JOHN HIGGINS admitted friendly relationships had to be cast to one side as he ruthlessly dispatched of Alan McManus in the Battle of Glasgow to reach the Coral Scottish Open second round.

In the first ranking event on home tables since 2010, Higgins showed off the form that saw him take successive tournaments earlier in the season, prevailing 4-1 in the Emirates Arena.

That was despite McManus taking the early lead, with the world No.3 bouncing back to take four successive frames, breaks of 64 and 69 completing the win.

But with the first of a seven-step success already completed, Higgins has his eyes firmly on the main prize and a chance to lift the Stephen Hendry trophy.

“It would be amazing to win at home, I can still remember winning here before many years ago and getting to the second round makes me feel I’m in the tournament,” said the five-time world champion.

“Snooker is always great in Scotland, when you go to a big competition just 10 minutes down the road it’s a different feeling and it’s something you want to capitalise on.

“In Alan I’ve already beaten a top-32 player, you don’t get many tougher challenges. He was fired up to be at home too so it’s a good one to come through 4-1.

"We go back a long way and we're good friends, but he's beaten me in this last couple so it was nice to get this one."

For McManus, an early exit proved a bitter blow in his first home tournament in six years, cursing the luck of the draw in Glasgow.

But after going a frame up, shot selection perhaps proved important in frames two and three, missing the chance to extend his lead against his close friend.

And there was also disappointment for Edinburgh’s Ross Vallance, with the tournament wildcard also taking a one-frame advantage prior to falling to Ben Woollaston.

The amateur, a late entry to the competition, more than held his own early on, scrapping his way onto the board in the first frame.

But a moment of heartache took its toll, fouling while potting a blue in the second frame – going on to score just five points in the four frames following the incident to lose 4-1.

And while it’s a blip he admits will take time to heal, Vallance knows the experience will hold him in good stead going forward.

“I’m frustrated, I made a few bad safety shots here and there but ever since the first frame I completely lost my way and that’s hard to take,” said the 29-year-old.

“The experience was really enjoyable, but I hardly potted a ball late on.

“I’ll learn a lot, I need to improve my game but it’s a pity I couldn’t do much better on home soil.”

Higgins will be joined in round two by Anthony McGill, who looked back to his best with a stunning 4-1 victory over John Astley.

The world No.18 has been plagued with early exits in the Coral Home Nations Series to date, showing his form in excellent style with breaks of 61, 92, 52 and 72, now going on to play Mitchell Mann on Wednesday.

Higgins himself could be set for another Scottish battle, dependant on whether Scott Donaldson could prevail late on Monday evening against Itaro Santos.

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