Barry Hawkins v Joe Perry: Frame-by-frame - at it happened

Well what about that; what a night! Only snooker gives you this kind of drama, and what drama. I'm shaking here, that was magnificent. And the best part is that we'll be back for more tomorrow! If Perry plays like that tomorrow he'll get a kicking, but he went after it in the final frame, and got what he deserved. That brown in particular was a brilliant shot, taxing at the best of times, but with almost a career on the line, dearie me. So, thanks for your company and I'll see you tomorrow!

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Perry misses the pink, Hawkins returns, BUT PERRY SENDS IT HOME! FOUR FRAMES IN A ROW, AND HE WILL PLAY RONNIE O'SULLIVAN! HE'S MADE HIS FIRST MAJOR FINAL IN 26 YEARS OF TRYING! (And poor Barry Hawkins).

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But two balls later he's too straight on the green, which means he won't be perfect on the brown - about halfway along the top cushion. Does he play the pot? HE PLAYS THE POT AND IN IT GOES! OH YES! HE BLOWS A KISS TO HIS DAD!

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AND IT'S THERE! RIGHT INTO THE HEART OF THE POCKET!

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Joe is showing no signs of missing, none whatsoever. The balls are so friendly that he barely looks to be feeling the pinch, but then he overscrews a red, so big shot on the blue; can he cut the last red into the yellow pocket....

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Joe takes nearly two minutes over his safety only to get the double-kiss anyway - how bad would things have been without that thinking time? The pot he leaves isn't easy though, the whte needing to go between blue and pink with plenty of travelling for the red too. He misses! And Perry takes a red then a black! The balls are all over the show, and he really should deal; Barry must be feeling a self-loathing the rest of us can only dream of.

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Baz is too high on a red so needs a good shot to get the angle on the black to go into the pack ... he doesn't get into the cue-ball and he's on nowt. He tries a tentative double, leaving the white on the bottom cushion, in line with the black - ish. 50 ahead, 91 on the table!

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Or is it! What a red from Hawkins, sunk slowly, the white held for the black, and he couldn't ask for any more than he's now got.

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By the looks of things, this match is going to get the scrappy thriller of a final frame that it's thoroughly earned over these last four hours or so.

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"Gentlemen stop shouting out, he's at the table, let him concentrate," chides Jan Verhaas, with predictable applause following. But Barry has other problems, namely a very difficult red, with the rest - he plays it with a spot of side to bring the white back, and he needs it because he misses by plenty.

Nerves! Perry misses it by aeons, but he's left nothing easy at worst, nothing at best. Barry has a look at a thin cut to the middle ... and it drops! Just! After wobbling, wondering and prevaricating! The stones to pull that off! A yellow comes next, and as I'm sure Virgo is about to say, all you can ask for is a chance. This is a chance.

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Off breaks Joe, and what has he left? Gosh, he's almost contrived a good one, white tight on the cushion - but a stray red is open to the bottom-left, and Barry's going to take it on ... he misses, and leaves one in the middle of the table!

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Well who saw that coming? Apart from me, obviously. A bit of over-confidence from Barry, a snooker from Joe, and here we are!

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Perry gets a break of eight himself, but is the wrong side of the pink - which is on the blue spot - to go into the pack. So he finds another option, grabs the green, then a red and a green, then a red to free the black! He is in! Naturally, a bad contact then intervenes, but it's not the worst - he keeps going, and can't decide whether to open the pack off the pink. He does, and makes light of leaving the white close to the cushion, but usually after so long chasing position, something eventually goes wrong. Except Joe is getting it did! Until, with pink and red required, he finds himself the wrong side ... can he plant frame ball? AND IT'S THERE! WE WILL HAVE A DECIDER!

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Mistake from Perry, catching a safety too hard, catching the blue on the way back, and Hawkins plays a lovely shot in response, potting a red and knocking another away form the pink, which disappears into the middle. But then, after a further red, he misses a straightforward enough further pink into the green pocked! What larks, dear old Pip, dear old chap!

And whaddaya know! Hawkins leaves a tempter off the break and Perry sinks it unerringly, then shoves the white in behind the brown! Barry escapes, and eyes down for another bout of yer safety.

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What a game this has become!

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Welly welly welly! Hawkins nips off, and who knows what's going to happen now? Never take this game for granted, as they say!

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Barry gets his snooker, tight on the top cushion behind the green, but pots the red by mistake in the process, and no miss is possible at this stage of the frame. So when Perry misses, it doesn't make too much difference - at least not on its own. Then, though, he hides the white behind the yellow and brown, the one-cushion escape misses, hits the pink, and only one more required. So Hawkins pots the red and the pink, because the position of that yellow and brown is conducive to a snooker. He's short on it though, doesn't get it, and Perry sinks the yellow.

