Mark Selby was left with mixed emotions after beating Shaun Murphy to land the UK Championship in another post-midnight snooker finish.

While there was obvious satisfaction for Selby in landing the biggest title of his career, a day after clinching a return to world number one status, he also professed disappointment about the quality of Sunday’s final.

Neither player managed a century break and there were spells where the standard was more befitting of top-end club snooker than the highest level of the professional game.

Had the final run closer than 10-6, Selby’s eventual victory margin, then there might easily have been a post-1am conclusion. And while that can signal great drama, it can also mean television audiences dramatically tailing off and spectators having to leave early.

Selby said of his win: “Obviously it means a great deal. At the same time I was a little disappointed with the performance. It’s strange be-cause I only really played decent snooker in frames.

“I don’t think I played a whole match where I played really good snooker.

“As far as I’m concerned I missed too many easy balls, and I probably still need to work on that, but the good thing is I’m sat here as UK champion and I still know I can improve.”

Until the closing stages there had been nothing to pick between Selby and Murphy. They had been tied at 4-4 after the afternoon session and then equally split the first four frames of the evening.

But Selby proved the stronger player as the match went on and a streak of four frames brought the 29-year-old the trophy and a cheque for £125,000.