REDCAR'S Mike Dunn is through to the second round of snooker's Maplin UK Championship after an impressive victory over world number 25 James Wattana.

Resuming at 4-4, Dunn won five of the next six frames to record a comprehensive 9-5 win at York's Barbican Centre.

The Cleveland cueman will now face former world champion, and provisional world number one, Ken Doherty in round two.

Dunn's victory was rarely in doubt as he blitzed his Thai opponent with two substantial breaks in the day's opening two frames.

Wattana reduced the gap by winning the next with a break of 74, but Dunn calmly closed out the match by winning three tactical frames on the bounce.

Meanwhile, Joe Perry continued his love affair with the UK Championship by cruising to a 9-1 success over Michael Judge.

The 31-year-old, who has reached the semi-finals for the last two years, is becoming a specialist in the sport's second most prestigious ranking tournament.

He led 7-1 overnight, having made breaks of 125, 93, 75, 74, 66 and 60 and needed only 26 minutes when the match resumed to claim the two frames he needed to secure a clash with Barry Hawkins.

"It seems to work out that I do well here," said the world number 18.

"I don't come up here expecting to repeat my feats of the year before but I really like the city and the surroundings.

''It might be the time of year - Christmas is a happy time and I tend to be relaxed for some reason.''

Dave Harold booked his place in the last 32 with a 9-7 win over Robert Milkins and will now face Stephen Hendry in the televised stages, on his 40th birthday.

Having moved to within a frame of victory at 8-5, Harold had to watch as Milkins made it 8-7. But Harold hit back with a century of his own, 102, to secure a timely birthday present.

Earlier, Alan McManus maintained his encouraging start to the season when he built a 6-2 lead over Marcus Campbell.

The gritty Glaswegian finds himself out of the world's top 16 for the first time since 1992, having won only one match in ranking tournaments during the 2005-06 campaign.

But he reached the semi-finals of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix in October and continued his resurgence in the opening session against his fellow Scot.

Jamie Burnett, another Scot, was also going well as he too moved 6-2 ahead of Andy Hicks.

The 31-year-old, who made the highest ever official tournament break of 148 - starting with a free ball - in the qualifying rounds of this event two years ago, made a 78 and a 110 to turn the screw on the Devonian.

Finland's Robin Hull was the only other player to eke out an advantage in the morning session, going 5-3 up on Nigel Bond