AS the euphoric tones of This is the One blasted out at The Nines, Paul Harris was in dreamland.

The classic Stone Roses song was Harris’ walk-on number at the Evening Mail Darts Championship Grand Final – and the choice of tune could not have been more fitting.

The 48-year-old had just upset the odds by winning the tournament in front of a packed and appreciative audience – defeating favourite James Kempster with a stunning 4-1 victory in the best-of-seven showpiece.

Harris and wife Roz both had a feeling this was going to be a special night for a player who shone as a youngster but who packed the game in for a long spell before picking up his darts up again last year.

It was Roz who persuaded Harris to return to the oche with his mates at The Britannia, and it proved an inspired move.

Ice-cool Harris showed nerves of steel and clinical finishing to beat the Castle House big guns Tommy Richardson, Chris Irvine and Kempster and take home the coveted Evening Mail trophy and £320 in prize money.

Clutching the trophy to his chest, Harris paid tribute to his wife, and dedicated his triumph to the memory of his dad Kenny and a trio of darters – Gerry Speers, Terry Holland and Paul Larkin.

“I really can’t believe I’ve won,” Harris said in the aftermath of his victory, and in between bouts of being mobbed by jubilant friends and family.

“Seriously, I’ve only played nine games since July. I haven’t entered any competitions. When I entered it I just thought it might be fate. I put this down to fate.

“I couldn’t have done it without my missus. She puts up with me, she listens to me. I told her I used to be a good darter and she got to me start playing again, she’s always believed in me.

“The day before entries opened for the Evening Mail I looked in the paper and there was a write-up about past winners and Gerry Speers’ name was there.

“Gerry used to play darts with me and he loved me and I thought: ‘sod it, if he won it in 1959 I’m going to enter it’. I just thought I’ve got nothing to lose.

“I entered it for Gerry Speers, Terry Holland and Paul Larkin. They were my inspiration. They were all great players, but better than that they were all good sportsmen and nice people. And I’m big on that.”

Roz said she instinctively felt it was going to be her husband’s night, saying: “When he put his name down I knew from the start he was going to win it.

“It was me who got him back into darts. I took him to see his old captain at The Brit and he got in with all this lot again. That’s when it all started again.

“I’m his biggest supporter. As soon as he put his name down I knew instantly. Even at the start of the night when they made the draw I said to my daughter ‘Paul is going to get number seven’ and he did, and I just knew.”

Harris – described beforehand as a ‘dark horse’ but not a front-runner for the title – started his campaign by seeing off Richardson 3-1 in the quarter-final, before holding his nerve to edge a nail-biting semi-final 3-2 against Irvine. Meanwhile, the ‘Welsh Wizard’ Kempster was making it look easy, sweeping aside both Kev Hubbold and Gary Ryce by a 3-0 margin with clinical efficiency to progress to the final.

Kempster also began the final strongly, taking the first leg with the help of scores of 180 and 100. But that was as good as it got for the Castle House man as his accuracy deserted him and Harris made him pay.

He won four legs on the trot – and completed the job in style by knocking up on 93 (treble 19, double 18) to spark wild celebrations.

“It was just my night,” said the modest champion. “I didn’t even throw that well, I just knocked up good.

“I did have a feeling early on that things were going well – thinking to myself, hang on this feels a bit different. I felt calm.

“In the past I’ve scored better but then blown it. But tonight I just thought ‘I’ll see how it goes’ and they kept giving me chances. They gave me loads of chances.

“I’ve been dreaming about this. You know sometimes when you’re chilled out and you just drift off, it’s been in my head, proper in my head. I can’t believe it.”

Harris took one of his dad’s old footballing player-of-the-year medals to the Grand Final, and it proved to be a lucky charm.

“I had this medal in my pocket all along,” explained the BAE Systems fitter known as ‘Hagga’.

“I found it at home. My dad was a darter and a great footballer and he could have been a pro. He was the best player ever for me, the best dad ever.

“The first time I entered The Evening Mail it was massive. I was only 19. My dad watched me and watched me, and I never managed to win this competition, so this is for him as well.”

He added: “I’d also like to thank everyone at the Brit – Sylvia and John for running the team, Mel and Briony, and, most of all, the Brit team for bringing me back to life.

“I’ve been good at times and I’ve been rubbish at times and they stuck with me for a year and put me in the team, and I will never let them down.

“These lads play proper darts. They test you to the limit. They don’t know how good they are.”

And with those words Harris was off to his favourite pub to enjoy a well-deserved celebration drink with family, friends and team-mates.

It was a night when the Evening Mail tournament made a glorious return after a seven-year hiatus, and to name-check another Stone Roses anthem it was a night which saw the resurrection of a talented darter called Paul Harris.

RESULTS

Quarter-finals: Chris Irvine 3 Nikki Lavery 0; Steve Woodburn 2 Gary Ryce 3; Kev Hubbold 0 James Kempster 3; Paul Harris 3 Tommy Richardson 1.

Semi-finals: James Kempster 3 Gary Ryce 0, Chris Irvine 2 Paul Harris 3.

Final: James Kempster 1 Paul Harris 4.

Grand Final semi-finalist and tournament organiser Chris Irvine thanked competition sponsors Stan Jones/Colin Mason, The Nines, Dalton Cricket Club and the Cemetery Cottages.

Compere Richie Hall did a great job on the microphone, while thanks also go to scorer Nick O’Toole and raffle organiser Sharon O’Toole.