Donegal Darts win third All-Ireland in a row

“We’ve got some of the best players in Ireland,” said Donegal Captain, Cartha Boyle after the win.

Donegal Darts won the INDO Inter Counties A Championship for the third year in a row last weekend, in the INEC Arena, Killarney.

The Ulstermen won 7-4 in a fiercely contested final against Offaly, in a best of 13 sets format.

Captain, Cartha Boyle, from Glenties in Donegal, spoke about the tough game that Offaly gave them and the strength of his own team.

“It was hard work for sure, definitely the hardest one yet… We’ve got some of the best players in Ireland in Donegal, they know their job, and they’ve got no fear at all.”

Boyle kicked the final off with a 3-1 win over Offaly’s Mark Griffin, followed by Gerard McGlynn’s impressive 3-0 win in set two.

According to Boyle, winning the first set is crucial for helping a team settle, as it encourages players to build on that momentum.

“The more you win at the start the better,” said Cartha. “Looking back at the Cork game, I had three darts at tops (double 20), and that could have settled us in that game. I always think that in the first six sets, if you’re 3-3 or 4-2 up then you’re in a great position. Against Offaly, it’s good to get that start.”

In the quarter final against Cork, Donegal went 6-4 down, meaning Cork only had to win one set to make it to the semi-final. The final set was superbly won by Donegal’s Jason Patterson who produced a 16-dart leg on his way to victory.

Charlie Grant, who has won 14 out of the 15 All-Ireland Championship’s for Donegal, spoke highly of his team who never gave up, even when they had their backs to the wall.

“There’s a never say die attitude here. We trust the men at the back of our team because they’re just as strong as the men at the front. From top to bottom, it’s a great team.”

Grant also spoke about the importance of a great captain and commented on Boyle’s fantastic motivation for the county team.

“Cartha is a great motivator of men. He set’s us all up, and when you go out to play darts then you listen to Cartha. I doubt that Jim McGuinness could even speak better than Cartha!”

Cartha motivated his players in his own unique way, by telling them to wear the Donegal shirt with pride, and to ground themselves by knowing that any team can beat them, and not to underestimate any team or individual.

The respect shown by Offaly after the final dart was thrown was something that didn’t go unnoticed by the Donegal team, as the Offaly men arranged a guard of honour when the victors came back on stage to pick up their trophy.

“I got a lovely message from the Offaly captain (Bodien Fogarty) on Monday morning, saying it’s always a pleasure to play you (Donegal),” said Cartha. “I think when you give other teams respect like that, you’ll earn respect too. We’ve met Offaly many times now and there’s no gripe between us.”

The final cannot be talked about without mentioning former Donegal dart’s player, John Murray, who took up the post as Donegal manager recently.

Murray dedicates 52 weeks a year to Donegal darts, contacting Cartha Boyle every second week to stay updated on players in the county, and stepping away from the playing panel himself to allow fresh faces onto the senior team.

According to Cartha Boyle, the future of Donegal Darts is very bright, and it won’t be long until a few of the youths will make the transition to the senior panel.

“Donegal Darts are in a great place. There was a couple of youths who supported us on the weekend which was incredibly uplifting. It’ll be great to see some of the youths on the senior panel soon, and it looks like it’s not going to be an issue to them. They want what we have.”

Donegal has produced some excellent darts players in recent years, notably, Dean Gallagher and Adrian ‘Butch’ Devine who have been successful on the Modus Super Series, but there’s one player who Cartha Boyle spoke incredibly highly of.

“You can ask anyone in Irish rankings ‘Who has the possibility of making Q-School’ and the answer is usually Gerard McGlynn. Everything that he does as a player, and how he approaches matches – he is the best. You can talk to Stephen Rosney, Niall Culleton, Shane McGuirk and they’ll say that he’s up there with the best in Ireland.”

McGlynn is currently ranked second in Ireland, only behind Dale McCarthy of Kerry, but he previously held the Irish number one spot in 2024.

With the success and growth of Irish darts in recent years, Boyle believes that there is a chance to move away from hotel venues, and into bigger arenas across Ireland. He makes the point that the bigger venues have worked in the UK, and that people need to realise that these darts competitions in Ireland are doing very well.

The coverage for the All-Ireland Championship was made available by Full Time Productions, who streamed the matches live on YouTube, providing commentary and excellent camera work. For Cartha, to take Irish darts to the next level, there is some changes that are needed across the board.

“People don’t know about darts. A streaming service would open it up to everybody, because people didn’t know about any competitions before DartsConnect. People would know the winners and that’s it…I think that if we (Ireland) got a player into the top 32 in the PDC, that would change the Irish darts scene completely. One thing about the Irish, they’ll support you.”

William O’Connor is the closest Irish player at the moment, as he sits in 41^st place of the PDC Order of Merit.

Many of the Donegal Dart’s players are looking forward to the Leo Molloy Tournament and the Norman Blain Tournament coming up in the next few weeks, as they look to battle against their fellow teammates in the local singles tournaments.

Donegal A Team: Cartha Boyle (Captain), Jordan Boyce (Vice Captain), Adrian Devine, Gerard McGlynn, Charlie Grant, Dean Gallagher, Declan Quinn, Derek Gallagher, Andrew Gillespie, Derek Quinn, Alan Laird, Jason Patterson, John Meencha, Gerald Nestor, Alan Byrne, Stephen Harron, Ciaran McGeady, John Flood, John Murray (Manager/Selector), Michael Leech (Assistant Manager), Sean Wilson (Selector), Joe Thompson (Selector)