By 
TWO local throwers were part of the Donegal team who won the Inter Counties Darts Championship for a third time in succession and a 15th time in all.
Dunamanagh’s Adrian ‘Butch’ Devine was his usual consistent self at the oche, winning seven of his eight matches, while Doneyloop’s Alan Byrne played the starring role in the final when he produced a sensational comeback with two 15-dart legs to seal the deal for Donegal against Offaly.
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It was a remarkable overall success for Donegal, who had to do things the hard way in the knockout section, beating Munster champions Cork in the quarter-finals before overcoming Leinster title holders, Carlow in the last four.
“We had a good weekend,” beamed Devine, who has now won the title four times with his adopted county. “We expected to run it close but we knew there would be a lot of teams out to get us and that’s how it ended up.
“It was probably the hardest All-Ireland we’ve ever won because we had a big target on our backs. It’s not that you feel any added pressure, you just know that everyone is gunning for you so you have to step your game up a wee bit more and fair play, everyone stepped up big time.
“But the way the draw worked out, we’d have been number one, then you’d have Cork, then you’d have Carlow, then you’d have Dublin and all four of us ended up on the same side of the draw on the second day when it went to knockout. It was the draw of death!”
It was relatively plain sailing for the reining champions, who had no shortage of pressure on their shoulders during their chase of a hat-trick of titles, during a tough group stage schedule alongside Tipperary, Monaghan, Kildare and Clare, who they beat 10-3, 12-1, 9-4 and 12-1 respectively to top the table with a massive 43 points — the highest points tally of any team across the entire weekend.
Straightforward
They also found the going relatively straightforward in the last-16 against Westmeath, who they defeated 7-3, but things were to get tougher, much tougher, during the business end of the tournament.
Their quarter-final clash with Cork was a repeat of last year’s final and it delivered all the drama you would expect.
Donegal started strongly and went 1–0 up, but Cork responded immediately by taking the next three sets to move 3–1 ahead. Charlie Grant and Dean Gallagher showed their class and experience to level the tie at 3–3. Cork then pushed ahead again, taking two more sets to make it 5–3. Ciaran McGeady stepped up to bring it back to 5–4, but Cork struck again to go 6–4, leaving Donegal just one loss away from being knocked out. That’s when the real fight began. Byrne and John Meencha showed incredible composure and a never-back-down attitude to level the match at 6–6 and force a decider.
Up stepped Jason Patterson — and what a moment it was. Producing a superb 16-darter followed by a 20-darter, he sealed a dramatic victory and sent Donegal into the Semi-Finals in unforgettable fashion. In the last four, Donegal came flying out of the traps against another strong Carlow side. Gerad McGlynn, captain Cartha Boyle and Stephen Harron won three on the bounce to put Donegal 3–0 up.
Carlow pulled one back to make it 3–1, but Dean Gallagher steadied things with a top-class performance to stretch the lead to 4–1.
Carlow fought back again to make it 4–2, but Donegal weren’t to be denied. Jordan Boyce, Devine and John Meencha delivered when it mattered most, winning the next three sets and booking Donegal’s place in the final for the third year in a row.
Strong side
In the final, Donegal faced a strong Offaly side for the second time in three years.
Captain Cartha and Gerard McGlynn got Donegal off to the perfect start, winning their matches to put the team 2–0 up. Offaly responded to make it 2–1, but Stephen Harron and Charlie Grant both showed their class to stretch the lead to 4–1.
Offaly refused to go away and clawed one back to make it 4–2. Adrian Devine then stepped up and delivered a huge win to move Donegal 5–2 ahead — just two wins away from the title.
Offaly kept battling and reduced the deficit to 5–3, but Ciaran McGeady answered immediately to make it 6–3.
Still, Offaly had one more push in them and brought it back to 6–4.
Up stepped Alan Byrne. He found himself 2–0 down in his match. The pressure was immense. But champions find another level. Showing incredible belief and determination, Alan fought back and, when it mattered most, fired in two sensational 15-darters to seal the match.
“We pulled it out of the bag against Cork [in the quarter-finals] and the final was tight too because when we were 5-4 up, they had chances to win the next two games but it was Alan Byrne who hit the winning double,” Devine added.
“He threw an absolutely brilliant game to win it and all in all it was a great weekend!”
