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Donegal men hit the bullseye
10.02.11
THE Donegal men's
county darts team were on target at the weekend,
retaining their All-Ireland title in Castlebar, Co
Mayo. This was their whopping 9th overall win with
eight of the titles coming in the last ten years.
The team is made up of Sean Wilson, Paul Leech, John
Murray, Charlie Grant, Martin McCloskey, Paddy
Boyce, Clive Aiken, James Weir, John Flood, Derek
Quinn, Sean Gallagher, Junior Coyle, Mike Naulty,
Anthony Woriskey, Ger Porter, N O'Donnell, selector
Josie Freil and manager Robert Hayes.
They started the defence of the title on Saturday in
a round robin group with Kilkenny and were winners
by ten games to two, Next, they faced Tipperary who
they beat 11-1. Their final group game saw them play
Longford and again they eased past them by 10-2 and
topped the group. They progressed to the quarter
finals on Sunday. The quarter final the team was a
13 man squad with the first to seven the winner. The
Donegal men were paired against Galway who two weeks
earlier had knocked them out of the West Coast
Challenge in Co Clare. But there was to be no repeat
of that result as Donegal won the game 7-1. Next
came the semi final and a very strong Dublin team
but again they were no match for the Donegal men and
were beaten 7-1. So another final lay in wait and
their opponents this time were probable second
favourites behind Donegal at the start of the
weekend to lift the title, Wexford. With both teams
having a good band of travelling supporters with
them, the final was played in front of a large
crowd, who could have no idea what was about to
unfold before them. |
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The triumphant Donegal men's county
darts team who lifted the All-Ireland trophy for the
ninth time. |
The first two games
went the way of Wexford, but Derek Quinn won the
next for Donegal then Wexford won the next three
games to take a 5-1 lead needing only two more games
from the remaining seven. Donegal then fought back
with Charlie Grant and Martin McCloskey taking the
next two matches to make the score 5-3. Then the
next game went to Wexford leaving the Donegal men
needing the last four games to retain the title - a
big ask. But as anyone who knows this team knows,
they are not easily beaten and wins by Junior Coyle,
Paddy Boyce and Sean Gallagher took the match to the
last game where a brilliant performance by Noel
O'Donnell kept the title in Donegal for another
year.
"It was a real nerve-wrecking match for the fans of
both counties and enough cannot be said of this
county team's achievements over the last ten years.
First, six back to back West Coast and All-Ireland
titles. Then, a seventh West Coast title followed by
two more back-two-back All-Irelands," said a
spokesperson. |
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