ROBERT READ completed a rare hat trick of Huddersfield Open Snooker Championship titles to put him just one more victory off joining the late, great Tommy Dolan as the most successful Huddersfield player of all time.

However, the Lindley WMC player’s 4-1 victory over Simon Stockwell was probably one of the hardest come-by of his 11 titles.

The match could so easily has swung the other way, certainly in the early stages as the Bradley & Colnebridge player began confidently and looked the better ‘potter’ when he got the opportunity.

The first frame lasted one hour and looked to be heading the way of Stockwell until Read caught him in a tricky snooker, which caused a shift in momentum and it was the reigning champion who edged it 60-45.

Stockwell, who was appearing in his first Open final, did not lose heart, however, and a useful break of 33 helped him level the match 65-18 in the second frame as a mixture of undue caution and mis-judged potting kept Read on the back foot.

The third frame was again another very scrappy affair, which Read again edged (73-57) thanks to another canny snooker from the Lindley man, which had his opponent shipping points with a series of close ‘misses’.

The three frames up to the interval had taken well over two hours, and spectators looked set for a late ‘Crucible-like’ finish.

However, both men came out after the break with a change of game plan, and Read moved into a 3-1 lead after taking an early lead in the frame, and finishing it off with a 28 break.

After a bout of safety in the fifth, Read again struck the first telling blow with a 38 break, and after potting an excellent opening red, he wrapped up his 11th crown by clearing to the pink with a break of 40 for a 93-17 success.

Top Spot’s Chris Dyson (1) won the Snooker Handicap with a 3-1 victory over Sam James (owes 5), from Almondbury Con.

Dyson took the opener 61-39 before James levelled the match 60-38 in the second after taking advantage of some ‘free ball’ situations on the yellow.

However, Dyson then showed more consistency to win the next two frames.

Robert Read and his Lindley WMC side took the Team Championship when they defeated Marsden Lib 3-0.

Andrew Boothroyd gave Lindley a winning start when he beat Chris Thorpe in the opening frame, but it looked as though Marsden would level in the second when Read trailed by more than 30 points – that was until the Open champion cleared the table with a break of 39 to make it 2-0.

And in the final frame, Lux Landa, despite giving away 50 points on handicap, had breaks of 28 and 36 to win the frame and the title.