Earl Strickland kept America\'s Mosconi Cup hopes alive but his victory was overshadowed by a bust-up with opponent Daryl Peach, who later branded The Pearl as \'scum of the earth\'.Towards the end of the match, Strickland was involved in a huge argument with World Champion Peach that threatened to become nasty.\n\nStrickland, who had been talking constantly throughout the match, called Peach \'a cheat\' after he believed the Englishman had sharked him, although referee MichaelaTabb later confirmed that it had actually been someone behind Peach and not the player himself.\n\nPeach reacted to this insult and threatened Strickland as the two men went head-to-head, apparently close to coming to blows.\n\nTabb intervened and warned both players about their conduct, although the pair did shake hands at the end of the contest, a 6-3 victory to Strickland.\n\nHowever, the controversy was not over yet as Strickland stormed off before being interviewed while a heated Peach heavily criticised his opponent live on television.\n\n\"Strickland is scum of the earth,\" raged a furious Peach.\"It\'s a shame as he is a great player but it shows what he has to do to win.\n\n\"I\'m a sportsman, I sit in my chair and keep quiet, all of the other Europeans do and all of the rest of the American team do.\n\n\"But he is waving his arms around and speaking to the crowd - he is not a sportsman.\n\n\"He isprobably one of the best players in the world but he just mars his performance with this.\n\n\"When I first started playing pool, he was one of my heroes but he has gone down in my books a lot. He mars his performance by, shall we say, being a character.\" \n\nIt was a bad start for Peach as he produceda dry break and left a 1-9 combination on, which Strickland, with his first shot of the match, made.\n\nThe match was tied up at 1-1 when he scratched attempting to play safe but the Englishman then won the next to regain the lead.\n\nWith no shot on the 1-ball off the break, Strickland opted to push out and a safety battle ensued before a Peach error made it 2-2.\n\nBoth players shared one of the next two racks but a table length bank on the 7-ball helped Strickland move ahead with a lead that he was to not let go again.Strickland won the next two to keep the contest alive. \n\nwww.mosconicup.com 2007, ball, cup, daryl, earl, mosconi, peach, strickland