VICTORIOUS Mark Lloyd enjoyed an easier route inside and outside Bournemouth’s Greenbaize Snooker Club this year.

Having beaten hometown player Brad Chappell 3-0 in a repeat of last year’s final, 15-year-old Lloyd took more care when leaving the third leg of the Cuestars South of England Under-21 Gold Tour with another trophy.

Following his 3-2 success over Chappell 12 months ago, Gosport-based Lloyd took a tumble in the car park and damaged the prestigious silverware.

But despite pocketing the £50 prize money and regaining the blemished trophy, Lloyd admitted he had been much closer to a slip up on the table during a patchy final showdown this time round.

“We both didn’t play too well,” said Lloyd. “It was not the best of finals and we have had better matches.”

The sharp-shooting pair shared the rankings title last season but despite this setback, Chappell currently leads by three points from Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC) and Lloyd in joint-second.

Playing on the national stage has sharpened Lloyd’s game. He is already up to 24th in his debut season on the EASB Premier Junior Tour, which is restricted to the best 49 under-21s in the country.

He has also qualified for the last-16 of the English Under-16 Championship.

That class told in Bournemouth as Lloyd dropped only one frame out of 14 to Sam Storey (Thatcham SC) in the last-eight. In the semi-finals, he accounted for Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC), who has also booked a place in the next stage of the national under-16 championship.

Chappell had beaten leg-two winner Rice in the second semi-final en route to the event’s showpiece.

The fourth leg of eight is at Woking Snooker Centre on Sunday, January 4.

Gold results (Bournemouth)

Group A: 1 Anthony Rice (Salisbury SC), 2 Bradley Cowdroy (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), 3 Rikki Moore (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), 4 Anthony Church (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

Group B: 1 Bradley Chappell (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), 2 Sam Storey (Thatcham SC), 3 Mark Wells (Greenbaize, Bournemouth), 4 Stewart Ball (Greenbaize, Bournemouth).

Group C: 1 Mark Lloyd (Stoke SC, Gosport), 2 James Budd (Stoke SC, Gosport), 3 Callum Browne (Westbury), 4 Dan Sykes (Chandler’s Ford SC).

Group D: 1 Jonny Mutch (Cambridge SC), 2 Nathan Farmer (Stoke SC, Gosport), 3 Jamie Wilson (Copnor SC, Portsmouth).

Quarter-finals: Mutch 2 Cowdroy 1, Rice 2 Farmer 0, Lloyd 2 Storey 1, Chappell 2 Budd 0.

Semi-finals: Lloyd 2 Mutch 0, Chappell 2 Rice 0.

Final: Lloyd 3 Chappell 0.

Best breaks: Lloyd 56, Moore 45 and 39, Budd 44, Cowdroy 42, Rice 39.