I remember this match particularly well, having been at the
Crucible for the first session of the match and the standard was very high from
both guys. The first frame was not quite up at that same standard as the rest
as both players settled into the match. Anthony needed a few chances but
dominated the frame to take a 1-0 advantage, finishing with a 92. In the second
frame Maguire’s first good chance came as Anthony left him in after a wild
slash at a long pot. Stephen made a nice 62 but had to play safe after losing
black ball position. A nice long pot earned him his second chance and enough
was done to level the match up at 1-1. In the next Anthony McGill was in first
with the best chance and was able to get the job done without the need of the
four safe reds on the bottom cushion. A 53 putting him 2-1 ahead. Frame four
got off to a scrappy start as both players had half chances but could not make
anything substantial. The best chance went to McGill and even though the balls
weren’t easily placed, the 31 he made did enough damage to take a 3-1 lead into
the mid-session interval.
Following the break, frame five started with an elongated
bout of safety play. Eventually the first chance fell to the younger Scotsman
of the two as he looked to strengthen his advantage in the match. He only made
22 before allowing Stephen a chance after a missed pot. Maguire made 34 before
losing position but a poor safety left Anthony a shot at a pot from range which
he made to get back in. He cleared the remaining reds well and negotiated the
colours, clearing with a nice 53 to go 4-1 in front. Stephen Maguire really
needed to respond as the higher seed in this contest. After getting the reds
open Stephen had to play a good green and then a clever plant to keep the break
going, but after that it was plain sailing to the frame winning line and a
break of 73 got him there, pulling it back to 2-4. Anthony was straight back
into his stride though after sitting the sixth frame out, rolling a long red in
with style to finish perfectly on the black. He got to 25 before falling
unfortunate, knocking a red in after potting the black but he didn’t leave
anything for Stephen. With the reds spread, the next opening fell to Maguire,
but a missed pink off of the spot on 15 to leave the opportunity for Anthony.
Six reds and blacks was more than enough for him to seal the frame and
guarantee an end of session lead, going 5-2 in front with two frames left to
play. Ideally Maguire would want both of the final two frames, but one at the
very minimum. An early break of 16 was ended by another bad miss which left
Anthony with a nice scoring opportunity. An missed easy black on 21 handed the
chance straight back over to Maguire though without taking any real advantage.
Stephen did make the most of it, a wonderful 86 pulling a frame back at 3-5,
and making the last frame of the session very important for both players.
The first scoring visit fell to Maguire after a fluke got
him in. He built a nice lead from that fluke as a run of 46 was halted when he
couldn’t get through the reds from a pink to the middle as was forced into a
safety. McGill’s opening to counter came a while after when he produced a nice
range pot. Although, it didn’t last long when a poor attempt a red with the
rest gave Stephen a chance to kill the frame off. He added two reds with blacks
to put himself 37 in front with just 35 on and laying a good snooker on McGill
it would be tough for him to get one of his own. From that snooker though he
caught a fine edge of the red and fluked a snooker back behind the black after
the cue ball went around the table. Stephen missed the red meaning with 33 in
it and 35 on, McGill could now clear to win again. Leaving a free ball was also
disastrous as it meant that McGill could easily get on the red after potting
two colours. The clearance from there was easy with not a ball safe, but after
a poor positional shot from pink to black he had to play safe on the black and
gave Stephen another lifeline. Stephen’s first and last safety on the black
though was butchered, leaving the black near the pocket for McGill to knock in
easily from middle distance and steal a massive frame and take a 6-3 end of session
lead.
The best chance in the first frame of the final session fell
to Stephen Maguire who really needed to make it pay. He manoeuvred the reds
well to take them in a sequence that didn’t require cannons to be played and
soon he had the frame won with a run of 60 making it 4-6. Anthony responded in
the eleventh with a thundering long red to get in. A clever early cannon freed
the red nearest the black freeing that into both corner pockets and making it
into a very good chance. The key shot came on 59 when he went into the reds
from a red and opened enough up to make it a frame winning break. He fell just
short of the century but a 97 did more than enough to reinstate his three
frames lead at 7-4. Anthony had the first decent opening in the next with plenty
of reds open and the pink available. He only added 22 though before covering
the potting angle on the pink and losing position. Stephen soon had his chance
but there were plenty of safe balls. He worked them well until he missed a
simple black on 38, 15 ahead with 43 on. He then laid a good snooker gaining 8
penalty points and another chance as on the third attempt, Anthony stuck a red
up. He potted the red with blue to lead by 29 with 35 remaining and played safe
on the final red with no potting option. A poor safety gifted Anthony the final
red and a chance to clear, with the pink in the top half of the table he had to
leave the black from middle distance, but still knocked it in to take an 8-4
lead.
Maguire really needed the last frame before the interval and
he had the first chance to put it on the board. When he carelessly covered the
pink though the break ended rather prematurely, as he led by just 32. McGill
got in and reduced his deficit by 24 but missed a tricky red along the cushion
and left it for Stephen. He only made 8 from that chance but soon had another
and edged himself 26 ahead with 35 remaining. McGill had a chance to clear but
it was not easy and having to leave a tough blue from range cost him, as he
missed it and left it for a very grateful Maguire to take a key frame and now
trail 5-8 at the mid-session interval.
A wayward hack at a red with the rest from Maguire early on
after the break left McGill a chance as the shot from Stephen also opened all
of the reds. He only made 17 before missing a simple black off of the spot and
handing the golden opportunity over to Stephen. Like a game of hot potato, it
was thrown back to McGill immediately as the seeded player missed an easy
yellow. This time he took the chance with 49 putting him one away from a win in
his first Crucible appearance at 9-5.
In frame fifteen Stephen had a nice chance and built up a 51
point lead pretty comfortably before missing another simple pink. He soon
earned another chance, and on that occasion did enough to stay in the match but
still well adrift at 6-9. When a good chance came Maguire’s way again it wasn’t
easy to begin with in frame sixteen but he was starting to cue more confidently
now with an 81 to reduce his arrears again at 7-9. The first scoring visit came
to Stephen once again in the next as a bad in-off left him an easy red to go
at. He made 48 from it before a cannon on a red didn’t work out and he had to
play safe. After plenty of safety, Stephen was left another opening to kill the
frame off and he did more than plenty for that, putting McGill under plenty of
pressure now just leading 9-8. The question now was, could Stephen force a
deciding frame? He built up a 53 point lead from a couple of contributions in
the eighteenth. Anthony potted a nice long red with a view to reducing his
arrears in the frame, though he was soon halted by missing the green on the
stretch having only knocked 15 off of Maguire’s lead and the miss left Stephen
a chance to make sure of the nineteenth and deciding frame. The additional
points from Maguire made sure of the frame, and a level game at 9-9. One frame
to decide the contest.
Anthony McGill had the first chance in the decider after a
poor safety from Stephen left a thin cut on for his opponent. Having picked off
the loose reds he went into the bunch from the black to take the break to 31
and that opened up the rest of the frame up and made it a great chance to get
over the line. It still took a lot of guts and nerve from Anthony after seeing
his once big lead totally disappear, but he blossomed under the pressure
remaining cool and calm. Making a 122 to finish was different class to give him
his first Crucible win 10-9 against Stephen Maguire who himself put up a
valiant fight.
You can expect another tale of another valiant fight tomorrow when I reveal 7th place on the countdown for Boxing Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment