Snooker LIVE: Judd Trump and Mark Allen vie for place in NI Open final | Other | Sport

Mark Allen showed his class with a message for Jordan Brown saying he belongs at the very top level after defeating his fellow Northern Irishman.

“I was relieved to get over the line, it was not a lot of fun playing Jordan,” said Allen after his 5-2 triumph. “It may have been a great occasion for the neutral as we had a lot of support, but it was a strange atmosphere because they want us both to do well. I don’t get much enjoyment out of beating Jordan because I always support him otherwise.

“He played a lot of good stuff, made two good centuries, he just missed one or two balls at key moments. If it had gone 4-3 he would have been confident. This is where he belongs. I have practised with him for 25 years and I know what he is capable of. But when you lose confidence in this game then things can get on top of you. I said to him at the end that he has had three good wins this week and he needs to take the positives forward because he is a class act.”

Allen would go on to say he isn’t scared of facing Trump this evening and wants to win the tournament.

He said: “I am here to win the tournament and it would be great to do that in front of my home fans again. But I have two very tough matches ahead of me. I always look forward to games against Judd, I have a decent record against him (Allen has won their last three meetings).

“He brings the best out of me because he is in the top five or six players of all time so I am always focussed, I know I won’t get a second chance. I grew up with him through the junior ranks so I am not scared of what he can do because I back my own ability. If I play my best stuff, that will be good enough a lot of the time.”