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Red and a pink for Barry, but he can't afford another, so rams his next ball down the rail to get onto the black. He fails in both aspects.

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Half-arsed attempt at the pot from Perry; why did he not commit to it? But then a loose safety from Hawkins leaves another red on, and it's cracked hame, but he can't get position off the brown, so it's end of break; Hawkins now needs a snooker. There are three reds left, one up in baulk and two close to the side cushion; Joe quickly puts them closer to each other, also kissing the black onto the bottom cushion. It'll soon be 4-5.

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Pressure, pressure! Hawkins misses a red with the rest! Perry is 49 ahead with 59 remaining.

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Perry isn't quite flowing, but he is cueing nicely now, taking the difficult pots occasionally left by an errant cue-ball. But then a careless pot on the blue, with only one more red and colour required, sees him kiss a red on the cushion! So he tries to roll it along the rail with the rest, and .... and ... misses, just. It stays over the pocket, and if Barry pots everything, he wins frame and match. It's doable, but will not be easy.

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Mistake from Barry lets Joe in, and he opens with a red and a black, then misses a difficult one - it's a tight cut, which he played harder than seemed necessary. Nothing's left though, so a safety from Hawkins follows - not an especially good one - and what a pot from Perry! Paying diagonally across the table, he clips in a loitering red, and with the balls nicely spread, this is as good a chance as he could possibly hope for to make it 4-5.

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Oh yes! Perry clears up with 41, and there we go! We've got ourselves a ball game!

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A good safety from Joe forces Barry to play a long red, which he misses comfortably. Perry then sinks it, and he's well-placed to pot the black and send the red up into baulk thereafter, with the white behind the pink. He gets half of it - the red finishes near the blue, so requires just the one-cushion escape, and Hawkins misses it. So down goes the brown, a free ball, and PERRY IS STILL ALIVE!

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I say that, but Barry then runs out of position! He pots the green, then instead of holding for the nearest red, tries to be too clever and comes all the way down the table, kisses the other red, and that brings Perry back to the table with one snooker required!

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Hawkins is looking very confident as he strides around the table, mainly bothering the blue; he's so organised in how he eliminates things. A dainty shot allows him to pot a red into the middle, freeing the path for the one alongside it, another red and blue, another red then a green, and BARRY HAWKINS WILL PLAY RONNIE O'SULLIVAN IN A REPEAT OF LAST YEAR'S FINAL (he lost 10-1).

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Uh-oh. Hawkins leaves Perry a further chance, a long red, and he fouls it up, I'm afraid. Barry dives in, and that is rapidly morphing into that.

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As I predicted, Hawkins slows his cue down through a red, concerned about position on the black, and leaves it for Perry, who obliges. And what a pot he finds on the second oncer, from the midpoint of the cushion into the corner. But then he cues down on a pink, it jumps, misses, and dearie me.

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Dear oh dear. A double-kiss on the break, and Hawkins is right there again, punishing home a long red; he's done that brilliantly all week, and I'd not be at all surprised if he turned this into the first and last ton of the match.

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Hawkins summarily dismisses green, brown, blue and pink. Perry is done for; no way he's playing well enough to win four on the spin nor four on the bounce.

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A good shot from Perry elicits a foul but Hawkins strikes right back, fluking a snooker of his own through his escape. And Perry, though he hits the red well, kisses the pink, and that's going to be that. Down goes that red, then the blue, the yellow, and Joe closes his eyes.

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Perry is snookered, the white one side of the D, just above the line, the red the other side, below it and by the cushion, green, yellow and brown in between. He misses twice, before the safety recommences.

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Both yesterday and today, Hawkins has potted what he's needed when he's needed it, and a lovely red keeps his run going. Down go the easy balls, and then, nine points behind, time to address the two balls stuck to the side and bottom cushion. He deals with the latter first, getting in behind it off the black to drop it in ... only to leave it in the jaws! So, the red on the side cushion will decide this frame! Can Perry disturb it via the black! The angle is perfect, but he can't move it anywhere useful, and as such, the chase begins.

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This is really good from Perry - he'll know that if he misses, he might just be toast. But then as position becomes tricky, he forces a red to ensure position, misses, and Hawkins is in right away. He sets about meting out the treatment.

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Stephen Hendry will be pleased to know that he agrees with me; he too recommends that Perry start going for things, and gently reprimands his cautiousness. Back at the table, Hawkins catches the pack too thick and pots the black, leaving a starter into the middle for good measure - which he duly misses. But then Hawkins does likewise and this time Perry pots to the corner with the rest. He needs to do something proper here.

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And there it is. I can't see a way back for Perry now; he just isn't playing well enough. It's time to take some chances and hope.

