RONNIE O’SULLIVAN came mighty close to recording a 147 as big-time snooker returned to York.

The Rocket was in scintillating form at the Barbican Centre – beating Jimmy White 6-2 in the Snooker Legends exhibition – in a high-class match which spawned two centuries and four other breaks over 80.

But it was the fifth frame that brought the biggest cheers as O’Sullivan went in search of a maximum.

First, the three-time World Champion had kept his break alive on 24 when draining a long red into the top right pocket and, on 48, a tricky red down the cushion then seemed to open the way.

But, on the 14th red, O’Sullivan received a horrible kick and, although he was able to pot the black, he was unable to get position on the final red up the top of the table.

His forced shot wobbled in the jaws of the top left pocket – but stayed out while he was on 112.

O’Sullivan began the match in fabulous fashion. Put back in by White following a foul, the Rocket drilled a long red into the bottom left corner pocket on his way to an 88 break.

But the Whirlwind had come to play as well, and levelled the match with a magnificent 130 clearance in the following frame. It was a superb break of precision and control, the highlight being a powerful black on 35 to break up the pack and leave a frame-winning chance.

Back came O’Sullivan, who only failed to record a century of his own when an awkward pink just failed to drop when he was on 98.

A similarly crafted 87 in the fourth frame, a break started after White had missed a difficult pink down the top cushion, gave O’Sullivan a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.

Robbed by luck of his chance of a maximum in frame five, O’Sullivan still ruthlessly forged ahead in the sixth frame. White got in first, making 26, but after a long red into the bottom left failed to drop, he was once again made to pay.

It was a break which looked in trouble early on but, once a stunning half-ball blue fell, O’Sullivan was even able to bring out a couple of trick shots – doubling the green when in the colours – on his way to another frame-winning 86.

With the quality of the snooker having been of the highest order, it was inevitable there would be a brief lull. Frame seven was, by contrast with the others, scrappy and White was able to make the score 5-2 with a mere 40 break.

The Whirlwind had the chance to reduce the gap even further in the final frame but missed a straightforward black off the spot on 25 and O’Sullivan, as he had throughout the evening, needed no further invitation – his 63 break securing a 6-2 victory.

• Tickets for the UK Championship, which returns to the Barbican Centre from December 3 to 11, go on sale on July 15. For further details, log on to www.worldsnooker.com