Sterling support from family and friends, all 153 of them, failed to create a silver lining for Michael Judge in the £200,000 Benson and Hedges Irish Masters at Goffs last night. While going down to a 6-2 defeat, the 23-year-old wild card from Shankill was unfortunate to find the volatile Peter Ebdon in sparkling form.

Remarkably, Judge's extensive guest list, which included members of his mother's family from Lebanon, was not a record for an Irish player (the sponsors would say no more). Either way, they performed admirably in a cheer-leading capacity, ensuring noisy approval for even moderate efforts by their favourite.

There was cause for serious cheering, however, when Judge made a total clearance of 134 in the fifth frame, for the highest break of the tournament so far and a possible cheque for £3,000. As a bitter irony, this was to be his last frame-winning effort of the match.

While welcoming the Irish debutante, the occasion was also notable earlier in the day for the presence of Steve Davis, eight times winner of the title and making his 18th appearance here since 1981. And much of the old competitive grit was evident in a 6-3 win over John Parrott in the third of the first-round matches.

Ebdon, the 1995 champion, is an intense competitor who seems to function on an endless surge of adrenaline. As Judge was to discover in the last of the first-round matches, this made him a fearsome adversary in the mood he hit last night, especially after a clearance of 127 in the opening frame.

So, pressurised from the outset, the Irishman had to scratch and scramble to make an impact on the match. And as so often happens in such circumstances, the run of the balls went against him while anxiety was reflected in attempted pots which were narrowly off target.

Ebdon also won the next frame, with a break of 90 and after 42 minutes, he was 3-0 ahead for the concession of only 27 points. By this stage, even Lebanese voices had gone silent, fearful of a whitewash. But the player with the looks of film actor Andy Garcia, showed himself to be made of stern stuff, even if he is not quite ready for success at this level.

His last chance of saving the match ebbed away in the eighth in which a promising break of 40 broke down when he missed a relatively easy red. Still, he had reason to be proud of his effort, particularly after such a devastating start.

Davis, who has become a revered figure around Goff's, left us in no doubt about his affection for the venue after a grinding win over Parrott. "This would be a fitting place for my last tournament win - if that has yet to come," said the 41-year-old, who has appeared in 99 finals.

The so-called Ginger Magician went on: "I would consider this to be more appropriate even than the World Championship. And it would also be a great place to mark my 100th final. But at this stage of my career, the challenge is to see how long more I can push back the barriers of time."

By his own admission, Davis is no longer capable of great deeds over a protracted period. But his bravery cannot be questioned. Nor can the keen competitive instincts which sensed a potentially priceless opportunity in the seventh frame.

With the score at 3-3, a decidedly moderate match of unforced errors seemed to be swinging Parrott's way, as he looked towards a clearance of 69. Faced with a pot on the pink into a top corner pocket, however, he committed the cardinal sin of moving on the shot.

Not only did the ball fail to reach the target, it bobbled off the cushions before careering across the table to the opposite pocket. When presented with the simple task of potting the last two balls to steal the frame, Davis made no mistake. His thought at the time was: "Now you've got to make that pay."

So he did. Helped by a break of 53, he won the eighth frame to take a 5-3 lead. And he went on to secure the match with a break of 113 in the last, when a possible clearance of 137, broke down on the green. "Now I'm part of the tournament," enthused Davis, who meets the 1992 champion, Stephen Hendry, in the quarter-finals tomorrow night.

First round: Steve Davis (England) bt John Parrott (England) 6-3. Frames scores (Davis first) - 44-80, 64-58, 51-49, 71-29, 41-65, 43-71, 66,61, 901, 113-4. Michael Judge (Ireland) lost to Peter Ebdon (England) 6-2. Frame scores (Judge first) - 0-128, 20-91, 7-88, 89-11, 134-0, 36-82, 48-81, 4162.

Today's matches: Quarter-finals - Ken Doherty (Ireland) v Stephen Lee (England) 2.0; Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) v Jimmy White (England) 7.15.