Martyn ends his 10-year drought

Both players made mistakes in the early stages of the opener before Britton’s superbly controlled 93 put him 1-0 ahead. A misjudged final pink halted the prospect of that first-frame century.

Back came Desperques, sinking the brown, blue, pink and black to clinch the second frame 65-53, before going on to clean up the colours in two visits in the next to take the lead for the first time.

Britton threatened to hit back in the fourth frame when he opened up a 37-0 lead, but a well-constructed 51 from the Sarnian saw him go 3-1 in front at the interval.

The fifth frame was always going to be important – in a race to five there is a huge difference between 3-2 and 4-1 – and it was to be the latter, as a 66-1 scoreline moved Desperques to within touching distance of his fifth Channel Islands title.

Britton had no room left for manoeuvre and sank two brilliant long reds in a total clearance of 138 that was full of character in the context of the match.

All night, though, it was the visitor who was winning the messy frames and that rang true right until the end. Desperques cut in an excellent yellow but watched as the cue ball disappeared into the pocket at the other end. Britton missed the brown before his opponent failed to sink the blue off the spot. It was nervy as the finish line came into sight. The Jersey champion’s final hope was snookers on the pink, but it was not to be and the trophy heads back across the water.

‘To be island champion was good enough but to be CI champion is the icing on the cake really,’ said Desperques after lifting the trophy he last won nearly a decade ago.

‘Gary’s a quality player, I made one mistake for that 138 – just a bad break off shot – and that was it, I was sitting down for the rest of the frame. I won a few scrappy frames and that’s what you’ve got to do, just dig it out. I didn’t play that well tonight but it’s not about how well you play, it’s about the result.’