23/03/00: Matthew Stevens dealt out heartbreak to Ken Doherty for the second time in six weeks by knocking the Dubliner out of his home tournament at Goffs, County Kildare last night.

Stevens added a 6-4 victory in the first round of the Benson & Hedges Irish Masters to his 10-8 defeat of the former World number one in the Wembley Masters last month as Doherty fell at the opening hurdle for the second year in a row.

"This is the best venue in the world so I'm really disappointed not to have turned up the gas for the fans," Doherty said.

"It means so much playing here but nothing seemed to go right. It could easily have been 6-4 to me but that's the way the game is."

After Stevens had accounted for a scrappy opener, Doherty potted a tricky black along the top cushion to level but went 2-1 down when the Welshman, ranked ninth in the world, won the third on the pink.

But Doherty, who bounced back from his Wembley disappointment by winning the Malta Grand Prix last month, then hit his stride.

The World number seven made quick-fire breaks of 70 and 115 to the delight of a capacity Goffs crowd as he took a 3-2 lead.

However Doherty, the 1997 World Champion, could not keep the momentum going and lost two disjointed frames to fall 4-3 adrift.

A crucial plant, expertly worked with two reds on the top cushion, led to a run of 36 to secure 4-4 but when Doherty went in-off the penultimate red in the ninth frame, Stevens made a gutsy 36 clearance to the black for a 5-4 lead.

Doherty had a chance to force the contest to a decider but hit the black in attempting to pot a red with swerve and, from the resulting free ball, Stevens cleared up with 44 for victory.

"It was a poor match," admitted Stevens, making his Irish Masters debut. "Neither of us could get going at all and I couldn't even make a 50 break which is disappointing.

"Ken obviously had most of the crowd support but it didn't bother me because it would have been the other way around in Wales."

Stevens is looking to add the Irish Masters title to the Scottish and Wembley crowns he has already won this season. He now meets Ronnie O'Sullivan tomorrow afternoon for a place in the semi-finals.

"I've only been here a few days and I can already say that it's one of the best tournaments I've ever seen. The venue and the people are first class."