YORK billiards professional Gary Rogers picked up £500 and three valuable ranking points when he scored a revenge win over BBC television snooker commentator Clive Everton in the first round of the World Matchplay Billiards Championship.

Rogers, who lost to Everton in the first round of the UK championship in Middlesbrough three months ago, won 352-239 this time in the two-hour match at Midsummer Norton, Somerset. The three ranking points he gained have put him into the top 20.

His second round match, however, was against UK champion David Causier and Rogers was well beaten. "I did well to hold him for the first half of the match but then he made a succession of big breaks," said the York player.

The next big tournament for Rogers will be the world championship at the end of this month.

In-form IT

IT Sports, Wigginton, sealed yet another impressive win in the Yorkshire Premier Squash League, defeating a strong Huddersfield side, recent winners of the league.

Ian Tooms and Matt Lowery were not firing on all cylinders, and unusually were defeated 3-0 and 3-1 at numbers four and five.

However professional stars, Matthew Oxley, Duncan Walsh and Paul Hargrave were up to the task.

Oxley at number three, went into the tie boasting a 100 percent record not dropping a single game in all six matches he's played in, and similarly defeated Richard Williams 3-0.

Walsh playing at two did exactly the same beating Huddersfield club champion Matthew Thorpe in a long match lasting 1 hr 15 mins, 3-0. Hargrave showed some of the superb form he's enjoying to make easy work of Atrik Foster at one, 3-0, to seal the match 3-2.

Tonight's football

Nationwide Conference League: Dagenham & Redbridge v Boston United (8pm).

Updated: 12:03 Monday, March 04, 2002