2007 888.com World Championship

MATCH BY MATCH LIVE MATCH NOTES [CLICK ON MATCH FOR LIVE COMMENTARY, NEWS, QUOTES]

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MATTHEW STEVENS V

JOE DELANEY

Round One - Match 10 (Best of 19 frames)

...Join us LIVE at 14.30 BST for the first session of the match between Matthew Stevens and Joe Delaney... Well here we go in what could be a fascinating match... Joe is absolutely revelling in his first trip to the Crucible and he's entered the arena with a broad grin on his face... Matthew on the other hand, looks a little tense, as well he might, because he is under considerable pressure this year because if he doesn't have a good run at the Crucible he could lose his top 16 place.. almost unthinkable for a player who was up to number four only a couple of seasons ago... Well no luck of the Irish there for Joe as he's knocked the black in off his safety shot and given Matthew the chance to get his hand on the table and pot a few balls... but he's only made 6 before leaving the yellow in the jaws of the black pocket, but it's blocked the pocket so Joe has a chance to settle into the unique Crucible atmosphere with a few safety shots... Joe came through a gruelling run of qualifying matches to reach the Crucible.. he beat Welshman Ian Preece, the former World Amateur Champion, 10-7 having trailed 6-3 at one point... then he edged Barry Pinches 10-9 and finally showed tremendous character to beat Alan McManus 10-9... which incidentally means that Eurosport viewers can enjoy Alan's commentary during the Championships.... Joe has been on and off the Main Tour circuit since 1991, but has shown far more consistency in the past couple of seasons having narrowly held on to his Main Tour place at the end of 2005-6... but another foul from Delaney has given Matthew an opening... but he's made nothing of it and it's back to safety again... Matthew still looks very tense, but the safety exchanges will give both players a chance to settle down and get the feel for the table... Matthew, from Carmarthen enjoys a close friendship with Stephen Jones of the Scarlets (Llanelli Rugby) and he'll be sorry that he can't be present to cheer on the Scarlets this afternoon in their Heineken Cup Semi Final against Leicester. Referee Eirian Williams, from Llanelli will be able to cheer on the team as he refereed this morning, but another Llanelli man, Terry Griffiths is on commentary duty for the BBC this afternoon, and of course your GCS correspondent will be slightly distracted by the rugby this afternoon - gooo on the SCARLETS!!! Meanwhile this is quite a long safety exchange but Joe won't be happy until he's potted a few balls and he's got a chance here as Matthew's safety caught the knuckle of the middle pocket... Ooh eagle eyed Michela Tabb has spotted Joe's cue touch the green so the break ends at 6 and Matthew has a golden opportunity to do some damage... Matthew's turned this into a frame winning opening, despite a nasty kick as he potted the pink.... he already leads 43-6 and now he's 72-7 ahead but Delaney will carry on just to get a few shots under his belt...

Joe's missed a long red to start frame two, a little shake of the head... yep the pockets are tight!! Matthew's in with an easy opening, he's got 3 or 4 loose reds but will probably look to split the pack early... he didn't but he's got another chance...  and a 60 break leaves Joe 76 behind with only 51 on...

A nice red has given Joe a nice opening in frame three, but he's potted the blue, split the pack all over the table and the white has spun back tight against the cushion.. no luck for the Irishman yet... He's put Matthew in such a horrible snooker that the Welshman resorted to hit and hope and that has spread the reds even wider and gifted Joe an opening... he's made 15 but left himself bridging over a red and he's rattled the black... that's let Matthew in again and this could become the pattern of the match that Joe's errors will be punished, but Matthew's missed a red on 41 so the frame is wide open again... A good red from Stevens and barring accidents it will be 3-0, and as I say that he's missed a red with rest, of course Matthew is well known for not liking to use the rest... Joe's missed his red and rather petulantly swung his cue across the red to concede the frame... and that's earned him a little word in the ear from Michela Tabb for conceding while theoretically he could still win the frame...

Joe's looking very rattled now, he's hurled himself at a long red, missed it by a margin and given Stevens an easy start in frame four... this match will run away from him if he doesn't settle soon... fabulous long pink keeps the break going for Matthew and he's looking comfortably now... the break has already reached 30... he's missed a snick to the centre on 45, now can Joe get back into the frame... a good red with the rest to start and he's on the green... This is better from Delaney, he's moved onto 33 and the frame is up for grabs... but he's missed and Matthew has stretched his lead to 21 points with 2 reds left... Delaney's gone in off the last red so it will be 4-0 to the Welshman at the interval....

They're back from the break and Joe's on a break of 24... but it's come to an end and Stevens is rattling up the points again... Stevens looks to be in good form and of course he loves the Crucible... the breaks reaches 68 and it's another frame on the board...

Joe's looking good in frame six, his break has reached 44 after Stevens missed his first colour... this will make the Irishman feel a whole lot better, the break moves to 66 and he's got the frame in the bag...

Unlucky for Joe at the start of frame 7, he's knocked the black in off his safety shot, that's the second time he's done that in the match... well it's a chapter of accidents for Joe in this frame and Matthew is piling on the points and leads 52-20 with 2 reds left... and so Stevens has a very comfortable 6-1 lead...

