BRADFORD potter Kevin Firth captained the England B Masters side to a respectable third place in the Home Internationals at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.

Firth's side finished one point behind second-placed England A and only two shy of eventual winners Wales A.

The side also included Lewis Walsh, with the Bradford duo picked for their country following a fine season on the Masters Tour.

Firth, the more experienced international, was chosen as captain having played for England several times in the past.

England B started with 6-6 draws against both Wales B and Wales A, after which an impressive 7-5 victory against a highly-fancied Republic of Ireland side gave the side confidence heading into their showdown with England A.

Unfortunately for Firth, Walsh and team-mates Stephen Broadhead and Lee Martin, England A were in great form and the B team found themselves on the wrong end of a 10-2 defeat.

Yet this did not deter the team and they bounced back with a solid 8-4 victory over Scotland A and a 9-3 success over Scotland B to round off a superb weekend.

Firth and Walsh both won 11 of their 18 frames, with Firth finishing fifth on the order of merit and Walsh eighth as only points for and against separated the two players.

Leeds also hosts this year's Northern Snooker Billiards Open, which gets under way on Saturday (10.15am). Some of the world's top billiards players will descend on the city for the competition, which concludes on Sunday.

World No 2 and three-times world champion Peter Gilchrist will be in action as well as World No 3 Rob Hall as part of the 51-strong field.

Bradford pair Mark Hirst and Stephen Kershaw represent the district. Hirst is in a group with Adam Clarke, Craig Fitzpatrick, Paul McGowan and Liam Arnold, while Kershaw pairs up with Nalin Patel, Robert McCrum, David Atkinson and Frank Bradley. Spectators are welcome and entry is free of charge.