Lakeside world champion Martin “Wolfie” Adams, Tony “Silverback” O’Shea, Ronnie “The Rocket” Baxter and Andy “The Hammer” Hamilton.
Kyle toed the oche against reigning Lakeside world darts champion Glen “Duzza” Durrant in a “Scottish gauntlet” section of the show where Durrant also played local players including Paul “Chocolate” Coughlin from Dundee and Angus darts wonderkid Nathan Girvan who reached this year’s youth world championship final.
Durrant performed the pantomime villain role perfectly and did not drop a leg against his opponents including former footy ace Kyle who was defeated 2-0 after struggling to overcome his nerves on the big stage despite the backing of a partisan crowd.
Kyle admitted had not felt nerves like it before despite having previously played in front of 50,000 crowds but “Duzza” was full of praise for his opponent, and the Angus crowd, following his hour on stage.
He told the crowd: “You are one of the best crowds I have ever played in front of.
“I love playing in Scotland and you are the reason why.”
Durrant brought his Lakeside world trophy with him to the event and was happy to let fans get to grips with it while signing autographs and posing for pictures.
Tony O’Shea was playing his first match for two months in Monifieth following knee surgery and he was defeated by Robbie “Kong” Green but said afterwards that he expected he would be back to the top of his game very soon.
“Wolfie” Adams was 4-1 down to Perth darts player Glen “Panda” Parsons before staging a brilliant comeback to win the match 6-5 in the deciding leg.
Baxter and Hamilton also served up an 11-leg cracker with the Rocket coming out on top while Peter “One Dart” Manley and Devon “The Spartan” Petersen also performed at the event.
Craig Cumming, 38, from Dundee, was among the fans who got a chance to get up close and personal with the players they would usually only see on TV.
Mr Cumming, who is registered blind, left the exhibition with a full autograph and photographs of himself with the game’s biggest stars which he described as a dream come true.
“Everyone was so welcoming and I couldn’t have asked for more,” he said.
“It’s a night I will remember for a very long time.”
