UK Darts Issue 14 - May 2014 | Page 4

Premier League: Week 12 Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig The Phones 4 U Arena in Manchester hosted the twelfth week of Premier League action on Thursday 24th April and with the Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig cut-off date for the play-offs looming large things began to heat up. Both Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen went a long way towards securing their play-off spots, with victories over Adrian Lewis and Dave Chisnall respectively, whilst it was the turn of Gary Anderson to play twice in a night as he looked to carry over his good form from the last couple of weeks. The Flying Scotsman picked up two draws on the night, the first an impressive display to take a point off play-off rival Phil Taylor and the second with fellow Scotsman Robert Thornton, that ensured he would be unable to reach the play-offs in 2014. Thornton too played twice on the night, falling victim to Peter Wright who remained in the play-off places and on course to qualify in his debut season. Peter Wright 7-5 Robert Thornton There was some impressive scoring and finishing from both men in the opening four legs, including three 180s and a 117 checkout from Thornton, but all four went with throw as the pair found themselves locked at 2-2 during the early stages. Wright was the first to produce a break of throw, taking out 98 to lead 3-2, and whilst Thornton was able to break back in the eighth leg to level things up at 4-4 he couldn’t hold on to his own throw to back it up. “This was a good win and hopefully with another week’s practice I can improve again for the last three games” Peter Wright