SCOTT Mitchell overcame a bizarre moment to ease past Peter Manley and get off to a winning start at the World Seniors Darts Championship.

The Dorset star toppled the former world number one and three-time world finalist to triumph 3-0, his first win at the iconic Circus Tavern venue.

Having taken the first set 3-1, Mitchell then broke Manley’s throw at the start of the second set.

There was then a long delay in proceedings, with Manley convinced, wrongly, it was his turn to throw first in the next leg.

Referee Paul Hinks eventually ordered the match to resume, with 60-year-old Manley, renowned for his oche antics, winning just one more leg as he was soundly beaten.

Discussing the strange moment during set two, Mitchell told BT Sport: “He nearly convinced me that it wasn’t my throw!

“I thought I’d just won the first set, because Peter told me I’d just won the first set.”

Scotty Dog added: “If anybody has ever played that man, they will understand, he talks to you without talking to you. Every time he hit a treble 20 in that back room in the last four-and-a-half hours, I knew about it.

“But he’s a been a dear friend for a long, long time. That makes it more difficult. I’d much rather play somebody I didn’t like.”

Mitchell will face either number one seed and reigning champion Robert Thornton, or Dutchman Roland Scholten, in round two.