Dennis Hatch was given the role of starting the comeback for USA against Nick Ekonomopoulos. A break and run was the start Hatch was looking for. Ekonomopoulos would come up dry on his first break of the night, that was followed by Hatch potting the two from a snookered position before the Greek left to five to give Hatch a 2-0 lead.
Hatch almost relinquished his break when he came up dry and Ekonomopoulos potted the two following a safety battle. But the Greek would leave the four in the jaws of the pocket and Hatch had his third rack on the board. Ekonomopoulos recovered from an illegal break as Hatch missed the five to make it 3-1. It should have been 3-2 even though Hatch shot a superb bank on the three. But Ekonomopoulos came to the table courtesy of Hatch missing the four and the Greek cleared up, only to scratch whilst potting the nine ball to put Hatch on the hill.
Ekonomopoulos recovered with a break and run before Hatch missed the five ball in rack seven to allow the Greek to pull another leg back. But the comeback was prevented in topsy-turvy fashion; Ekonomopoulos initially missed the three ball. Hatch would bank it but then miss the four ball before leaving it open after a safety battle. Ekonomopoulos returned to the table but ended up missing the seven ball to give Hatch the 5-3 victory the first point USA needed.
USA's spine, Johnny Archer was given the baton against Neils Feijen. Just like throughout the week, Archer was businesslike and began the match with a break and run. Archer would then refuse an overran push out from Feijen and it would prove to be the right decision as the Dutchman fouled and Archer took a 2-0 lead.
Despite breaking dry in the third rack, The Scorpion came back to the table and potted the one via a length bank before banking the two and extending his lead to 3-0. A three-nine combination was enough to see Feijen post a rack on the board but the luck was shining in USA's favour as Archer made it 4-1 courtesy of a four-nine carom from a snooker position. A scratch on the one ball from Feijen proved fatal as Archer ran out a 5-1 winner and closed the gap to just one point.
In a rematch from last night, Shane Van Boening was the next to hold the baton as he sought revenge form his whitewash defeat to Darren Appleton last night. The Englishman left the one in the jaws from a bank shot to surrender the first rack before a break and run made it 2-0.
That was followed by a scratch off the break from Appleton and Van Boening was edging closer to a whitewash of his own. But Van Boening came up dry in the fourth rack, allowing Appleton to post a rack on the board. Appleton then repaid the compliment with a dry break of his own. But Van Boening would miss the three before he was given the rack after Appleton scratched. The win was completed when Van Boening potted a three-nine combination from another snookered position. This tied the Mosconi Cup at 9-9 and left it as a best of three.
In another rematch, Melling returned to the table to once again face Brandon Shuff, who he beat 5-2 last night. It would end up being a touch of deja vu as Melling steadied the European ship and put them onto the hill. However, a break and run from Shuff did give him the opening rack of the night.
That was followed by two more break and runs to make it 2-1 to Shuff. But then catastrophe hit for the debutante and two fatal scratches gave Melling the lead. A three-seven carom put Melling on his way to winning the sixth rack before potting the six ball in style from a snooker in rack seven to win the match 5-2.
Van Den Berg was given the opportunity to win the Mosconi Cup for Europe against the very shaky Mike Dechaine. Both players were understandably nervous and the Dutchman missed the five ball before Dechaine missed the eight to give Van Den Berg the opening rack.
Dechaine then missed the six in the second rack to make it 2-0. There was another topsy-turvy affair in the third rack; Van Den Berg began it with a dry break. Dechaine then left the five ball open from a snooker position before Van Den Berg missed a banked six. But just in case you thought Dechaine would post his first rack of the night, nerves bit him again as he scratched on the eight ball and faced a tough task coming from 3-0 behind.
It looked like it would get worse for Dechaine when he scratched from the break in the fourth rack. Van den Berg would then miss the five-nine combination before potting the five into the side pocket from the top cushion. But the Dutchman would then miss the seven ball and Dechaine gleefully took his first rack of the night.
A desperate attempt at a one-nine combination from Van Den Berg allowed Dechaine to pull another rack back. But a missed two-nine combination repaid the compliment and the Dutchman was now 4-2 ahead. The seventh rack was full of nerves and Van Den Berg would begin by missing a jump shot on the one. Dechaine then jawed the three ball before placing the final nail in USA's coffin by missing the five ball. Giving Van Den Berg a 5-2 victory and Team Europe an 11-9 win to claim the 2012 Mosconi Cup.
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