BASINGSTOKE darts ace Paul Hogan held his nerve to win a crucial match in the final as England claimed victory in the Six Nations.

Hogan, who lives in Buckskin, travelled to Belfast for the event, which saw England take on Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

England beat Wales and Ireland to top their group, before beating hosts Northern Ireland in the semi-finals. That set up a best-of-25 leg final against the Netherlands, and it looked like the Dutch team would win as they built up a 12-10 lead.

England needed to win the last three legs to win – and Hogan had to play the first of them, coming up against Wesley Harms. The 50-year-old held his nerve and won in style, checking out 92 with Harms stuck on 175 to keep his team in contention.

Martin Atkins and Mark McGeeney then went on to win their matches, giving England a narrow 13-12 victory.

Hogan said: “Going up onto the stage, I knew that we needed to win the last three legs. I wasn’t too nervous and I played really well. It was great to finish off with a good checkout.”

Earlier in the tournament, Hogan won one and lost four of his matches as England beat Wales 14-11 in their opening fixture, while he won three and lost two as they beat Ireland 18-7 to top their group.

Hogan only played three legs in the 13-6 semi-final victory over Northern Ireland, winning two and losing one.

In the final, he lost his first game to Rick Hofstra, but bounced back with a win over Michael van der Horst. The Buckskin man then lost to Danny Noppert and Richard Veenastra, but he more than made up for this by beating Harms to keep England in the match.

Hogan added: “It was great to win, especially as it was the first time I have played in the tournament. We had a great bunch of lads in the team and it was a good experience.”

Hogan has another high-profile event this weekend, when he travels to Southampton looking to qualify for the UK Open.

“I’m playing well at the moment, so I’ll go down there and see how it goes,” he said. “You have to get through seven or eight rounds to qualify, so I’ll need a bit of luck, but you never know.”