"This is only the start"...Donegal vow more success to come

Published on 3 March 2025 at 19:25

The Donegal men's team secured a record 14th INDO Inter Counties A championship in style on Sunday night, but have vowed: "This is only the start".

The Tir Coineall darters have now won back-to-back championships, but just moments after lifting the trophy for the second year in a row, team captain Cartha Boyle told Darts In Ireland that there is more success to come.

That will be an ominous warning for every other county desperate to knock them off their perch.

Nobody really came close this year as Donegal were imperious throughout the whole competition

They laid down a marker in their very first group match on Saturday  when they secured a stunning 13-0 whitewash win over Mayo, a team many felt might be able to put it up to them having recently won the West Coast Challenge.

They lost just nine matches in total out of the 52 group games they played on Saturday, heading into the knockout stages on Sunday as the clear favourites to win the tournament.

But as often happens, Donegal's next opponents, Sligo,, really put it up to them in their last 16 clash, and it was even at 5-5 heading into the final stretch of the game.

Donegal are nothing if not resilient, however, and they could rely on the excellence of Ciaran McGeady and Alan Byrne to get them over the line in the next two matches.

Like true champions, they never looked back after that and only lost six more games on their way to claiming the title.

A strong Waterford side that includes no less than three current Ireland internationals were swept aside 7-1 in the quarters,  before an equally strong Offaly team were beaten 7-3 in the semi-finals.

That pitted Donegal up against a Cork team who had played tremendously well all throughout the knockout stages.

The Rebels had  averaged over 70 as a team in each  of their three knockout wins over Galway, Leitrim and Dublin heading into the final with Donegal.

However they were soon hit with a sledgehammer as Donegal won four of the first five games as Cartha Boyle, Gerard McGlynn and Charlie McDermott all kicked off their matches with 13 dart legs that seemed to stun their  opponents.

Cork managed to stay in the game at 5-2, but  were then hit by the experience of Ireland international Adrian Devine and former world youth finalist Jordan Boyce to lead Donegal home in a 7-2 victory.

Boyce now has the distinction of hitting the winning double in two INDO Inter Counties finals in a row.

What's the chances of him making it three in a row next year?

According to his captain Cartha Boyle, he wouldn't bet against it.

"This is only the start for us," Boyle told Darts In Ireland as he put yet another winner's medal into his pocket.

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