THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC

AS excuses for arriving into school over an hour late on a Monday morning go, this one surely remains unique.

- BY NICK MURPHY

'Sir, I was up half the night watching the snooker final' would normally have landed you in detention for your cheek - but this was April 29, 1985 and was no normal school day.

This was the morning after the night before when that English lad with the ginger hair had been pummelled into submission by the wee Coalisland man with the upside down glasses.

The match was on everyone's lips, 19 million people in the UK had been gripped by the drama of the 'Black Ball Final', an occasion that has since gone down in British and Irish sporting folklore.

With the game tied at 17 frames apiece in a race to 18, just one ball remained on the table.

Just one ball separating Steve Davis from his fourth world title and one ball lying between Dennis Taylor and his first. The ultimate winner-takes-all.

Taylor chuckled as he recalled the tension of that famous frame: "Some of the safety was brilliant. The pressure on us was huge - we were missing pots you wouldn't normally miss. It all added to the drama."

The Tyrone cueman was determined to go out on his shield come what may. He had taken on - and potted - a huge long brown to trail by just 14 points with 18 still on the table.

The blue and pink followed but Davis had the insurance policy of a relatively safe black which was nestled by the far cushion.

The tension in the air was thick but the hugely popular Taylor, a former altar boy, cut a slice from it with a humorous little prayer at the feet of the famous trophy.

Audible gasps followed when he threw caution to the wind with an attempted double which agonisingly clipped the knuckle of the middle pocket.

Fortune favoured the brave though as the black landed safely at the baulk end. The now cagey Davis returned to play a safety shot, leaving the black at the north of the table.