Carlow's Niall Culleton won his first Professional Darts Corporation tour card after edging a last-leg decider at UK Qualifying School on Friday afternoon.
The 38-year carpenter battled through the field to take the second automatic tour card, at his eighth attempt, from a field of 128 at day two of Final Stage in Milton Keynes.
He defeated England's Danny Goddard, who had two match darts, winning the last two legs for a 6-5 victory.
Culleton's five-game run to the decider included an amazing 6-5 win over Sam Jackson in the last 64 when he came from five legs down.
"It's amazing," Kilkenny-based Culleton told the PDC.
"Winning the tour card is the start of it...it's to build from here now and push on and see what I can push myself to do and see where it goes."
Carlow's Steve Lennon just missed out on an immediate return to the professional ranks when he lost in his board final to England's Carl Sneyd, however, the 2019 World Cup of Darts finalist is well placed to regain his card as he sits top of the order of merit with two days' play left.
Fourteen players from the Republic of Ireland reached the Final Stage of Q School with Tipperary's Stephen Rosney also well placed in the rankings.
