Mark Allen beats Andy Lee in late-night finish to keep Northern Ireland title defence hopes alive

Mark Allen kept his hopes of defending the Northern Ireland Open title alive, but only just as he fell over the line in beating Andy Lee 4-3. Allen arrived in the last 32 as arguably the form player following impressive wins over Chang Bingyu and Chen Zifan, but he was way below that level against Lee.

Ad However, despite being well short of his best, he scrapped his way into contention and won a deciding frame to set up a clash with Xiao Guodong. Northern Ireland OpenSelby unsure why he’s unable to find top form — ‘My concentration was non-existent’9 HOURS AGO The opening frame was a scrappy affair, with both players handing chances to each other.

A lengthy safety battle ensued and it seemed inevitable that it would boil down to a battle on the black. Both had shots at it and after Allen saw an attempt wriggle in the jaws of the green pocket, Lee rolled it in to claim a 33-minute opener.

O'Sullivan says snooker 'not main priority' as he reveals he is penning book after shock loss White confident 'jagged' O’Sullivan will be 'ready to try to win the UK Championship’ The scrappy nature continued in the second, with Allen placing Lee in a series of snookers behind the brown — and the latter repeatedly escaped by rolling up into the pack. Allen found a telling snooker, tight up to the brown, and Lee’s escape chipped out a red.

It looked set to free up Allen as he picked off a series of pots, but he surprisingly missed a simple red into the bottom left which Neal Foulds said on Eurosport commentary “he would miss those one in 100.” Lee did not take the chance, but a further error from Allen handed him a second bite which he took in confident fashion to move two frames to the good. Allen continued to struggle in the third, but