Taylor ‘Powers’ to Barney win!

Philip Taylor was at his irresistible best to win the eagerly awaited Premier League clash with Raymond van Barneveld in Exeter.

It leaves Barney still waiting for his first victory over Taylor in the Premier League and it leaves the 15 times World Champion in second place in the table.

Taylor was certainly in the mood and in the groove….he was out to make a point and he did just that!

The Dutchman had chances but when he failed to take them, Taylor stepped in time after time, and this result is bound to hit Barneveld hard, while Taylor showed that he is getting back to full ‘Power’!

Barneveld missed 14 darts at doubles. That tells its own story.

The match was probably won and lost in the third leg. Taylor was 2-0 in front…..Barney missed two darts at ‘tops’ to get on the board, only to see his opponent nail a 147 finish.

Taylor went 6-0 up after Barney missed more darts at doubles and ‘The Power’ also came up with a magical 10 dart leg.

But you have to give credit to the Dutchman, who refused to throw the towel in…..he got it back to 6-3, including a 111 finish, but he blew five darts to make it 6-4 and Taylor mopped up on D1. He then completed the 8-3 win.

“It was closer than the score suggests, because Barney missed a lot of darts at doubles. But I am very pleased. It is an important win for me,” Taylor said.

Taylor had been to his villa in Tenerife for a break to help him to prepare!

“I have to say that I am really loving it at the moment. I guess I realise that I only have a few years left, so I will make sure I embrace every moment,” he added.

But Gary Anderson stays top of the Premier League after he made it four wins out of four with a convincing 8-3 victory over James Wade.

Wade looked out-of-sorts but Anderson has made the perfect start to life in the Premier League in his debut season.

There was no coming back for the Unicorn ace as the Scot raced into a 4-0 lead….Wade stopped rot, but only after Anderson missed two darts at D18 for a 5-0 lead.

But it was only brief respite, because Anderson’s heavy scoring was piling the pressure on Wade. He managed to get it back to 5-3 but Anderson put his foot on the accelerator to win three consecutive legs and that was that.

And of course, it is Anderson against Taylor at the MEN Arena in Manchester in week five…..what a match that will be.

World Champion Adrian Lewis was walloped 8-2 by Mark Webster, but to be fair, the Unicorn man didn’t do a lot wrong!

It is now three straight defeats for Lewis and his opening night victory over Taylor at the O2 Arena is a distant memory….but Webster was inspired, producing a near perfect performance.

The Welshman averaged an amazing 110 in disposing of Lewis at the Westpoint Arena – hitting 180s for fun, three ton plus finishes and an 80 per cent check-out success rate….it was that good!

And his average was the sixth best in the entire history of the Premier League….needless to say, the top five all belong to Taylor (116, 112 and three 111 averages)

Lewis averaged 103 but it was never going to be enough with Webster in this mood.

The first five legs went with throw….Webster hitting finishes of 101, 120 and 124, while Lewis won his two legs with check-outs of 80 and 93…..it was top quality tungsten.

But Lewis was then hit by a Webster whirlwind, as the Welsh master reeled off six legs on the spin in some style.

Webster hit eight doubles from ten attempts….in fact he only missed darts at a double in one leg in the entire match! Even Lewis couldn’t survive a barrage like that.

Unfortunately, it also turned into a nightmare night in the South West for Unicorn’s Terry Jenkins, who will want to forget about this performance as soon as possible.

Jenkins’ 8-1 thrashing at the hands of Simon Whitlock was a third consecutive defeat, which leaves him bottom of the table, and it was also the biggest loss that any player has suffered in 2011 PL Darts so far.

The Australian celebrated his 42nd birthday in style and he bullied ‘The Bull’ right from the off….Jenkins was never in it.

Whitlock broke in the opening leg and never looked back. Jenkins’ only success came in the third leg, when he hit his only 180 and finished on 76, but it was small consolation…..the Aussie averaged 100 – a full ten points more than his opponent.

Jenkins knows that he has to stop the rot in week five when the PL Roadshow hits Manchester, where he will face Webster.

Exeter – week 4 results:

Terry Jenkins 1-8 Simon Whitlock
Mark Webster 8-2 Adrian Lewis
Gary Anderson 8-3 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 3-8 Phil Taylor

By STUART PYKE


Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC and Chris Sargeant