The Bull 8 – 4 Webby
The opening contest looked like it was going to be an interesting one from the off, as Jenkins hit a maximum in the first leg, but managed to miss three darts at d4 and lose it on his own throw. The Bull banged in another 180 in leg two though to break straight back, and then checked out an impressive 104 in the third to go ahead.
Both men were averaging comfortably over 100, and The Bull especially was looking impressive, and comfortably the best he’s been in the tournament so far. The next two went with throw, but then Jenkins got the key break of throw, taking out d20 to go in 4-2 at the break.
The Bull looked to be at his very best as he fired in fourth and fifth 180s of the night to go all the way to 7-2 up, winning five legs on the bounce and hitting five out of six attempts on double top.
It wasn’t until this point that Webby seemed to wake up as he produced an 11-darter from nowhere to win the tenth leg. He then broke The Bull in the next to make it 7 -4 and just put a little doubt into Terry’s mind.
The doubts though seemed to get into the Welshman’s mind as he had a problem with a draft on stage that put him off his throwing. The more experienced Bull wasn’t deterred and fired in a 180 before taking out double top yet again to wrap up the match 8-4.
It was a much needed win for The Bull who has kept his hopes of the semis alive now, and if he can keep this up, he could just get there, although he will still have his doubters.
The enigmatic Mark Webster continues to frustrate everyone, including himself, with his hit and miss performances. Brilliant last week, pretty abject this time out. I’d say this kind of inconsistency will rule him out of winning the competition, but if he pulls out his top form at the right times, he could still reach the final four.
The Flying Scotsman 6 - 8 The Power
Without a doubt the most anticipated match of the evening was second up, and it certainly didn’t disappoint with The M.E.N Arena witnessing the most enthralling match of the tournament so far.
The atmosphere was incredibly hostile towards the Scotsman with the crowd in Manchester not worried one bit about throwing the entirety of their support behind Taylor. It didn’t seem like it was affecting Anderson too much until the end of the second leg when he completely fluffed his lines on 76, not even having a go at a double and going 2-0 down by losing his own throw, to the delight of the Mancunians.
It looked like the atmosphere going to cost Anderson dearly as he then missed d12 and d6 but expertly took out a tough d3 to break straight back. He then just about held his own throw and the contest was even again at 2-2 and things were hotting up.
Anderson had well and truly settled and the two looked to be as evenly matched as everyone had hoped as the next two went with throw and they went in at the break even.
This carried on when they returned from the break as both men were looking unbeatable on their own throw and this took the score onto 5-5. Taylor then banged in an 11-darter to go 6-5 up, but again the Scot was imperious throwing first and took it straight back to 6-6.
It was the 13th leg when both men seemed to flinch. Taylor on his own throw couldn’t hit more than straight tons and he let Anderson in for two darts at tops to guarantee at least a point. It was the league leasers turn to falter though as he missed them both and the world number one came back in to secure the draw for himself.
It was going to take something special from The Power to take the last leg on Anderson’s throw though, and he produced it, nailing a 12-darter to leave his adversary heart broken and inflicting his first defeat of the campaign on him.
An incredible match that was everything we had hoped from it, and despite the loss, cemented Gary Anderson as a potential winner of the competition. He competed throughout, didn’t look like a lesser player at any point and shouldn’t feel any shame at all in losing 8 -6 to the great man. He is still top of the league. and if he continues to perform like this, there is no way he will finish outside of the top two.
With this performance, Taylor well and truly silenced any last remaining doubters and laid down a marker that suggests he could well claim yet another Premier League crown. His ability under pressure is second to none, and that’s why he’s won so much, and that’s why I tipped him to win 8-6, so I hope some of you went with that, because nothing else I called came in.
The Machine 2 - 8 Barney
The next match, unfortunately, didn’t live up to it’s potential, as James Wade continued to struggle badly in this year’s tournament and was on the wrong end of a real thrashing at the hands of the five-time World Champ.
Things didn’t start too badly at all for The Machine as he comfortably held his own throw in the first leg, but Barney showed what kind of mood he was in in the second as he took out 107, to immediately level things up.
The next two legs summed up the game for Wade though as he made an error in each to cost himself a leg on his own throw and a great chance to break Barney back and the Dutchman pounced on both mistakes to make it 3 – 1. The Machine was unlucky in this respect and showed he wasn’t playing badly by taking out a 136 in the fifth leg to keep himself in touch. Barney held his own throw though and led 4-2 at the interval with Wade cutting a frustrated figure as he left the stage.
Wade’s frustration was not helped as Barney broke him again in the seventh leg, throwing a 12-darter and stretching his lead to three legs. The nature of the legs Barneveld was winning was infuriating The Machine as he was always in with a chance but was missing key trebles in combination finishes and his anger was very apparent on his face.
Barney strolled to victory from then on, winning all the remaining legs and taking the match 8 -2 and inflicting yet another defeat on the former Premier League champion. The man from Den Haag looks comfortable in the competition this year, and did well to bounce back so easily after the defeat to Taylor last week, which shows he has the mental strength to go a long way.
Wade is in a lot of trouble now, he is adrift at the bottom of the table by two points and with a huge -17 leg difference, which reflects the hammerings he’s been taking. He desperately needs to win against Jenkins in Glasgow or else his tournament will be in grave danger of being over.
Jackpot 8 -2 The Wizard
I was expecting a very tight contest in the final match of the evening, but it proved to be anything but that as the World Champ got back to winning ways in spectacular fashion, brushing aside the Australian comfortably.
Whitlock looked in fine fettle early on as he banged In a 180 in the opening two legs and was averaging over 124 despite losing the second leg. That loss was a sign of things to come though, as a bad mistake in leg three let Lewis in to break throw and go 2-1 up.
This seemed to be the turning point so early on as Jackpot then wrapped up a 113 in the next leg to extend his league further. Whitlock was feeling the pressure as he missed three darts at doubles in the fifth leg and again let Lewis in to break him by taking out 96. Jackpot’s finishing was incredible as he regularly only needed one dart at a double, and it proved the case again as he banged in double top to lead 5 -1 at the break.
Whitlock, having started so well, looked completely out of sorts on his doubles as he was immediately broken again after the interval, missing double 18 on the way. Lewis was showing him exactly how it’s done as he then polished off 116 to make it 7-1.
The Wizard got himself a consolation by taking the ninth leg, but it was just delaying the forthcoming Lewis win as the match was brought to a close in style with the World Champ taking out 136 to make it 8-2 and confirm only his second win of the tournament.
An average of 97 shows that Whitlock wasn’t playing too badly, but it was his 17% on the checkouts that cost him badly. He isn’t the player that he was last year which is shown by his finishing as he never would have missed ten darts at doubles twelve months ago. Despite the heavy defeat though he will be in and around the top four at the end I should think.
Lewis has been looking decent throughout the competition and has been on the wrong side of some sensational performances, it was his turn to do it to someone else in Manchester and he was very impressive in doing so. An average of over 100 and 73% checkout success will win you the vast majority of games you turn up for, and this could be the start of a Lewis surge up the table, he will be severely tested by Anderson next week though.
So the league table is starting to shape up, but it is still a very tight one with four of the eight men on four points. Anderson and Taylor are leading the pack and will be pleased with their return of eight from ten. Wade is in trouble at the bottom with just two points, but it isn’t time to write him off just yet I don’t think.
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