Ronnie relieved to win again - 15/10/2009

Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 Shaun Murphy (best of 6)
O'Sullivan's scores first
104-0 (O'Sullivan 104), 68-1 (O'Sullivan 34), 89-5 (O'Sullivan 33, 56), 0-101 (Murphy 81), 45-84 (O'Sullivan 32), 85-5 (O'Sullivan 75)

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN admitted he was relieved to get back to winning ways in the 2009 PartyCasino.com Premier League Snooker.

O'Sullivan was furious with his performance in his last Premier League Snooker match when he threw away a 3-1 lead against Neil Robertson before drawing 3-3.

Ronnie O'Sullivan returned to winning ways. Picture: Lawrence Lustig

But normal service was resumed for O'Sullivan, who has won the Premier League for the last five seasons, as he clinched a 4-2 victory against Shaun Murphy.

"I was there for the taking but managed to nick that one without a doubt," said O'Sullivan. "I', just relieved to get a draw last week and then win that one. My performances have been a bit inconsistent so I don't know how I won it.

"All throughout the match I never felt relaxed or comfortable and always had to have my foot to the pedal. It was hard and tough and I never felt comfortable with the table."

Murphy was playing only his second game of this year's competition, having lost his first 4-2 against John Higgins.

Murphy missed a long red in the opening frame but that proved costly as this was his only shot of the first frame. O'Sullivan rattled in a break of 104 in only six minutes to storm into an early lead.

The second break started with Murphy getting off the mark but that proved to be his only success. Runs of 34 and 29 helped O'Sullivan double his lead at 2-0.

O'Sullivan's early dominance of the match continued in the third as scores of 33 and 56 meant he would definitely claim a point from Aberdeen. O'Sullivan's break only ended when he went in-off after potting the cue ball. It also meant that in three frames of action Murphy had only sunk one ball.

When Murphy potted a red in the early phases in the fourth it was his first pot in more than 20 minutes of play. He later took advantage of a rare O'Sullivan error and compiled a frame-winning break of 81.

The fifth frame was the closest of the match as both players passed up opportunities to win it. A poor positional shot moving from the black to a red led to Murphy over-cutting a red into a blind pocket. But it did not matter as O'Sullivan then went in-off as Murphy pulled the score back to 3-2.

Murphy had done well to stay alive in the match but his hard work counted for nothing when a poor safety in the final frame gifted O'Sullivan possession of an inviting table. He raced to a match-winning break of 75 but was denied his second century break of the match when a poor connection on a blue stopped him in his tracks.

But O'Sullivan had still done enough for the victory that moved him to the top of the table.