Webby 2 – 8 The Wizard
Australia met Wales in the first match of the evening in Brighton, and it was fireworks at the seaside from one man, but a damp squib from the other.
It was a pretty shoddy start to the match as both men struggled to get going in the first leg, but it was the Australian who pinched it following two missed darts at tops from Webster for the earliest of breaks. This seemed to give him the confidence he needed as he then emphatically held his own throw by finishing on 140.
Webster got on the scoreboard on his own throw to keep in touch, but Whitlock showed what form he was in again in the fourth leg as he hammered in his second ton-plus by taking out 120. His finish of 80 in the fifth leg won’t go down in the ton-plus column, but was equally good as he only needed one dart at tops to break Webby again and open up a three leg lead.
If the Welshman’s confidence wasn’t shattered already, the last leg before the break certainly finished him off as he missed three clear darts at tops to let Whitlock back in. Needing just five, The Wizard hit d1, 1, d1 to leave Webster flabbergasted and more importantly 5-1 down at the break.
The Wizard wasn’t letting up after the interval, hitting a 140 and a 180 to break Webby again and open up a five leg lead. Unsurprisingly he had no problem holding his own throw in the eighth leg and go 7-1 up. Webster looked like he did against Anderson when he performed similarly badly but he did console himself to some extent by taking the next leg, but unfortunately it was only his second of the night.
It was his last as well as Whitlock comfortably wrapped up the win in just the tenth leg to get back to winning ways.
This was a really bad result for Webby as it seems no one is going to beat Taylor or van Barneveld at the minute, so you really need to pick up points elsewhere, and taking a thrashing from Whitlock is not what he needed. It’s certainly not over yet for the former World Champ, but he can’t afford any more performances like that.
The Wizard looked somewhere near his best in that contest, possibly because of the lack of pressure exerted on him and he keeps in touching distance of the top four by moving on to six points. He averaged just over 100, and hit 50% of his doubles, which we know he can improve on, and if he does then he’ll be a match for anyone.
Jackpot 7 – 7 The Bull
The first draw of this year’s tournament finally came about in the 26th game of the competition and in all honesty didn’t come in the match we expected.
It was a cracking start to the contest from the World Champ as he kicked off the match with a hat-trick of three figure scores and duly won the first leg. It evened out very quickly though as both men were throwing fairly nicely, averaging in the late nineties and holding their own throws well as the score moved on to two a-piece.
Things changed in the fifth leg though as The Bull notched up a maximum and despite a brave effort from Lewis, the first break of the match went the way of Jenkins. The lead didn’t last long though as the first ton-plus finish of the match was produced by Jackpot as he polished off 101 to immediately break back and go in level at the break.
It looked like Jenkins was the one to come out firing after the interval as he hit a 180 in the seventh leg, but Lewis powered back to hold his own throw. The Bull then hit another, his third, maximum of the night in the following leg, but followed it with just a score of 21 and managed to gift it to Jackpot who opened up the first two leg lead of the contest.
Lewis banged in a maximum which led to him emphatically holding throw in the ninth, and it was looking like the World Champ could well stroll to victory as he won his fourth leg in a row.
The Bull kept his hopes alive though as he took just two darts to eliminate 81in the tenth and reduce the deficit to two legs. The pressure was kicking in on both men though in the next as Lewis missed four darts at a double to hold throw, Jenkins himself missed four but finished d5 with his fifth to break throw and move within one leg.
The Bull had found his form as he comfortably held his own throw in the twelfth, Jackpot made no mistake himself though as he secured at least a draw by winning the thirteenth. The pressure was on Jenkins to take the draw and he wasn’t about to crumble as he hammered in a 180 with his first three darts which gave him plenty of time, which he took to finish on d5 and pick up the point.
It’s fair to say that the draw was a better point for Jenkins than it was for Lewis, but that’s’ not to say that The Bull didn’t deserve his point as it was a fairly even contest. Jackpot holds on to the much sought after fourth place and he is going to have to battle hard to hang onto it. Jenkins isn’t far away and is proving people wrong who suggested he wouldn’t compete this year. A couple more good results will see him really challenge for the play-offs.
