It was all change in the Freeway Express Championship this week as Rushen moved to the top of the table after defeating Ramsey Rebels 9-8 in a closely fought match.

Rushen got off to the perfect start with Richard Faragher & Seamus Whelan and Peter Coward & Stephen Gale winning the pairs games 9-5 and 14-4 respectively. The opening singles games were shared between the teams with John Jauncey getting Ramsey’s first points of the day after an 11-9 victory before Richard Faragher extended Rushen’s advantage again after Seamus Whelan had superbly fought back from 8-0 down to win his singles 13-9 for Rushen. However, Ramsey weren’t finished and started a superb fightback led by Wyn Collister who won her singles 8-6 before playing a pivotal role for Ramsey in the fours, alongside Archie Collister, Jill Quayle & John Jauncey ton win the final game 9-4. Despite the late rally it wasn’t quite enough to snatch the bonus point away from Rushen, who ran out 9-8 winners.

The other match saw Castletown Rockets defeat Colby Cosmos 10-7. The teams shared the opening pairs games with Peter Blower & Sylvia Maddrell winning 10-7 for Castletown and David Cottier & Pauline Kelly taking their game 19-2 for the Cosmos. The Colby side then stretched ahead in the singles, first with Ann Hollingworth and then Rita Woodworth both winning their singles but Castletown fought back with Matt Quayle winning 10-2 and Sylvia Maddrell 13-7 to level the scores. The fours game saw Castletown grab the decisive win after an 11-3 victory meant they ran out eventual winners, 10-7.

The table after three games is as follows:
1. Rushen – 26 points
2. Ramsey Rebels – 22
3. Ronaldsway Rockets – 20
4. Castletown Rockets – 16
5. Colby Cosmos – 15