It was as close as we all expected it to be….it was as thrilling as we all expected it to be but Phil Taylor edged out big rival Gary Anderson in a classic in Manchester.
It was the Scot’s first defeat but he had his chances to snatch at least a point on a dramatic night at the MEN Arena…..Anderson stays on top of the Premier League ahead of Taylor on leg difference.
Elsewhere in week five in Manchester, Raymond van Barneveld trounced James Wade 8-2 in the big all Unicorn clash, Adrian Lewis was back to his brilliant best in destroying Simon Whitlock, while Terry Jenkins hauled himself off the bottom of the table.
The big moment in the Taylor match came in the 13th leg….it was six legs apiece and Anderson missed two darts at ‘tops’ to break the throw and go in front. Those misses changed the game.
And Taylor revealed that he switched back to his ‘old’ darts for the match. “I have tried to change things round and Unicorn have been brilliant with me but I will stick with these now!”
The ‘Rosso’ darts certainly did the trick for Taylor.
“It was really tough because Gary is such a great player, so this is a very pleasing win for me,” he added.
Taylor went two legs in front but Anderson hit back to level and it was then nip and tuck as the next eight legs all went with throw.
That 13th leg saw Anderson miss those two darts at D20 and Taylor hit D17 to make it 7-6 and in the final leg, a terrific 177 set up the victory chance and with Anderson waiting to pounce for the point, Taylor hit ‘tops’ with the last dart in his hand to secure the win.
It was that close….it could have gone either way and we will all look forward to their next clash next month in Liverpool.
Barney responded brilliantly to his defeat to Taylor in Exeter, as he proved far too good for James Wade, who clearly looks like he is really struggling for confidence at the moment.
“I feel for James at the moment,” said the Dutchman, who is now third in the table. “I am a bit up and down with my game but I am happy to win!”
When Wade nailed a 136 finish, he trailed only 2-3 and it looked like being a close run thing. But Barney swung the momentum his way, hitting doubles when it mattered.
And he won five consecutive legs, including three 180s, a terrific 86 finish, two 12 darters and he clinched the win on D8….a result which leaves Wade bottom of the table.
Lewis was sensational…..an 8-2 win over Whitlock and a victory which lifts him from 7th up to 4th in the table.
After the Aussie won the opening leg in 12 darts, Unicorn’s World Champion clicked through the gears and put pressure on Whitlock, who started to miss doubles.
Seven legs on the spin followed for Lewis…..a 113 finish, four 180s, then a brilliant D8 when the target looked impossible! And he won it in style with finishes of 116 and 136 to finish with an average of 102.
Lewis’ finishing was top drawer…..8/11 – a 73 per cent check-out success rate.
“That was much better,” he declared. “To be fair I haven’t played that badly and I can’t wait to get to Glasgow next week to take on Gary Anderson!”
It was a relieved Terry Jenkins, who stopped the rot after three straight defeats, to produce his best display of this year’s Premier League.
His 8-4 win over Mark Webster came with a 99 average and six 180s!
“I have been a bit low on confidence on the big stage this year, but this will do me the world of good. I know I have got the game to beat anyone. I just have to produce my best more often. It is all about consistency,” said the Unicorn man.
At the mid-match interval, Jenkins was averaging 105. He had hit a 104 finish and crucially broke the Welshman in the 6th leg to lead 4-2.
In fact ‘The Bull’ went on a charge, as he won five consecutive legs and he was clinical on ‘tops’ – hitting five times out of six….Webster briefly threatened a comeback as he won two straights legs but Jenkins made sure of the win with a sixth maximum and another great finish on D20
Week 5 Manchester results:
Terry Jenkins 8-4 Mark Webster
Phil Taylor 8-6 Gary Anderson
James Wade 2-8 Raymond van Barneveld
Simon Whitlock 2-8 Adrian Lewis
Week 6 schedule in Glasgow:
Terry Jenkins v James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld v Mark Webster
Simon Whitlock v Phil Taylor
Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis
By STUART PYKE at the MEN Arena, Manchester
Photos courtesy Chris Sargeant