RAISE your glasses to Jonny Clark, the new Foster’s Golden Cue grand final champion.

Clark, representing Oswaldtwistle Conservative Club, raced to a 4-2 win against old rival Jimmy Waddington in front of a capacity crowd at Ighten Leigh Social Club in Burnley.

And it proved a special victory moment for the All-England player Clark who lost out to Brian Collinge in the 2013 final.

“It was a superb final between two very good players,” said Golden Cue organiser Neil McGovern.

“The standard seems to get better every year and the 2016 competition proved no exception to that.”

Clark was quickly in the groove, taking the first frame after rattling in a 50 break to take charge of the final.

Low Moor star Waddington hit back, however, drawing on his experience to make it one frame all.

And with the two finalists locked together 2-2 at the break, the final was very much in the balance.

“It was really nip and tuck until then, but Jonny really took charge after that and he was a worthy winner,” added McGovern.

Clark had won the large table title, beating Paul Selby of Rosegrove Unity 6-5 in a thrilling final and now he has both titles under wraps.

Meanwhile, McGovern is compiling a history of the Golden Cue competition.

“The Golden Cue has become a big part of the North-West snooker scene over the years so I thought it would be a nice idea to compile the history of the tournament,” he said.

He added: “The competition goes back to 1969, well-known names like Bob Catlow and Terry Bentley, while I think it was Russell Large who won the last title of the original competition. I’m a bit short of information for some of the early years, though, so if people would like to e-mail me with their memories that would be a great help.

“The Golden Cue is in rude health, and I want to thank fellow organisers Kevin Catlow and Andy Dibb for all their help.”

Contact Neil on neil.mcgovern@ntlworld.com

- Roll of honour

Large table - Winner: Jonny Clark; runner-up: Paul Selby; Semi-finalist: S Croft (Hoddlesden Con), H Ali (Pot Black). Quarter finalists: T Hannon (Poplar Club), J Loftus (Hoddlesden Con), J Gibson (Billington Brass Band), R Hardman (Oswaldtwistle Con).

Highest break: Farakh Ajaib 86

Small table - Winner: Jimmy Waddington; Runner-up: Kev Catlow; Semi-finalists: M Holmes (Low Moor), C Lawson (Rishton Con); Quarter-finalists: M.Holmes (Low Moor), C Lawson (Rishton Con), J Linguard (Ighten Leigh), C Steele (Rishton Con).

Highest break: M.Holmes, C.Lawson, Marc Holmes 89