Meath's Keane Barry races through to second round at World Darts Championship

MEATH’S KEANE BARRY only dropped three legs as he closed out Friday night’s action at Alexandra Palace by easing through to the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship.

The 23-year-old from Duleek comfortably outclassed Australia’s Tim Pusey for a 3-0 win, setting up a return to the Ally Pally on Sunday night for the second round.

Barry will face 13th seed Martin Schindler of Germany, knowing that a win will see his interest in the tournament continue after the Christmas break.

Barry became the fifth and final player from the island of Ireland to book his place in round two, joining Brendan Dolan — who returns to action on Saturday afternoon — Josh Rock, Willie O’Connor and Daryl Gurney.

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Carlow’s Steve Lennon and Tyrone’s Mickey Mansell both lost their first-round matches.

Barry was immediately on the back foot as Pusey took the opening leg against the darts before holding on his own throw for an early 2-0 lead in the set.

The Irishman didn’t need to be at his best early on, winning legs in 17 and 15 darts to draw level before checking out 108 to take the first set.

With Pusey struggling to find form, Barry punished his opponent’s mistakes as he swept the second set 3-0.

And he took the third set 3-1 to seal victory and set up Sunday’s meeting with Schindler.

“I was feeling good in my preparation beforehand so it was nice to go up there and have a relatively stress-free night,” Barry said afterwards.

“I’m feeling confident. I’ll worry about Sunday’s game on Sunday, but I’m happy with tonight’s win and feeling good. All roads lead to Sunday and hopefully I’ll go well.”