He reached two ranking tournament semi-finals, in the 1985–86 snooker season, at the Grand Prix and the World Championship, and the semi-finals of the Masters, but an inconsistent season included losses to lower-ranked players such as Jim Wych, Rex Williams and Patsy Fagan. The following year, he dropped from fourth to tenth in the rankings, with a semi-final place at the 1987 British Open the furthest he reached in a ranking tournament in a disappointing season that included a 6–10 first round defeat by Mike Hallett at the 1987 World Snooker Championship.