VIDEO: Damon Heta skills put to the test as he takes on players from football club Nottingham Forest

It’s not every day that professional footballers swap their boots for darts, but that’s exactly what happened at Nottingham Forest recently. In a light-hearted yet competitive challenge, several players from the club took on PDC pro and Forest supporter Damon Heta.

The task was simple but testing: a Nine Dart Challenge. Each player had nine darts to post the highest possible score. Heta, however, had to make do with less. To keep things fair, the Australian lost a dart each time he stepped to the oche, leaving him with just six darts to take on the footballers.

It produced an entertaining contest, with surprise moments, a few impressive scores, and plenty of humour.

Before the challenge began, Heta couldn’t resist a joke. The Australian, a mainstay on the PDC Tour, faced a group of pros clearly up for it.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s this English weather or not,” Heta laughed. “It’s making me shiver and cold. It could be the nerves. But no, definitely looking forward to it and hopefully I’ll just smash them all up.” With that confidence, the first showdown got underway.

The first player to face Heta was midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. Asked what nickname he’d use as a darter, he didn’t hesitate. “Just MGW,” he said matter-of-factly.

His first three darts totaled 37. Not a disastrous start, but clearly no dream opening either. With a second visit, Gibbs-White nudged his total up to 60. Heta, meanwhile, had little trouble finding his rhythm. With just two darts he already put 77 on the board, immediately taking a comfortable lead.

Gibbs-White tried to rally but had to admit his display wasn’t exactly dazzling. “Oh, shocking. It wasn’t great,” he admitted with a laugh afterward. “But it’s great to see a pro at work.” The first win went to Heta.

The next player appeared with a striking accessory: a hat gifted by a teammate. His darts nickname? “Cheese,” he replied dryly. Within the group he was quickly dubbed Big Cheese.

His start, however, was anything but spectacular. With an opening score of 20, he immediately copped some playful jabs from his teammates. In the meantime, Heta showed why he’s a professional. With a string of sharp throws, he swiftly moved his total to 123.

Big Cheese tried to respond and eventually reached 80, but it was nowhere near enough. Heta finished the job like a pro and claimed his second win. The scoreline: 2–0 to the pro.

Next up was another player with the same nickname. This time it was midfielder James McAtee, immediately christened Little Cheese. His first visit brought 40, after which Heta again produced a strong 77. It looked set to be another routine win for the Australian.

Then came the moment of the match. McAtee hit a treble 20, suddenly surging to an impressive total of 139. Heta then needed 23 to win but missed his chance.

To the delight of the watching players, that meant a surprise victory for McAtee. He stayed grounded afterward. “A bit fluky,” he admitted. “I’ve got a problem with pulling my darts at the moment, but one fluky treble 20 gets me the win.”

Heta could only laugh and even offered some advice. ““Maybe you’re just trying too hard," he said. “Probably a bit of tension in the arm.” It didn’t spoil the fun: Little Cheese claimed the first win for the Forest players.

The next challenger was defender Nikola Milenković, using a nickname he’d been given by fans: The Surbinator. He opened impressively with 100 in his first visit, one of the best starts of the day. The Serbian defender had even brought his own darts, which only raised expectations.

The level then dipped a touch. With 44 and 45, his total stalled at 171. That proved enough to secure the win, though. Heta failed to surpass that mark. “I’ve been practicing a lot,” Milenković joked afterward. “So apparently that helped.”

Midfielder Ryan Yates then stepped to the oche with an imposing nickname: The Destroyer. The start was anything but destructive. With 22 in his first visit, he immediately drew some playful comments from his teammates.

As he settled, his rhythm improved and he managed to lift his total somewhat. Even so, his final score was enough to beat Heta, who simply never got going this round.

Midfielder Elliot Anderson also got his chance. His nickname was the obvious choice: Elliot “Arrow” Anderson. His first three darts were downright poor, yielding just six. He had a good laugh at himself. “My warm-up was better than this,” he admitted.

But Anderson regrouped well. With a few better throws he pushed his total to 110. Heta then needed one dart to hit 42 but couldn’t find it. “It started badly, but it got better,” Anderson said, satisfied. And it was enough for a win.

Finally it was the turn of forward Omari Hutchinson, who simply went with the nickname Hutch. He opened steadily with 34 and followed it with a strong visit that included a treble 20. He eventually finished on 120.

He was fairly pleased with that. “Not bad, actually,” Hutchinson said. “Because these lot try hard every day.” He admitted, intriguingly, that he doesn’t play darts at all. “No. Not at all," he laughed. Even so, his score left him above several teammates on the leaderboard.