O'Brien through to Belfast final

Former British Open winner Fergal O’Brien booked his place in this year’s Northern Ireland Trophy with an impressive victory over local favourite Mark Allen.

The Dubliner fought back from 2-1 down to beat Allen 6-3 at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, leaving him just one victory away from pocketing the winner’s prize of £30,000.

“I took the game by the scruff of the neck at 2-2 and had three good breaks,” said an understandably delighted O’Brien.

“I could have won it 6-2 but missed a tricky red on 36, but luckily I got my chance in the next frame.

“I was very nervous at the interval. I felt it was a long day, but after the interval I settled down and felt much better.

“It’s great to have a few lean years and then be back in the mix with the chance of winning a title again.”

O’Brien trailed 2-1, but raised his game and impressed with breaks of 79, 45, 48 51, 84 and 83 to earn himself his first appearance in a ranking event for nearly eight years.

The last time the world number 37 appeared in a ranking event final was when he won the British Open title in 1999 with a 9-7 victory over Anthony Hamilton.

Upbeat despite defeat, Antrim’s Allen took plenty of encouragement from his excellent run on Irish soil, but admitted defeat was difficult to take in front of his home supporters.

“It’s a shame I didn’t give my supporters more to shout about, but Fergal was the better player.

“His safety was better, his long-potting was good and I was just flat out there.

“I struggled to get going. Even at 2-2 I was lucky to have been level, but I can take a lot of heart from reaching my first ranking event semi-final.”

Earlier in the day Glaswegian Maguire fought back from 2-0 and 4-3 down to beat 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy 6-5 in their semi-final clash.