COLIN LLOYD claimed Players Championship glory for a second successive weekend, defeating Simon Whitlock 6-4 to win Sunday's PDC ProTour event in Crawley.
The Essex star took the Canadian Masters title a week ago and continued that form to take his fourth tournament win of the year.
Having been a first-game victim in Saturday's Players Championship, losing to Steve Evans, he bounced back well to take the £6,000 prize money, producing some battling performances.
He needed a deciding 11th leg to defeat Gary Welding and Terry Jenkins in his opening two matches, before then seeing off Steve Beaton 6-4 and then going the distance once more against Tony Eccles.
A 6-3 semi-final win over Alan Tabern secured his spot in the final, and he maintained the momentum to move 2-0 up against Whitlock in the decider.
He also led 3-1 before Whitlock hit back to level, but a pressure 104 checkout - after the Australian left 64 - saw him regain a 4-3 lead.
Whitlock levelled on double top, with Lloyd hitting the same bed to go 5-4 up and repeating the feat to seal victory after his rival missed a dart to save the game with a 120 finish.
"It's been a tough day and it's very satisfying to win that," said Lloyd. "I had some really hard games throughout the day but I battled through them.
"It's good to have that winning feeling twice in as many weeks. I'm not playing brilliantly on the Saturdays at the moment but I seem to love Sunday!"
Whitlock had been hoping to claim his fifth Players Championship win of the year, but was left to settle for the £3,000 runner-up prize.
The number one seed saw off Andy Jenkins and Steve Hine in the early stages before then defeating Ronnie Baxter in a deciding leg and both Brendan Dolan and Jamie Caven with 6-4 scorelines.
The win over Caven had seen the Englishman post a nine-darter in defeat, his first in competition which earned him a £2,800 bonus in addition to his £1,500 prize money.
Caven - who won the London Ontario Players Championship last Saturday and reached Sunday's final - finished the nine-darter with a remarkable route, opening with a 167 score, hitting a 180 with his second visit to the oche and then checking out 154 with two treble 20s and double 17.
The event leaves two further Players Championships - in Nuland in a fortnight - ahead of the cut-off for places in the Bodog.com World Grand Prix in Dublin next month.
Players Championship 26
First Round
Simon Whitlock (1) Bye
Andy Jenkins 6-2 Dave Ansell
Steve Hine (32) 6-2 Jim McKevitt
Patrick Pace 6-2 Mark Tiller
Mark Dudbridge (16) 6-3 Matt Clark
Scott Rand 6-4 Andy Callaby
Ronnie Baxter (17) 6-3 Dave Ladley
Martyn Turner 6-3 Dave Honey
Andy Hamilton (8) Bye
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Mark Jodrill
Mark Webster (25) 6-2 Peter Manley
Nick Fullwell 6-0 Henry Zapata
James Wade (9) Bye
Arron Monk 6-4 Peter Hudson
Brendan Dolan (24) 6-4 Martyn Bevan
Joe Cullen 6-5 Dave Askew
Jamie Caven (5) Bye
Mareno Michels 6-3 Kevin McDine
Jelle Klaasen (28) 6-2 Roland Scholten
Gary Eastwood 6-1 Adrian Gray
Mark Walsh (12) Bye
Andy Pearce 6-2 Andy Mason
Kevin Painter (21) 6-0 Andy Relf
John MaGowan 6-3 Aodhagan O'Neill
Gary Anderson (4) Bye
Colin Monk 6-2 Ian McFarlane
Robert Thornton (29) 6-3 Steve Grubb
Steve Maish 6-2 Steven Pearson
Denis Ovens (13) Bye
Dean Allsopp 6-0 Geoff Whitworth
Co Stompe (20) 6-0 Jon Archer
Richie Burnett 6-5 Louis Blundell
Wes Newton (2) Bye
Steve Farmer 6-2 Terry Temple
Matt Padgett 6-5 Peter Wright (31)
Stuart Dutton 6-3 Par Riihonen
John Part 6-4 Mervyn King (15)
Wayne Atwood 6-0 Tony Randell
Alan Tabern (18) 6-2 Paul Williams
Justin Pipe 6-1 Alex Roy
Vincent van der Voort (7) Bye
Steve Evans 6-3 Michael Barnard
Michael van Gerwen (26) 6-2 Mark Frost
Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Jimmy O'Regan
Wayne Jones (10) Bye
Chris Thompson 6-3 Ryan Herrington
Paul Nicholson (23) 6-4 William O'Connor
Dennis Smith 6-1 Tony Ayres
Colin Lloyd (6) Bye
Gary Welding 6-4 Ian Jopling
