I missed the boat says Ken

KEN DOHERTY admitted he “missed the boat” for a famous victory over defending champion

Ronnie O’sullivan at the UK Championship.

The Irish 1997 world champion rolled back the years to have the Rocket well and truly on the ropes at 4-1, before going down 6-5 in a battle of former Crucible kings.

“I missed the boat,” stressed the three-time UK runner-up. “Other than a few pots and a bit of luck when I split the reds in the decider then I could have come away with a famous victory.

“I am disappointed there’s no doubt about that but I suppose you’ve got to take the positives.

“I missed a red at 4-1 and at 5-1 I would definitely have won the match.

“I played really well and hopefully I can play like that for the rest of the season. I was really enjoying it. I just didn’t want to let Ronnie get off to a good start because he can steamroll you if that happens.”

Doherty pocketed breaks of 66, 53, 76, 77 and 71 to lead 4-1 but O’sullivan sunk 75, 76, 65 and 58 runs to keep his title defence alive.

Meanwhile, Belfastman Joe Swail suffered a gut-wrenching 6-5 defeat on the black to Jak Jones after the Welshman required two snookers in the decider to win 59-57.

And Masters champion Mark Allen reached the third round by beating potting plodder Rory Mcleod 6-2.

Antrim man Allen, inspired by a shirt change in the mid-session interval, hit breaks of 60 and 92 after the restart to reach the last 32.

SO CLOSE Joe Swail is out after 6-5 loss to Jak Jones

RELIEF O’sullivan (right) after his win over Doherty