Firth and Stirk are worthy pairs winners

Stirk was in particularly good form in the first frame, which Firth and Stirk won 72-39, but Yorkshire champion Green and Yorkshire under-19 winner Wilks fought hard to level matters 54-41 in frame two.

That was as good as it got for the young partnership, however, with Firth using all his experience to keep things tight and Stirk taking the lead role with a break of 34 as they took the third frame 74-21.

The final frame was one-way traffic, with Firth taking the initiative this time and Stirk polishing things off in a 60-14 victory to seal the match.

Firth has won this trophy four times previously and Stirk twice, but this is the first time they have won the competition together.

In the lead up to the pairs final, Stirk had a tough Bradford Snooker Championship semi-final at Eccleshill Victoria Conservative Club against 2009 champion Ilyas Khan (New Cuedos Snooker Club).

With a place in the final against Green up for grabs, it was understandable that every frame was keenly contested, with both players showing each other respect and opting to keep things tight.

Neither player managed to produce their best attacking game, but the safety from both was exceptional and contributed to a keenly-contested match.

The players shared the opening two frames before Stirk raced to a 3-1 lead. Khan then won a comfortable fifth frame and looked likely to level the match at 3-3, but Stirk dug deep and picked off the colours to secure a satisfactory 4-2 victory and a place in the final on Saturday, June 26.

Tomorrow night is Bradford’s prestigious billiards team final, with 2007 champions Chapel Green Liberal club taking on 2006 winners Great Horton Conservative Club in the Moorhouse Shield at Queensbury Conservative Club (7.45).

Spectators are welcome and the match is expected to be a close affair.