Castletown were very close to pulling off a major shock in the Shimmin Wilson Manx Shield as they were just edged out 12-9 by Vagabonds B at Poulsom Park.

Town led through a Dan O’Connor penalty but Vagas soon hit back with neatly taken try by former rugby league international, Sean Hoppe, to take a 5-3 lead.

O’Connor nailed a second penalty to put Town back in front, however a try on the stroke of half time by Vagas number eight, Joe Louw, converted by Danny Williams, gave Vagas a 12-6 lead at the interval.

Town pulled back in the second half with a Dave Hodgson penalty to reduce Vagas to a three point lead but they were unable to get a decisive final score.

In the other game, Northern Spaniards lost out by a single point in a thriller at the Mooragh Park.

Tries from Terry Milligan and Pak Bregazzi, plus two conversions and two penalties from Neil Cartwright, gave Vagas a 20-5 half time lead after David Prince put the Spaniards ahead early on.

The Spaniards rallied in the second half though and tries from Pete Walkom and Micheal Flynn, plus a conversion from Walkom, put the home side within a point before they were beaten by the clock.