Mark Allen beats Ben Mertens to advance to second round of Northern Ireland Open

Youthful exuberance was no match for experience as Mark Allen completed a whitewash 4-0 win over Ben Mertens in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open.

Allen, the defending champion, was not at his best, but with an error-strewn Mertens presenting him opportunities to close out frames, he didn’t need to be.

The Northern Irishman, playing in front of his home crowd at the Waterfront Hall, edged a nervy first frame, but could so easily have lost it, had the young Belgian potted a black to follow Allen missing a pink into the left middle.

Allen capitalised, and his growing confidence was evident as the second frame began.

Mertens started well with a strong early red, but missed another red to the right corner, allowing Allen, the No. 1 seed, to close the gap to 12 points.

The Belgian played a loose safety, giving Allen the chance to pot a long red, clearing to the pink with 37 to double his advantage.

Allen’s nerves seemed to creep back into his game as the encounter entered its third frame, with the Northern Irishman committing a string of fouls.

The pressure seemed to be getting to both players, as they played cautious shots, cancelling each other out, until Allen saw his opportunity to pounce on another loose Mertens safety; a run of 54 bringing him a frame from victory.

Mertens kept squandering his chances, missing a red to the right corner, giving Allen a chance to swoop in for the victory.

He inexplicably missed a routine pink off its spot, and Mertens was given a new lease of life as both players did battle over the yellow.

To finish things off, Allen missed the green at the first time of asking, but made no mistake second time round to haul himself into the second round.

Speaking to Eurosport after his victory, Allen said: “[My performance was] average. I’ve done what I needed to do.

“It wasn’t about playing well tonight, it was about getting through a potential banana skin, because Ben’s a classy opponent.

“I’ve got better [at dealing with the pressure] over the years. I still feel really nervous when I go out there, I want to get that first win under my belt and get into the tournament.”

Allen suggested his pre-match routine was out of sync, which may have contributed to his performance.

He said: “Even the prep was a little bit different today because I was watching Robbie (McGuigan) play beforehand; I wouldn’t normally do that. I’d be in the hotel getting mentally ready. With the different prep, maybe I wasn’t quite ready for it when [the moment] came.”