Darryl Doherty, Lifford; Tony Mulhern, Gweedore
Gweedore's Tony Mulhern and Lifford man, Darryl Doherty, were the toast of Donegal Pool this weekend with a superb victory in the inaugural Seniors/Masters Team Cup.
The Donegal team travelled to Toosies Pool Academy, Enniskillen, on Saturday to compete against fifteen other teams, and a series of top-notch performances saw them emerge with the prestigious title and a winners' cheque for £1,500.
After successfully navigating the round-robin stages, Donegal faced a very strong Louth team in the last eight, and a mammoth battle saw the Tir Chonaill men grind out a tenacious 11-9 win. The semi-final saw them pitted against Tyrone and an initial 3-0 deficit was quickly recovered and turned into a convincing 11-4 victory.
On paper, the Donegal lads would have been underdogs in the final against the very formidable Antrim duo of Gerard Heany and John Kerr. Some scintillating pool from Darryl and Tony made a mockery of the form guide, though, and they raced into a 6-0 lead with a glut of break-and-dish clearances.
Antrim rallied strongly to claw the difference back to 9-7, but Donegal held firm in the final two frames to secure the title and emulate our men's and ladies' teams, who are both reigning All-Ireland champions - indeed, Tony was also a member of that historic men's team, but this newest title with his great friend, Darryl, will no doubt feel equally as sweet.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.