THERE'S nothing like a bit of success to give any team the belief they can achieve some more.
So is the case with the Louth men's county dart teams, who achieved success on the double at the recent Barney Grimes Fairways Cup.
The Louth A team won the cup on the day, while their B team won the shield in a competition against top teams from Cavan, Monaghan and Newry.
Louth darts legend Owen Caffrey said the wins show the Wee County will be right in the mix at the upcoming INDO inter-county championships in Killarney.
Speaking to Darts In Ireland, former Ireland captain Caffrey said he hopes they can bring that positivity into the big competitions.
Owen said: "It was great to see both our A and B teams win the cup and shield on the day, and to be honest, I was a little bit shocked as it's not something we've achieved before.
"It shows that we have good players coming right through at all levels in the county now and our trials were very competitive this year.
"I think our A team can be a match for anyone on the day at the inter-counties, with no exceptions, but sometimes you just need a bit of luck to go with you too."
Luck is something Caffrey believes went with the Louth teams at the Barney Grimes Cup, although the manner of their victories was still very impressive.
The Louth A team won the cup with a stunning 7-0 victory over a strong Newry side in the semi-finals, and followed that up with a 7-1 win over a Monaghan team that was looking to win the cup for the fourth year in succession.
Meanwhile, the Louth B team won the shield with a 7-2 victory in the final over Monaghan B.
However, despite those margins of victory, Owen was keeping his feet on the ground.
He said: "The results of those games do look really impressive but there can be an element of luck involved too.
"Our players played very well but they all just seemed to hit their doubles quickly on the day, which is a big help. On another day you could play exactly the same but just get stuck on your doubles and suddenly the result looks different."
Nevertheless, Owen says it's great to see the participation in darts growing all the time, and has credited the creation of the INDO inter-county B championships for helping this along.
He added: "For me, the B championships is the best innovation in the past 15 to 20 years as it has attracted a lot more players to come and play at county level.
"When you only had the A championships, in a lot of counties, the top 15 or 20 players would always rise to the top and that might have put other lads off coming to trials.
"But now they know there is still a chance of making it onto a B county team, it is giving a lot more opportunities.
"That can only be good for darts in the long run and we are seeing it already as darts in Ireland is in a really good place at the moment."
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