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You could cut the atmosphere with an atmosphere cutter as Perry misses a difficult pot and Hawkins responds with a considered safety, blocking access to the red with yellow and green. Perry comes off a cushion to hit it and leaves the cue and object ball close together, but not close enough, and is disappears into the middle. Yellow, green, brown and blue required, and there's no impediment to any of the above,

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Whoever downs this last red will most likely win the frame, and as they exchange safety, Perry traps Hawkins behind the brown, with yellow and blue also in the road to various extents. Good escape, though, and off we go again. This could be the match right here: if Bazza takes the frame, you'd have to squint hard to see a way back for Joe.

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Perry's playing this nicely, but just as it gets difficult, he knucks a black harder than necessary, thinking shots in advance - he'd still have been on a red if he'd rolled it - and Hawkins doesn't need to be asked twice. But then he misses a red - with the exception of O'Sullivan-Fu this afternoon, the standard in the quarters has been lower than that in the first round. So Perry rolls down a red and blue, only to miss a straight one, and Hawkins opens with a wonderful cut of a ball an inch away from the bottom cushion. Then, off the black, he tries to disturb the last remaining red, tight on the side, so instead goes off the green tight behind the brown on one side and tight on the cushion on the other. Perry is in all sorts, and tries to use the green pocket knuckle to get down; foul and a miss, on the pink. But what a shot he plays next! Off the side, off the other side, and down to tickle the red; the crowd go wild and rightly so. "That's enough," says Jan Verhaas. "Such a spoilsport," says Doherty. Mirth ensues.

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32 minutes Perry's waited to pot something, and when he sinks a long one, he receives the rare reward of a Virgo "Right in the heart of the pocket!" There's plenty of work to do here, but there are also plenty of points to be had.

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Another chance off the break, this time for Perry. He's on the top cushion, but the red isn't that difficult, just needs clipping, only he over-cuts it and leaves Hawkins an easy one that he's never passing up. But just as he's settling in for b&b, a kick ruins his position on the pink; will he take a tricky green? Nope.

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Shonuff, Hawkins, after passing up one chance and missing another, has his hand on the, er, proverbial table, and he secures the frame in short order. He's looking strong now.

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Perry misses a red, and a safety exchange ensues - that's got to favour yerman Hawkins, given how they've played today.

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Hawkins finds himself with a tricky red along the bottom rail, so he concentrates on the pot and has to play up the table off the black, rolling in a tasty one to the middle, then working his way down again. He rams the pack off the blue, loads of pace, nicely done, but ill luck means another tricky one, clipped home from on the cushion very confidently. But that's end of break - he might have a shy at the green, but if it misses, Perry will be in, so he plays safe.

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Joe Perry's dad is called Peter Perry and Barry Hawkins' lad is called Harrison Hawkins; these are things I learnt during the mid-session. But we're back now, and Hawkins makes the first error, leaving a pot to the left corner for Perry to miss. So Hawkins takes a straight red into the middle, and with the black more or less free, this a fair opportunity to hit the front.

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Baz misses the third red from the end, but he's miles ahead and that's the mid-session. "They're both in prime position," says Steve. I'm not sure if that's possible, which is exactly why it's a nice turn of phrase.

Oh this is lovely from Baz, screwing into the pack off a red into the bottom-right, and that's going to be the frame. Perry potted beautifully to win the last, but his safety has been dustbins and drains so far tonight. "Not concentrating hard enough," says Jim Davidson's sidekick.

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Again, Hawkins doesn't take the earliest opportunity to go into the pack, and because of his caution he runs out of obvious reds. With a good shot required on the yellow and with the rest, he misses the pot, but as you might expect, leaves nothing. Perry then plays a lousy safety, again leaving the red in the D, and Barry cracks a central red into the bottom-right - he played so many like that yesterday.

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The breaking in this match has not been at all good - with the obvious "they're so very, very good these days" caveat. But Hawkins leaves a long red which Perry misses, hard enough to bring it back down the table, just past the white. It's all Basher needs, and he starts accumulating, playing a lovely shot on his first black to facilitate the red nearest by. It now goes to either corner.

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Solid-ass pots on yellow and green take this frame away from Hawkins, then a blue rocketed home. Very nice frame from Perry there, especially once it got tense.

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Excellent work from Perry, using the green to block the path to the yellow - Hawkins hits it, but leaves the double, which Perry misses.

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Eventually Hawkins hits, but leaves a pot, which Perry takes, and he handles the key shot beautifully, a red not quite on the bottom cushion, smacked in. Just as the commentators are saying he can't stay on the black, he stays on the black, screws back for the final red, close to the side cushion, and cuts it home with confidence. Then he rolls in the black - just about - and goes all the way up the table for the yellow, just to hit it. One snooker required.

