Paul Nicholson raced into the quarter-finals of the Players Championship tournament in Purfleet after another accomplished performance.
And he will be joined in the last eight by Unicorn stablemate Wes Newton, who held his nerve to win a last leg thriller against Ronnie Baxter.
And there could be two all Unicorn quarter-finals, because Nicholson will face either Adrian Lewis or Andy Hamilton, while Newton plays either Colin Osborne or Michael van Gerwen.
Nicholson’s terrific win over Steve Beaton guarantees him at least £10,000 but also lifts him into the top 32 in the world for the first time – a memorable moment for the Unicorn ace.
Despite losing concentration for three legs in the middle of the match, ‘The Asset’ looked the real deal yet again at the Circus Tavern.
He was 3-1 in front and inexplicably found himself trailing 4-3 before he hit the accelerator to race into the last eight.
“I am thrilled with that win for a lot of reasons,” he said. “It’s a great feeling to finally get in the top 32 in the world and I can now prepare for Sunday knowing I am relaxed and playing well.”
In legs 9 and 10, Nicholson came up with a 104 finish and two dart 97 check-out and it seemed to knock the stuffing out of Beaton.
In the next leg, Nicholson hit six perfect darts but lost the leg! It was only a slight hiccup and a 70 finish took him into those quarter-finals with another impressive average of 94.
Newton showed some ‘bottle’ to win the all Lancashire battle with Baxter!
He raced into a 4-1 lead after hitting two 180s and a brilliant 124 finish on the bull but Baxter kept hitting back and five of the next six legs were won against the throw.
Newton was still in a good position though, as he was 7-5 in front….but he then contrived to miss five darts to win the match 8-5. Those costly misses allowed Baxter to level and send the match into a deciding leg.
Wes kept his cool and finally won it with his 8th match dart at D4.
“I am certainly relieved,” admitted Newton who averaged 94. “It should have been a lot more comfortable for me but it was important not to let all those match darts weigh on my mind, especially when it came to a deciding leg. I am playing well, so let’s see what happens on Sunday!”
There was bitter disappointment for Kevin Painter, as he was beaten in the all Essex battle by good friend Colin Lloyd.
To be fair, it was Lloyd’s best performance on TV for some time. Painter was 4-2 in front but then could only watch on as Lloyd produced a golden spell of darts, winning six straight legs to clinch the win.
“No complaints!” said Painter. “I was probably lucky to win four legs because Colin was very good today.”
Lloyd hit finishes of 104 and 108 and his average of 102.35 was the best of the tournament so far.
In the other match on Saturday afternoon, Wayne Jones came from 5-2 down to win six legs on the spin to beat No.2 seed Mark Walsh
Saturday afternoon 2nd Round results (best of 15 legs):
Steve Beaton 5-8 Paul Nicholson
Colin Lloyd 8-4 Kevin Painter
Mark Walsh 5-8 Wayne Jones
Wes Newton 8-7 Ronnie Baxter
Saturday night 2nd Round schedule:
Adrian Lewis v Andy Hamilton
Jelle Klaasen v Mervyn King
Phil Taylor v Terry Jenkins
Colin Osborne v Michael van Gerwen
By STUART PYKE at The Circus Tavern (Twitter @stuartpykesport)
Photo coutesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC