Bristol cue ace Judd Trump blamed the absence of 'Lady Luck' for his first round defeat to Antrim's Mark Allen at the Bahrain Snooker Championship on Tuesday.

The 5-1 score-line suggests Allen won the match comfortably - but 19-year-old Trump argued otherwise, saying that he could have quite easily won by the same margin.

"I had chances in the first couple of frames, but he had a bit of luck because every time he missed he kept leaving me safe," said Trump, from Keynsham.

"I kept breaking down on 50, and kept losing the frame. It could have been 5-1 to me.

"He got the rub. I don't think he missed a ball in the last three or four frames. I couldn't really do too much about it. He didn't miss a lot. I felt as if I was playing well, but every time I came to the table the ball was safe.

"When I did get in, my long potting was good, but when I went into the pack on 40 or 50 I finished on nothing every single time."

Trump's only frame on the board was actually the first, as he went 1-0 up thanks to breaks of 43 and 47. Allen levelled with a 67.

In the next three frames Trump, a semi finalist at the recent Grand Prix in Glasgow, notched breaks of 49, 58 and 50, but Allen pinched each one to put him on the verge of a last 16 clash with Dubliner Michael Judge this morning.

The 22 year-old clinched victory with a break of 54 in the sixth frame.

"I knew that it was going to be really tough because we both play the same game. Whoever turned up on the day was going to win," continued Trump.

Allen assessed: "Obviously with Judd getting to a semi-final in the last event he is definitely on a high. For me to stamp my authority on the game was great."

Trump will fly home from the Middle East tomorrow as he will begin his preparation for the potential of two qualifying matches for the UK Championship.

The qualifiers are at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield (December 1-8).

The Keynsham potter added: "I am still confident that I can have a good run there. I will practise hard over the next couple of weeks."