LIVE BLOG: Robin Hull Vs James Cahill

Robin Hull 4-1 James Cahill - Hull does indeed make enough from that second chance to clinch the match. It may not have been Hull at his high scoring best but he was solid and did not make too many errors all in all, and the ones he did make went unpunished by Cahill. For the youngster the black ball third frame was the was really the killer blow. Despite looking good in the fourth he did not get enough chances to score fluently. Next up for Hull is a tough test against Fergal O'Brien in World Open qualifying, while Cahill will presumably be in the Challenge Tour event here in a week's time.

Hull on the way to a break of 56 in the fifth frame

Hull makes a break of 56 but after a good red and mid distance blue he runs out of position. Cahill then is still alive, and now has a half chance to counter, but chooses to play a testing red left handed and Hull is back in to win. All in all a good day's work for the Finnish number one.

Frame 5 - Cahill again has the first chance of the frame, but following a good pack split from the blue he fails to get the next red to drop in the middle. Hull gets one to wobble into the same pocket and this is a match winning chance.

Frame Cahill - After a poor positional shot on 67 needing just one more ball for the frame, Cahill breaks down and plays an awful shot to leave Hull a chance to tie. The Finn misses his first black though and a relieved Cahill will be more than happy to take his concession and see a frame added to his lead. 3-1 Hull now.

Cahill's golden chance in the fourth frame as he gets one on the board

What a shot from Cahill. Leaving an awkward red he's forced to take one in the pack with the rest, and in getting pots two reds and splits the rest wide open. He should get one on the board now.

Frame 4 - An early frame four miss from Hull has left Cahill the first chance again here and we are now at the point where these need to go in one visit to put any pressure on the Finn.

The difficult black Cahill faced to try and win frame three

Frame Hull - Another mammoth frame this time goes right to the wire. The black for Cahill initially was along the baulk cushion which he missed but left safe. A few shots later Hull had a go at a straight one from distance but rattled it twice and left it near the middle but too thin for Cahill. A few more plays pass before Hull is left the black on a plate over the corner pocket to move within one of the win. 3-0.

Good safety from the Englishman on the yellow gives him a chance at the colour clearance. After potting yellow, green and brown he misses a tricky blue near the the side cushion, made tougher by needing pink ball position. He has another chance now but the safe black could save Hull.

This shot on the final red looked like being a frame winner for Hull. 

After another pot from range on the penultimate red and a good shot on the final red from Hull, he looked set to move 3-0 ahead but misses the yellow. He's 14 ahead so would only need the first three colours but Cahill is causing problems with the safety and has a shot now at the yellow.

Hull wins the safety battle and is now right in amongst them here with a great opportunity. There are a couple of safe reds that could prevent him winning the frame at one visit... But a bad miss on the blue has ended things prematurely. Cahill back in now and still ahead, but he misses the black after his first red. Hull now knocks in a delicate red down the cushion and will look to punish Cahill for that let off.

Cahill will be frustrated only to make 37 from that opening, it really was a better chance than that. A poor positional shot left a tricky pink followed by a red from distance which was where the downfall came. An important safety battle ongoing now for Cahill.

Frame 3 - A missed red from range for Hull leaves Cahill his best chance of the match so far. There are reds open and more importantly the black is available to both corners. He should be looking to build a good break from here and get back in this match.

Frame Hull - That was a superb finish to the frame from Finland's finest. He gets in with a good pot but the resulting yellow to come round the table and develop the final few reds is the best I've seen this week. From there he knuckles down and makes sure that he takes advantage. Doing more than enough to double his lead. 2-0.

The next good chances falls Hull's way after a long red followed by an excellent split of reds from the yellow, leaves the first real frame winning opening.

After a miss red from Hull leaves Cahill a chance with a few more reds opened up, he's able to put 19 together and move ahead in the frame. It should've been more though and a quick pink with the rest has cost him that, but left nothing as the pair engage in more safety play.

Cahill gets a chance, but with a number of reds lying safe.

Hull makes 19 before missing from range, leaving Cahill a half chance but with so many safe reds his failed cannon from the first cannon spells the end of his contribution. At an early stage in the match the rest of this frame could be very cagey.

Frame 2 - This could be a scrappy frame coming up. The black is on the side cushion with a number of reds being pushed in it's direction. 6 so far, making it tough for guys to take early chances though Hull has one now after another aggressive long red, followed by an equally tricky pink with the rest.

Frame Hull - Hull always looked to have the advantage with the safety, eventually forcing Cahill into a risky long red, which he misses and leaves for his opponent. From there Hull is able to do enough with some good positional play to keep Cahill in his seat and shut him out of this opening frame.

The Finnish favourite has not quite got the cue ball under control yet. After running out of position having added another 19 to his score he lays a snooker and gets another chance from that. However, he cannot find easy blue ball position so pots it into the green pocket and leaves his next red as a long cut. That is missed and the pair are now in the middle of a safety battle with Hull 42 points up.

Hull's initial break ends on 17 but he's back in now after an excellent long red and should be able to add plenty to his lead here.

Frame 1 - Hull has been a bit fortunate here early on, catching one of his safety shots fairly poorly but leaving Cahill hampered over the yellow. From there Cahill has left Hull a chance and we will see if he has his best scoring game early on here.

One for my large Finnish following this morning as Robin Hull is in action against James Cahill.

Last season was a quiet one for Hull after he missed some events through illness and had a few first round exits. His best run was to the last 32 in this event a year ago and that was matched in Northern Ireland, where he was unfortunate not to go on further. We all know what Hull is capable of on his day though and if he brings his best he'll be tough to beat.

As for James Cahill he is here as a Q School top up. Cahill reached the penultimate round in each of the three Q School events in May without kicking on. He also returns to the Preston Guildhall just over a year on from the 2017 Q School, where he reached the final round of event two and took a 2-0 lead before losing 4-2 to Paul Davison. As we all know, Cahill has been on tour before and is well capable of getting good results having beaten Ding Junhui in the past to make the last 16 of the UK Championship.

I'm a big fan of both players, so this match jumped out of the draw at me straight away and I'm looking to watching it all unfold.