Judge consigns England to first defeat

Michael Judge was the Republic of Ireland hero as defending champions England suffered their first defeat in the Coalite Nations Cup at Reading.

Dubliner Judge produced a clearance hailed as "brilliant" by respective captains Ken Doherty and John Parrott to give the Irish trio a gripping 4-3 win that throws Group A wide open.

Judge, beaten by Northern Ireland's Gerard Greene in a last-frame decider 24 hours earlier, looked certain to suffer more late agony when he trailed Stephen Lee 56-0, but the 25-year-old produced a remarkable clearance of 68 to give the Irish trio their opening success of the competition.

There was even a final twist on the last black as Judge, who had not previously won a frame in the tournament, fluked the ball into a bottom pocket after aiming for the opposite baulk pocket.

"I felt I deserved it for the rest of the break," said Judge, who had earlier lost to England substitute Anthony Hamilton.

"To be honest I twitched on the pink and when I got down on the black I was seeing three blacks. But that's what nerves do to you.

"When I went 56-0 down I just wanted to get out of the place because I'd been struggling. But when Stephen missed the double I just thought 'let's go for it'."

Delighted captain Doherty said: "The most important thing is we're now in with a fighting chance of qualifying for the semi-finals."

Victory over China in their last group match should book the Republic a place in the last four. Doherty remained unbeaten in his three outings, including a doubles triumph with Fergal O'Brien.

England, who will again be missing captain Ronnie O'Sullivan due to injury, must beat Northern Ireland to maintain their grip on the trophy.

"Until that last black it was one of the best clearances I've seen," agreed stand-in captain Parrott.

"To be honest I had expected Michael to twitch even sooner. This defeat puts us under more pressure when we could have been in cruise control had we won.

"We've just got to soldier on without Ronnie and see what happens."