Terry Jenkins (27) 6-2 Paul Rowley
Michael Smith 6-1 Stephen Hardy
Steve Beaton (11) Bye
Mark Hylton 6-0 Steve Randall
Steve Brown (22) 6-3 Dylan Duo
Ian White 6-2 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Adrian Lewis (3) Bye
Jamie Atkins 6-5 Nigel Birch
Tony Eccles (30) 6-1 Steve Perkins
Sam Allen 6-3 Mark Jones
Colin Osborne (14) Bye
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Matt Gallett
Darren Johnson 6-4 Barrie Bates (19)
Mick McGowan 6-2 Simon Burt
Second Round
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Steve Hine 6-4 Patrick Pace
Mark Dudbridge 6-2 Scott Rand
Ronnie Baxter 6-0 Martyn Turner
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Mark Webster 6-2 Nick Fullwell
James Wade 6-2 Arron Monk
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Joe Cullen
Jamie Caven 6-3 Mareno Michels
Gary Eastwood 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Mark Walsh 6-4 Andy Pearce
Kevin Painter 6-5 John MaGowan
Gary Anderson 6-2 Colin Monk
Robert Thornton 6-3 Steve Maish
Denis Ovens 6-3 Dean Allsopp
Co Stompe 6-3 Richie Burnett
Steve Farmer 6-5 Wes Newton
Stuart Dutton 6-2 Matt Padgett
John Part 6-5 Wayne Atwood
Alan Tabern 6-1 Justin Pipe
Steve Evans 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Wayne Jones 6-4 Chris Thompson
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Dennis Smith
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Gary Welding
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Michael Smith
Steve Beaton 6-2 Mark Hylton
Ian White 6-2 Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Jamie Atkins
Tony Eccles 6-1 Sam Allen
Colin Osborne 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Darren Johnson 6-3 Mick McGowan
Losers £200
Third Round
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Steve Hine
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Mark Webster 6-4 Nigel Heydon
Brendan Dolan 6-4 James Wade
Jamie Caven 6-3 Gary Eastwood
Kevin Painter 6-5 Mark Walsh
Robert Thornton 6-3 Gary Anderson
Co Stompe 6-2 Denis Ovens
Stuart Dutton 6-5 Steve Farmer
Alan Tabern 6-3 John Part
Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Steve Evans
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Wayne Jones
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Steve Beaton 6-5 Ian White
Tony Eccles 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Darren Johnson 6-3 Colin Osborne
Losers £300
Fourth Round
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Ronnie Baxter
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Mark Webster
Jamie Caven 6-3 Kevin Painter
Co Stompe 6-3 Robert Thornton
Alan Tabern 6-2 Stuart Dutton
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Steve Beaton
Tony Eccles 6-2 Darren Johnson
Losers £500
Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Jamie Caven 6-3 Co Stompe
Alan Tabern 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Tony Eccles
Losers £1,000
Semi-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Jamie Caven - Jamie Caven hits nine-darter in second leg
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Alan Tabern
Losers £1,500
Final
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000
Final - Leg-By-Leg
Whitlock 0-1 Lloyd - Lloyd takes out 130 on double five for a 12-darter
0-2 - Whitlock misses the bull for a 124 finish and also double four before Lloyd leaves eight with a 140 and checks out to break throw
1-2 - Whitlock hits a 180 and breaks back in 15 darts
1-3 - Lloyd replies with a maximum of his own in a 13-darter to regain a two-leg advantage
2-3 - Double 16 sees Whitlock break throw once more
3-3 - Whitlock levels on double nine
3-4 - Lloyd checks out a pressure 104, with Whitlock waiting on 64 to take the lead
4-4 - Double top sees Whitlock level again
4-5 - Lloyd hits double top at the second time of asking to move a leg away from victory
4-6 - Whitlock misses tops for a 120 finish and Lloyd hits the same bed to take the win