BACK-to-back tournament wins have given Bracknell’s Matt Ford a healthy lead on a regional over-40s snooker circuit.

Ford, from Martins Heron, followed his success on the Cuestars South of England Seniors Tour in Woking last month with victory in Marchwood.

The 41-year-old, above right, defeated Mike Talmondt, above left, 2-0 in the final of the fourth leg at Cue T’s Social & Snooker Lounge.

After taking the first frame, Ford compiled a 48 break in the next and his title rival from Portsmouth conceded with four reds left.

“I’ve been in (all) four finals now and managed to win two,” said Ford. “Mike’s a tough opponent so I’m always glad to beat him.

“I had a black to go into the pack for a big one but managed to miss that and Mike didn’t punish me. I got lucky.”

Ford dropped only one frame out of 13 in the Dransfields-sponsored event against Stephen Hills (Northfleet) in the last eight. But he nearly lost another to Chris Stocker, a fellow member of Sunninghill Comrades Club in Ascot, in the first frame of their semi-final.

Elsewhere, David Stewart (Odiham) made a personal best 55 break in his 2-1 defeat by Dan Hammond in the group stages. Hammond (Winchester) went on to make his first semi-final appearance, where he lost 2-0 to ex-professional Talmondt.

It wasn’t until the 18th round-robin match that the first break of 40 or more was recorded by any of the 17 runners, when Ford made a 47 in his first frame against Steve Ashton (Salisbury) – and followed that with the day’s highest of 66.

Ford leads Talmondt by 16 points. Quarter-finalist Martin Wallace (Wokingham) climbed one place to third. The absent John Hunter (Andover) dropped to fourth and Stocker is fifth.

The fifth leg of seven is at Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon, on Sunday, January 29. The top-20 ranked players at the end of the series will play off for £500 prize money in Newbury on April 23.