Barney 8 – 5 The Flying Scotsman
As good a game as we were expecting, and it went the way I picked it, against the odds I might add. The Dutchman looks as good as he has done for quite some time, and it really is a pleasure to see.
The match didn’t start too well for the men from Den Haag as he missed six darts at a double on his own throw in leg one and let Anderson in to break at the first opportunity. The Scot looked like he was going to cash in as he polished off 77 to hold throw in the second and open up daylight early on.
Barney wasn’t going to go three behind and his d10 in the third steadied his nerves. Anderson was missing big numbers early on which was strange, and he missed three darts to go 3-1 up which let his opponent back in to break and level things up at two all. The 5-time World Champ then made it three on the spin to take the lead for the first time.
Anderson levelled it up in style though as he hit the first maximum of the contest and then finished off 121 on the Bull to go in level.
It was Barney that stormed out of the blocks when the pair returned to the oche though as he held through and then a trademark d18 gave him a break in the eighth. He repeated the act in the next to move 6-3 up and he was looking fantastic.
The Flying Scotsman was not going to give up though as a 13-darter gave him the tenth leg and then he opened up the eleventh with a maximum and a ton-forty. He duly wrapped up the leg in just eleven darts to put the pressure back on Barney by making the score 6-5.
This was as close to the winning line as Anderson got though as he fluffed Shanghai to let Barney in and break throw to guarantee at least a point. He then had no trouble in holding his own throw and taking the game 8-5.
Barney is looking mighty impressive right now, and he is as convincing as he has been for two or three years arguably. His real test is next week against Taylor, and if he can get something out of that then we know for certain that the best of Barneveld is really back.
Anderson is in a little bit of trouble as this is his third loss in a row which will be worrying him. He’s not playing too badly so it’s not disastrous, but a win against Wade next week is crucial to get his plans back on track.
The Power 8 -1 The Machine
This was not the tight contest we’ve seen from these two in the past, but more a demonstration of how important form and confidence is in the sport, as last year’s beaten finalist looks less and less like making the top four.
Taylor’s scoring from the off was very good, and in fact good enough that he could afford four misses at a double without Wade getting to one. The Machine didn’t look too bad as he looked to hold his throw in the second, hitting three ton-plus scores and then very narrowly missing two double tops to check out 100, but one mistake is usually all it takes against The Power who made it 2-0.
The Power showed his opponent how to do it In the third finishing off 100 on two tops which meant he’d only hit three figure scores in the leg. The maximum he’d hit in the same leg was his third of the game already having notched up one in each so far. Wade though showed some class in the fourth as he finished off 81 to get a point on the board, although he wasn’t to know this would be as good as it got.
Taylor was imperious from here on in as he finished off 121 on the bull in the fifth which moved his average on to just over 108. Wade just had one shot at the Bull to hold throw in the sixth which he narrowly missed, but again this is all it takes against the great man who finished off forty to go 5-1 up.
Twelve darts was all Taylor needed in the next, including the 180th 180 in the league this year. Another maximum in the eighth saw yet another break from The Power to put him on the hill and he comfortably finished it off in just nine legs to dish out an absolute hammering to the 2009 champ.
Phil Taylor is unquestionably back to his best now after his world record average in Holland was followed up with 105.7 here in Brighton. He is back where he belongs at the top of the table by two points and he will be looking to extend this lead when he meets second placed Barney next week in Cardiff. I’d like to think the Dutchman can give him a real challenge, but in this mood, Taylor isn’t going to lose to anyone.
Wade, in comparison, is in deep, deep trouble as he sits at the bottom of the table with a whopping -22 leg difference. His sheer talent means we won’t rule him out of pinching fourth spot yet, but with his next two games being against Anderson and Lewis, it isn’t looking good for a very faulty Machine.
No comments:
Post a Comment