MARK Cottingham’s England side suffered a “demoralising” defeat to Scotland in the quarter-finals of the World Blackball Championships.

The Scots edged ahead after the first dozen frames were shared and went on to complete a 13-10 victory in Perth.

England qualified for the last-eight clash having finished the group stages unbeaten, however, it wasn’t meant to be against the hosts.

Reflecting on the Scotland contest, Weymouth’s Cottingham said: “It was quite demoralising.

“We went through the round-robin stage unbeaten and topped our group, but it didn’t happen for us in the quarters.

“We were going frame for frame until 6-6 then Scotland had the run of the balls and went 9-6 up.

“We brought it back to 10-8 and could have made it 10-9 but for a bit of misfortune.

“That would have put us right back in there but they went 11-8 ahead and that was the last real chance we had.”

He added: “I did alright. I didn’t play as well as I could have but it was my debut for the A team and my first time at the Worlds, so it was a big step up. We went in as favourites but I think the Scots wanted it so much as it was on their home soil.”

Meanwhile, Cottingham fell at the first hurdle in the individual competition.