favour of Barneveld the Dutchman struck, landing a 180 followed by a
121 checkout to open up a two leg advantage.
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
Taylor fought back well, and he was in fact the first man to secure a
point, despite van Barneveld opening the eleventh leg with back-toback 180s. Taylor responded with a maximum of his own before landing
double twelve to move in front for the first time at 6-5.
Barney was in top form however and he returned, landing another
maximum in the twelfth leg on his way to securing a draw, his fourth
in a row.
“In some ways this felt like a win because I’ve qualified for the second
half of the season and I can relax now and get ready for the next six or
seven weeks,”said Taylor.
“I know I can play better than I did here, but it’s been very difficult
this season and this game was no different because Raymond produced
some fantastic darts and finished well.
“We had a lot of nerves out there but for me it’s all about moving on
now and trying to get into the top four.”
Van Barneveld’s point meant that he had to settle for a draw for a
fourth successive week, although he remains in third place in the
league table.
“It was a great battle and there’s no disappointment,” said van
Barneveld. “After being 5-3 up and 6-4 down I thought I’d blown it but
I’m happy with a point against the best player in the world.
“I’ve had four draws in the past four weeks and am the only player to
have beaten Michael van Gerwen so far and I’m third in the table, so
I’m very pleased.”
The Verdict
With Phil Taylor’s survival secured the attention of the media will
now switch to his play-off push, perhaps then we have been a bit
too hasty to write him off, and in some cases not for the first
time. True he was woeful at the start of the season, but as
he adjusts we can only expect more and more from The
Power over the coming weeks.
Simon Whitlock too started poorly, and despite some
battling performances over the last two weeks the
former European Champion looks to have a tough
season ahead. He has the class to pull through though,
and once his minor health issues are resolved I expect
him to perform much better over the coming months.
The biggest talking point of the night however has to
have been Peter Wright’s so called ‘antics’ in his match
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
“We had a lot of
nerves out there
but for me it’s all
about moving on
now and trying to
get into the top
four”
Phil Taylor