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Except he misses the next red, scattering the pack in the process, but after Perry takes one with the rest, he's not on the black as intended, so plays a decent snooker instead, white blocked at various angles by pink, yellow and brown. Two foul and misses ensue, then another, and the snooker's now even tougher. so Perry lets him take it from there, then another, tight in behind the yellow!

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Perry plays a good containing safety down to the bottom end of the table, and when he's put back at the top, cracks a fantastic red into the bottom-right. But he also cracks the black in the run-through, and down it goes into the opposite corner! Rats! But it only costs him the foul, because the balls are kind, and he's quickly back in with a red; there's nothing easy on, so he rushes a tricky pink into the middle, misses, and Hawkins immediately sinks a starter of his own. Then a blue, a red and a green, screwed back down, and this is now a great chance.

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Perry has a chance to get Hawkins in behind the yellow but catches the pack too thickly and bumps the brown on his way back into baulk. This allows the aforementioned hand on the table, and a punishment of sorts ensues: a far better safety shot than the one that he played.

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As I was saying, Hawkins was just about to make a mistake, which he duly does. Looking to kiss the cluster, he plays a pot harder than normal, misses it, and a safety exchange ensues. Well, Perry misses a pot in the middle of it, not all that impressively neither, then redeems himself with a far better shot when put in trouble.

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Another dodgy break from Perry - I mean, it's not terrible but the white bounces off the top cushion enough for Hawkins to thunder home a great red, and he's into his stride now - you could tell from how he worked the chance in the last frame into a winning clearance.

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Hawkins misses a blue, but it doesn't matter. Perry stays in his chair, and their all-square.

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Hawkins is so methodical around the table, and actually takes a break to calculate what he needs to leave Perry needing snookers - there are six balls on or around the cushion. So he takes the one that's in the open, then a black, and needs one of the difficult ones too; he gives himself the best possible chance with a lovely screw-back, and down goes the red too, along the rail. A black accompanies it, and this is now plenty more than enough.

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But then a perfect positional shot off the brown allows him to move a red away from the black, bringing it into play, and this is now a chance.

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Perry is short with the cue ball - "if you leave your opponent with his hand on the table you're in trouble," says Virgo - and down goes the opener. But the pink and black are out of commission, so in the first instance, Hawkins will just do what he does: eliminate all the easy balls.

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Perry has first hack after Hawkins leaves a red, but he misses. So a safety exchange ensues, with the balls pushed towards the right of the table.

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That was scrappy as, but it's Perry who eventually sees things away, taking all the balls down to the pink.

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Perry forces Hawkins to play off a cushion, but a miscalculation leads to him going off two not one, which leaves the pot on ... down it goes, the green too, and Perry is now in pole position.

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Did I say is? I meant was. An error allows Perry back to the table and he doesn't pass up the opportunity, getting rid of the easy balls to set up a double on the last red - it's on the side cushion - off the brown. But it hits the jaw, so with two points the difference, Hawkins is in and a safety exchange begins. With the colours on their spots, you'd expect its winner to win the frame.

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Down go all the loose reds, then into the pack and it works out well. Hawkins is now a strong favourite to go in front.

"It's always good to get off to a good start" insights Jayvee, but then Perry doesn't, jawing - or is it jawsing? I know which I prefer - a red. So Hawkins calls for the spider, almost disturbs the cluster setting it up - there is of course universal mirth - then rolls home the opener, followed by a black. Next comes a very useful pot on a red with the rest, then a black, a lovely red into the side, and he's away.

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Oh dear. Another bad miss from Hawkins, this time into the side, and this is a decent chance for Perry, who quickly gets the black back on its spot then worries home another red and black combo.

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Well, you don't see that very often; Perry's white catches the jaws of the bottom-right, flies across the table, and sets Hawkins for a relatively easy starter. He misses. "Let's have a re-rack" says Ken, to sniggers from the knowledgeable Ally Pally crowd.

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Boys and baize are in place, so here's Perry to break.

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So, here's Rob Walker. Incidentally, by the way, Perrence and Barrance are best mates, so all being well we'll get plenty of hashtagbantz.

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Terry Griffiths, Hawkins' coach, says that he doesn't pot the balls too hard, which helps him. I'm sure that's true, though it might also be a weakness. And he also says not to be hoodwinked by Hawkins' pleasant demeanour - he's seriously competitive.

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Hawkins didn't actually play well in beating Mark Selby last afternoon - Selby was simply hideous - but he competed well and potted key balls. Perry, though was superb in monstering Ding Junhui, and odds of 11/8 look generous to me.

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Put your hand up if you think you deserve more snooker. Well, good, because you've got some. This evening, Barry Hawkins and Joe Perry, two of the quieter types in the competition but two of its most impressive performers so far, meet to decide who meets Ronnie O'Sullivan in tomorrow's final. We're in for a treat then, and we're in for a treat now.