Tony Drago (left) and Brian Cini at the Dolmen, yesterday.

Ireland’s Michael Judge and Robert Murphy were crowned 2015 European Teams champions after beating home favourites Tony Drago and Brian Cini 5-3 in the final at the Dolmen, last night.

Veteran Drago looked fully motivated and the young Cini also gave his all but Judge and Murphy relied on all their experience to overcome the home players’ challenge in front of a passionate crowd.

Drago and Cini had earned the right to contest the title match after a 4-2 win over Gareth Allen and Duane Jones (Wales 1) in the morning semi-final. However, they were unable to extend their fine form to the evening session, in the process failing to keep the title at home following last year’s triumph of Alex Borg and Duncan Bezzina.

Things looked bright at first as Drago imposed himself on Judge, compiling a quick run of 78 to chalk up the first point. But, Murphy profited from a nervous-looking Cini to tie up the match when winning the second frame 71-6.

Judge and Murphy led 44-13 in doubles but did not close out the frame and Drago led Malta 3’s rally to take the frame 72-44.

However, Ireland shot to a 3-2 lead before the mid-session break after Murphy beat Drago 71-7 and Judge cruised past Cini in frame five.

When play resumed Malta 3 looked in a good position to draw level. However, poor defensive play handed the frame to the Irish who moved one frame away from the title.

Judge seemed to have killed off Malta 3’s hopes when opening a sizeable lead over Drago but he missed the brown and the Valletta pro cleared the colours to pull one back to 4-3.

Frame eight was tense. Cini had his chances but in the end the balance tilted in Murphy’s way for Ireland to win the European title.

“Pity, we did not win this tournament as we had a good chance to beat Ireland tonight,” Drago told TVM Sport after the match.

“We were unlucky not to go 3-1 up... at that moment we were playing really good snooker. But Ireland hit back strongly and I guess they finished the stronger team on the night.

“Playing in front of your own fans inevitably adds to the pressure but we both handled that well and I’m really pleased with Brian’s contribution this week.

“The organisation was also outstanding and I take this opportunity to applaud those responsible for a job well done.”

The best break of the competition belonged to Poland’s Kamil Zubrzycki – 135 points.

Earlier, Peter Roscoe and Wayne Morgan won the masters title after they beat outgoing champions Darren Morgan and Elfed Evans 4-2 in an all-Welsh showdown.

The women’s championship was won by Russia’s Daria Sirotina and Anastasia Nechaeva.

They outclassed Diana Stateczny and Jennifer Zehentner, of Germany, 4-0 in the final.