WEEK THIRTEEN ACTION
It will be a case of double Dutch at the O2 in May after victories for Michael Van Gerwen and Raymond Van Barneveld secured them both a place in the play-offs. Robert Thornton on the other hand, like David Moyes, fell through the dreaded Manchester trapdoor after a draw and a defeat in his two games on the night ended his hopes of reaching the tournament's grand finale. Meanwhile, Phil Taylor's recent power surge back to form was partly halted after a 6-6 tie with Gary Anderson and a venomous performance by Peter Wright helped him narrowly edge Thornton 7-5 to avoid a fourth successive loss and maintain his position inside the Top 4.
By Tarriq Ibrahim
VS
Switching back to the original darts he used to reach the World Championship final back in December proved the Wright move for Snakebite despite the Thorn hitting an impressive seven maximums in the match and missing two darts at double top to draw as he triumphed in the first all Scottish clash of the night.
It all began so well for Thornton as he arrowed in a 137 finish in the 1st leg including two darts at the top of the shop, but from then on, the double 20 finishing that has been his trademark throughout the campaign deserted him leg after leg as he went on to miss a remarkable 13 attempts in total, two of which were in the final leg to give him a precious point.
With his three remaining games being against Taylor, Lewis and Van Gerwen and coming off the back of three successive defeats, Wright knew it was a must-win game to keep his play-off hopes alive and he suitably capitalised on Thornton's poor finishing, landing a particularly vital 121 finish to hold throw after breaking to go 3-2 up.
A 180 for Wright in the 11th leg was key to him breaking his fellow Scotsman and having the advantage of throwing for the match in the final leg where despite missing 49 to win, he kept his cool to snaffle double 8 on his next turn and keep his nose ahead of Taylor and Anderson, leaving Thornton only playing for pride later in the night and for the final three weeks.
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Consecutive wins over Michael Van Gerwen for Taylor in the previous week's Premier League and German Masters boded well for his 4th v 5th clash against the Flying Scotsman but Anderson's continued improved finishing enabled him to sneak a point in a unusual game where both players miscounted at vital stages of the match.
A maximum with his first three darts saw Anderson take the spoils in the first leg,