Just one direction for X Factor winner Matt

IRELAND’S last chance of X Factor success fell at the final hurdle last night after boy band One Direction lost out to singer Matt Cardle.

The band, made up of five teenagers, including Westmeath native Niall Horan, appeared crestfallen as host Dermot O’Leary broke the news that they had been beaten into third place in the popular contest.

Their defeat meant Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson were left to battle it out for the right to become the latest protege of the Simon Cowell-run show, after 17-year-old Cher Lloyd’s earlier exit on Saturday.