Seamus Whelan, Peter Coward & David Cottier won the first competition of the short mat season with a superb display throughout the day to beat Sylvia Maddrell, Matt Quayle & Peter Blower in the final.

The eventual winners came though the first round 10-8 against Stephen Gale, Jayne Smith & Josh Ffrench after being 8-5 down. Elsewhere Maddrell trio beat John Jauncey, Moira Anderson & Jill Quayle 10-6 with a late rally securing their place in the semi-finals.

Last years defending champions of Pauline Kelly, Rita Woodworth & Ann Hollingworth were unable to repeat last years heroics, losing on the final end 8-6 to Collin Holland, Chris Holland & James Teare. Michael, Archie & Wyn Collister also came through an exciting game against Dave McTaggert, Ann Gale & Marie Ashurst, needing an extra end to win 7-6.

Whelan, Coward & Cottier had another close game in the semi-finals. After being 6-0 up after 4 ends and 10-6 up with one end to play, Michael Collister managed to tie the game with a 4 for his side on the final end to force an extra end play-off. Whelan’s side managed to keep their nerve however, coming through 12-10.

The other semi-final saw Maddrell’s side 6-3 down after six ends but again a late surge saw them run away to a superb 13-6 win over Collin Holland’s side.

The final saw Whelan’s trio take an early advantage, leading 8-0 after three ends and 11-1 after five. Unfortunately for Maddrell’s side, they couldn’t reproduce the late rallies of the previous rounds, eventually going down bravely 16-3.

Next week is the first games of the Freeway Express Championships, with Rushen, Ronaldsway Rockets, Colby Cosmos & Port Erin Blockbusters all hoping to take the title.