Snooker legend Jimmy White beat Rodney Goggins 4-1 to capture the Irish Seniors Masters title on Sunday at Goffs in County Kildare.
The “Whirlwind” lost the opening frame to home competitor Goggins before gradually taking control of the showdown.
After edging 2-1 in front, White scored a well-compiled 96 break in the fourth frame to move to within the brink of victory.
The 56 year-old duly wrapped up the success in the next frame, in doing so claiming the Alex Higgins Trophy.
The Irish Seniors Masters win adds to two previous triumphs in senior events for White, who also emerged with the silverware in the 2017 UK Seniors Championship and of course the 2010 World Seniors Championship.
White originally outplayed Willie Thorne in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 scoreline before narrowly getting passed Patrick Wallace in the last four.
The latter appeared set to conjure an upset when he established a 2-1 lead but a terrific 101 century break from White forced the deciding frame re-spot, a ball which he potted to secure his final berth.
The performance of Goggins, though, will be well remembered as one of the most successful players on the Irish domestic circuit proved his worth on centre stage.
The qualifier overcame 1997 world champion Ken Doherty in the last eight before a 3-0 semi-final beating of Joe Johnson.
The return to Goffs, one of snooker’s most iconic venues from the 1980s and 1990s, was well worth it again with great crowd numbers in attendance for the second Irish Seniors Masters.
Its coverage on FreeSports TV and across Facebook helped to further develop the ever-growing World Seniors Tour.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The alex Higgins trophy means so much x pic.twitter.com/CzKVHpPZcV
— Jimmy White MBE (@jimmywhite147) January 7, 2019
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