Stevens has broken down in the eighth with 34 points on the board, here's a decent chance for Joe to claw some points back... but he's clattered into a baulk colour on 24 so it's end of break... The Crucible is packed this afternoon with a wonderful atmosphere... the appearance of Jimmy White just before the match brought a roar of approval from his army of fans... Jimmy is on hand as a BBC pundit over the weekend while the two studio regulars John Parrott and Steve Davis are otherwise occupied playing against each other... and their match starts at 1900 BST tonight, finishing on Sunday afternoon... The other match tonight will be Graeme Dott, returning to finish his match against Ian McCulloch, who leads 5-4.... Matthew's got the better of the safety and is heading towards another frame success, leading 60-25 with two reds left... but he's missed a red stretching a bit... but now Joe's gone in-off his safety so Stevens remains favourite to take the frame... 39 ahead with 43 on... and Stevens is now 7-1 ahead... no way back for Joe which will be a disappointment for his supporters who have travelled across in droves from Ireland... One of them I can see sitting in row two of the audience is Phil Martin, a well known player in amateur circles in Ireland and indeed across Europe, where he's had considerable success in European Masters' events... and has also won the Irish Billiards title on a few occasions... Phil is the owner of Celbridge Snooker Club, Dublin, one of the best know hot beds of snooker and billiards in Ireland...

Joe's broken off in the last frame of the session... I'm sure he's enjoying the Crucible experience, but certainly not the current match score... Joe's playing for pride now and he's setting about the balls with a vengeance.. already potting some good long balls, including one red dead weight to the yellow pocket... but I spoke to soon as he misses on 18... but he's back in as Michela admonishes the excitable audience for shouting out as the player takes a shot... And it's Joe's Irish fans who are getting excited and cheering their man on... But Matthew's back in the balls now and rapidly wiping out the deficit... He's got a kick on 24 which has left a tricky black for the Welshman... but he can take the pink to centre and he can hold for one of the last 3 reds... Stevens takes a narrow 47-37 lead with 2 reds left... and they've disappeared and Stevens leads 62-37 and just needs the yellow, which he's safely potted... so he'll have an almost insurmountable 8-1 overnight lead... Joe's got the snooker he needed and a free ball so he can still take this frame... and he's potted fabulous green and brown, he's favourite for the frame now...

Rejoin the conclusion of this match at 1900 BST on Sunday... and here we go with the final session of this match... Delaney's found the pocket with the white and Matthew can attempt a long red from the baulk line... that sounded a bit "clunky" a bit of a heavy contact but he's done no damage... Matthew is red hot favourite to win this match of course, but Joe would love to show the Crucible and tv audiences just what he can do... Matthew's got a red this time.., he'll want to wrap this match up as quick as he can and start preparing for round two... but he's missed a black on 48 so he won't win the frame in one visit... Matthew's added a few more points and Joe needs a snooker and he's got a good one here... the white is tight behind the black on the side rail and the three reds are not visible... good shot from Matthew he's clipped the open red... and it's 8-2 now... Joe can't make any inroads in this match at all, but when he looks back I'm sure he will have enjoyed his trip to the Crucible.. at the very least he can tell the grand children "I was there"...

... and in no time at all it's 9-2 as Matthew rattles in a break to stand within one of victory... Matthew's wasting no time at all, he's already on 39 in the next and what could be the last frame of the match... this will be a great boost to the Welshman, who hasn't had the best of season's until now... Read a very amusing interview with Matthew on www.cuefactor.com and be warned not to get in a car and go for a spin with Matthew, although I survived the day he kindly took me round the block in his fabulous bright yellow Ferrari a few years ago... and he's cruised through to round two, the first seed to win so far this year at the Crucible...

... don't forget that we will have Peter Ebdon and Nigel Bond resuming their dramatic match now this table is free...

FRAME SCORES

1. 73(43)-21

2. 80(60)-6

3.  56(41)-15

4. 74(41)-41

5. 73(69)-25

6. 1-73(73)

7. 97(53)-20

8. 71-25

9. 64(55)-67

WINNER

FRAME SCORES10. 63(48)-6

11. 68(34)-7

12. 78(65)-2

QUOTES

MATTHEW STEVENS:

"First round matches are horrible. It doesn’t matter how well or badly you play, you just want to get to 10."

"I played very average, I felt under a lot of pressure but I always do for first round games. You don’t feel
as though you’re in the tournament until the second or third round."
"My form has been pretty good and I’ve been playing very well in practice, that's all I can do."

"I tried to keep it pretty tight to start, keep Joe under pressure."

"Joe was always playing catch-up which is never easy. I think it was possibly the first time Joe has played live on telly so it was extra hard for him."

"It was a great occasion for him. He’s a hell of a nice guy, and I’m just glad he’s experienced it."

"I’ve known him since I was 10 but I’m delighted to have won.

JOE DELANEY

"I got a great buzz from The Crucible, and fair play to all my friends and family for coming over to support
me, it's just a pity I didn’t play any better. I was probably enjoying it a bit too much myself."

"If I’m fortunate enough to qualify again, I’ll probably treat it a bit differently. Even though I lost I still enjoyed it.

"Nothing went right for me at all in the match. It was a disaster really and I didn’t really put him under any
pressure. I was 7-2 down going into tonight and I needed to win the first frame and when I didn’t win it I was gone.

"I had to win the first two to have any chance.

"After that, I couldn’t pot a ball. He missed a few but I couldn’t do anything about it."
"Matthew played well but he could have played better. I’m actually delighted to be here because I should
have gone out in the first qualifying round when I was 6-1 down but somehow managed to win."

"I’ve had a great time, it’s been a great atmosphere but I’ll be hitting the bar early tonight."
"I’m off to Honolulu soon with Caroline my girlfriend for a holiday and I'll just relax for a couple of weeks before the
qualifiers start again in June."