Crucible latest: Murphy limps over line at Crucible, Davis rolls back years

Shaun Murphy reached the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship after surviving a spirited fightback by Gerard Greene.

Murphy led overnight 8-1 in their best-of-19 match with a second-round meeting with Ding Junhui the prize for the winner.

The 2005 World Champion started slowly at the Crucible Theatre, Greene gratefully accepting the opening frame of the afternoon.

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The former Rotherham potter was in trouble once more in the next frame, but escaped from a snooker with a fantastic pot on the red after coming off the cushion. Both players had chances to win, but Greene's poor attempt to snooker his opponent on the blue allowed Murphy in and he moved to within one frame of victory.

It was last chance saloon now for Northern Ireland's Greene, and his highest break of 67 - only his fourth half century of the match - followed by a 65 helped take the score to 9-4.

After the mid-session break, Murphy got some points on the board, before leaving Greene snookered on the final red. It forced the white ball three times the length of the table before kissing the red.

Murphy managed to cut the red into the corner, but then pocketed the white as Greene continued to walk the line. But when the Irishman missed an easy brown as he looked for position on the tough blue, it left Greene needing a snooker to stay in the tournament.

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He found that, when he tucked 27-year-old Murphy up behind the black and forced a succession of four snookers to turn the tables and clinch the 14th frame to amazingly reduce the arrears to 9-5.

Greene's break of 55 left last year's UK champion needing a snooker himself, which he failed to find, and a 92 break made it 9-7.

Greene, who is making his fifth trip to the Crucible but has never been beyond the first round stage, had enjoyed a run of frames without pressure. Coupled, with some poor play from Murphy, it had been a dramatic fightback.

But eventually Murphy found some time at the table, and a break of 87 finally saw the former Crucible champion limp over the line.

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On the other table, Mark Davis trailed Mark Allen 5-3 - including a tournamant high break of 146 from Allen - in the first second round match of the tournament.

In the evening matches, six-time world champion Steve Davis rolled back the years with a vintage display to take an early 6-2 second-round lead against current Crucible champion John Higgins.

Stephen Maguire beat Stephen Lee 10-4 in their first round match.

Read Richard Hercock's Crucible reports, every day in the Yorkshire Post.

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