Earl had a chance to pocket the five via the rail but missed too leaving the five o­n. Davis took it and cleared a tough layout to go 2 - 2.

In the next Davis got the crowd going as he stroked home his break shot and cleared the table to out the Europeans 3 - 2 to the good.

Strickland made a ball o­n the break but missed a long cut o­n the 2 ball into a blind pocket. Davis leapt out of his chair.

Steve miscued though, o­n a straight orange 5 to give it back to Strickland and he ran out to make it 3 - 3.

Davis broke off in the seventh and two balls dropped and left him a nice shot o­n the 2-ball. From there he took the rack with a calm, methodical clearance.

With Europe o­n the hill, Strickland stepped up to the plate to break. Two balls disappeared but the problem ball was the orange 5 which was locked up o­n the rail with the 8 ball. He took it though after gaining perfect position. From there Strickland cleared to go  4 - 4.

With Davis breaking for the Mosconi Cup, he had no shot o­n the 2 ball after the 1 went down. He pushed out and Strickland trapped him in a snooker. Davis scratched making a table length bank shot to give Earl ball in hand. Earl dished but ran out of position o­n the green 6.

There was a hush as he cued up o­n a tight cut into the top right hand pocket and a roar went up as Strickland missed.

With three balls separating Europe from a historic Mosconi Cup victory Steve Davis steered them home as he nudged in the 6, put the black 8 into the same pocket and then came down the table for that historic 9 ball.

Marcus Chamat v Nick Varner

IN THE FIRST MATCH OF THE EVENING SESSION MARCUS CHAMAT rode his luck to see off Nick Varner and put Europe o­n the hill in the 2002 Ladbrokes.com Mosconi Cup.

Chamat produced two flukes in the seventh rack to beat the Kentucky Colonel 5-2 and give Oliver Ortmann's side the perfect chance to secure the trophy for o­nly the second time.

Varner won the lag for the US but with the 1 ball obscure he chose to jump but unfortunately he missed the pot and left it o­n for Chamat. He potted the 1 ball and 2 ball but with no shot o­n the 3, he laid a snooker.

A lengthy safety exchange followed but Chamat always had the upper hand. In the end Varner missed o­n the orange 5 leaving it o­n and Chamat cleared to the 9 ball.

A long cut off the rail looked tricky under the circumstances but was successfully executed to put Europe 1-0 up.

Chamat broke in the next and played a class bank to put the 1 ball in and give himself a tough cut o­n the 2. He took it o­n and went o­n the clear the table to go 2-0 ahead.

Varner broke well in the third but he ran out of position o­n the 2 ball giving Marcus a chance. Playing superbly he ran the table to go further ahead at 3-0.

There was no shot o­n the 1 ball for Chamat in the next so he left the cue ball behind the brown 7 and Varner snookered.

Nick's attempt to get out of the snooker left the balls spread and o­nce again, Chamat did the business to get to 4-0.

At last Varner had a good chance o­n the 1 ball and the rest of the balls available. He ran out to give himself a life line.

With the match in his grasp, Chamat came up dry o­n the break and left Varner an opportunity to strike back.

However, Nick snookered himself trying to separate the 5 and 8 balls and bashed the cue ball off the rail to hit the 5.

Chamat cannoned the 8 ball in to stay at the table and got lucky snookering Varner o­n the 5. Marcus got lucky again attempting a bank o­n the 5 ball and left an impossible snooker for Varner to get out of.

He fouled and gave Chamat ball in hand but incredibly he scratched into the middle bag to give Varner another lifeline which he gratefully accepted to get it back to 2 - 4.

Three balls o­n the break for the Kentucky Colonel but the position from 1 to 2 meant he had to play safe. Chamat followed before Nick layed another snooker. Chamat fluked a bank that saw the 2 ball drop and then, amazingly fluked the 3 ball into the middle pocket after it missed in the top right.

Finally Chamat left an awful cut o­n the 9 ball but somehow he made it and the York Hall erupted as Europe went to 11-8.

"It was an unbelievable feeling because the pressure was getting to me and this is totally different to any other tournament, Chamat said. "I played very good until 4-1 and then I made an easy error but I had a bit of luck and I hope this means it's meant for us to win.

"The atmosphere is like a football match and we're using up a lot of energy!"

Ralf Souquet v Charlie Williams

CHARLIE WILLIAMS breathed some much needed fire in to Team USA's defence of the Mosconi Cup with a match saving win over Ralf Souquet.

Souquet never reached top gear in a slow match as both players put in a meditated performance without wishing to take too many risks.

Souquet won the lag for Europe but with no shot o­n the 1 ball he wrapped Williams in a snooker which he escaped from. Ralf however, made the first mistake of the game when he failed to bank out of Charlie's snooker.

With ball in hand, Williams played the 1/9 combination to take the first rack against the break.

The American put the 1 and 2 balls down off the break . However he pushed out with no shot o­n the red 3. Ralf offered the table back to Charlie and he unluckily scratched kicking out.

With ball in hand and the table, Ralf ran out of position going from 5 to 6 and laid a tidy snooker for Williams. He made contact with the green 6 but left it o­n for Ralf.

He rolled it the length of the table but unfortunately missed leaving the table clear for Williams to go 2-0.

Needing a good break in the third rack, Souquet could not get a shot to pocket the 1 ball but the snooker was good enough to make Charlie give him the table back with a nice shot o­n the 1 ball.

After looking tense in the opening two racks, Ralf composed himself to run out and go 2-1 behind.

Williams next break came up dry and left Ralf half a chance o­n the 1 ball. He took it and gained nice position o­n the blue 2. It seemed to take forever, but Ralf eventually ran out to level the score at 2-2.

Souquet got the balls moving o­n the break and the 9 rolled into the jaws of the top left pocket. Ralf took the 1, 2 and 3 before rolling home a 4/9 combo to go into the lead at 3-2.

Williams took control of the next rack after a good break and seemed to speed his play up as he ran in quick time to level it.

Souquet had a shot at the 1 ball in the next but the layout was tough so the Kaiser elected to tuck the cue ball up behind the red 3.

Williams banked brilliantly out of it, potting the 2 and gaining position o­n the 3. He cleared the balls but left himself a terriible straight 9 ball off the spot which took what seemed to be an eternity to drop. It did though to leave Williams o­n the hill at 4-3.

Another great break by Williams saw three balls go down but with the 2 ball blocked he pushed out . Ralf put him back in and from there Williams put him into a snooker.

Ralf kicked out of the snooker but left the 2 ball o­n for Williams and he seized the initiative to take the rack and the match 5-3.

Tables for the Mosconi Cup are supplied by Brunswick, the balls are made by Aramith and the cloth is made by Simonis. Sardo provide the rack and Predator are the Official Cue of the 2002 Mosconi Cup.