The Nations Cup continued to be a tournament of unheralded heroes when the Republic of Ireland kept their trophy hopes alive in Newcastle yesterday. Michael Judge was the hero as he sank a difficult final black to edge out Joe Swail and secure a nail-biting 6-5 victory over Northern Ireland.

A run of 38 helped Judge build a 51-0 advantage but Swail rallied with a 45 break before a gripping battle on the colours. Swail potted blue and pink but a tough black at an acute angle into the middle proved beyond him as a relieved Judge was presented with the opportunity to seal a memorable win.

In frame four Doherty went in off a safety shot on the pink and Northern Ireland's Dennis Taylor, who in partnership with Terry Murphy had required a snooker, potted a long pink and black.

The Republic again looked in trouble but O'Brien launched their fight-back with a well crafted 67 break in frame five.

Judge then got the better of Murphy before Doherty claimed a low-scoring frame from Swail to give his side a 4-3 advantage.

Prince and Swail then combined forces to beat the O'Brien-Judge pairing before Prince beat O'Connor.

That was 5-4 to Northern Ireland but O'Brien levelled the scores at 5-5 to set the stage for Judge's heroics.