MATCH REPORTS, reaction and stats from Alexandra Palace as the Holsten Premier League Darts visited London.
Match highlights will be available from 7pm on Friday.
Follow the Holsten Premier League Darts live commentary and match highlights in DartsTV
Holsten Premier League Darts
Night 13, Alexandra Palace, London
Peter Manley 8-3 Dennis Priestley
Terry Jenkins 0-8 Colin Lloyd
Raymond van Barneveld 8-5 Roland Scholten
Adrian Lewis 2-8 Phil Taylor
PETER MANLEY 8-3 DENNIS PRIESTLEY
PETER MANLEY picked up his biggest win of the 2007 Holsten Premier League with a fine 8-3 demolition of Dennis Priestley in the opener at London's Alexandra Palace.
The iconic venue will host the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship from this December, and Manley showed the finishing which has taken him to three previous finals in racing past Priestley.
Although he cannot qualify for the play-offs in Brighton at the end of May, Manley produced a fine display to complete a double over his veteran opponent.
"There's not a lot left to play for other than to finish as high as I can," said Manley. "Dennis didn't turn up tonight but he knows he's more-or-less in the top four.
"I knew a win would take me off the bottom of the table and it's given the other players something to think about and play for now."
Manley swept into an early 3-0 lead, including two double ten finishes and a two-dart 83 in the second leg to break Priestley's throw.
He was off-target on the bullseye to take a second break of throw and move 4-0 up, with Priestley hitting back to get off the mark.
Manley's 97 finish, on double 12, put him 4-1 up before Priestley took the next two legs either side of the break to cut the lead to just one leg.
However, Manley opened leg eight with a maximum and took out double eight with his first dart to stop the comeback in its tracks.
He took out a superb 111 finish on double top to push clear at 6-3, landed double eight once again to take the next and then won the match with a neat 62 checkout.
Match Stats
COLIN LLOYD 8-0 TERRY JENKINS
COLIN LLOYD produced the first whitewash in Premier League history with an 8-0 rout of Terry Jenkins at Alexandra Palace.
Lloyd has been in mixed form throughout the tournament this year and cannot now qualify for the play-offs, but showed his determination to finish with a flourish with his best display yet.
He failed to drop a leg in a thrilling display, setting the tone with a superb first leg to break Jenkins' throw.
A 13-darter in the second leg put him 2-0 up before he broke Jenkins' throw once more with a superb 90 checkout.
His fine finishing continued as he stormed into a 7-0 lead by hitting the double on his final dart in the next four legs to leave Jenkins astounded.
He then completed the victory with another two-dart 90 finish to claim the first flawless victory in the three-year history of the Premier League,
"This is a great result and I'm very happy," said Lloyd. "Terry has been fantastic throughout the Premier League and to whitewash him is amazing.
"Sometimes I've not played to the best of my ability but I'm playing for self pride and I want to give Dennis Priestley as hard a time as possible in Birmingham next week.
"I'm playing full of confidence now and I've not had that for a while. Alexandra Palace is pretty much a home game for me I felt at home!"
Match Stats
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD 8-5 ROLAND SCHOLTEN
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD secured second place in the Holsten Premier League Darts table with an 8-5 win over Roland Scholten in their all-Dutch clash at Alexandra Palace.
The World Champion ended Scholten's slim play-off hopes with the victory, which also confirmed that he will not face defending Premier League champion Phil Taylor in the semi-finals.
Scholten could - and should - have led 4-0 but paid for missed doubles in the first and four legs to let van Barneveld off the hook.
He was royally punished, with a run of six successive legs putting van Barneveld 7-2 up and enabling him to hold off a late fightback to secure his seventh win of the campaign.
"It was hard for me because I knew that I would probably finish second so I didn't have as much focus for this match," said van Barneveld afterwards.
"I lost my concentration but managed to play well in the middle of the game.
"I will be very focused next week to be the first man to beat Phil Taylor in the Premier League.
"Nobody can do what he can and I've got the weekend off to relax now. I'm not playing in the Open Holland but I'll work hard from Monday onwards and I hope it's going to be a great match next week in Birmingham."
Van Barneveld opened with a quality two-dart 93 finish after Scholten was off-target with double top, before the former UK Open champion took the next two to lead.
However, he missed an incredible ten darts at a double to move 3-1 up, with van Barneveld eventually stepping in on double top to level, with a clinical 64 finish then giving him the lead.
A 14-darter against the throw gave van Barneveld a two-leg cushion going into the break, and he won the next three after the restart to move 7-2 up and ensure at least won point.
Scholten kept fighting and won three in a row of his own, including a 120 finish and a 13-darter, but van Barneveld took the 13th with a two-dart 76 finish to seal the win.
Match Stats
PHIL TAYLOR 8-2 ADRIAN LEWIS
PHIL TAYLOR continued his march towards a third Holsten Premier League Darts title with an 8-2 romp against former protege Adrian Lewis at Alexandra Palace.
The defending champion made it 13 games unbeaten in this year's event - and 41 in the tournament's history - with a powerful showing against the 22-year-old.
Lewis paid for missing darts to win the first two legs, having hit two 180s in the second, and Taylor never looked back after establishing a 4-0 lead.
Lewis hit back with two legs either side of the break to trail 5-2, but even a tally of five maximums in the first seven legs was not enough.
Taylor took the eighth and ninth legs in 13 darts, and better that in sealing victory with a quality 11-darter.
The 13-time World Champion averaged over 100 for the fourth time in five weeks, setting up a mouth-watering final league game against Raymond van Barneveld when the pair meet in Birmingham next Thursday.
"It's going to be a massive game against and it's one that everyone loves to watch," said Taylor. "We will enjoy it too, we have a good challenge between us and we feed off each other.
"I'm very happy with this display and that I'm still unbeaten. It's been a hard 13 weeks so far and if Adrian had hit his finishes it could have been different here.
"He's still learning though and he's a cracking player."
Match Stats
Match highlights will be available from 7pm on Friday.
Follow the Holsten Premier League Darts live commentary and match highlights in DartsTV
Holsten Premier League Darts
Night 13, Alexandra Palace, London
Peter Manley 8-3 Dennis Priestley
Terry Jenkins 0-8 Colin Lloyd
Raymond van Barneveld 8-5 Roland Scholten
Adrian Lewis 2-8 Phil Taylor
PETER MANLEY 8-3 DENNIS PRIESTLEY
PETER MANLEY picked up his biggest win of the 2007 Holsten Premier League with a fine 8-3 demolition of Dennis Priestley in the opener at London's Alexandra Palace.
The iconic venue will host the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship from this December, and Manley showed the finishing which has taken him to three previous finals in racing past Priestley.
Although he cannot qualify for the play-offs in Brighton at the end of May, Manley produced a fine display to complete a double over his veteran opponent.
"There's not a lot left to play for other than to finish as high as I can," said Manley. "Dennis didn't turn up tonight but he knows he's more-or-less in the top four.
"I knew a win would take me off the bottom of the table and it's given the other players something to think about and play for now."
Manley swept into an early 3-0 lead, including two double ten finishes and a two-dart 83 in the second leg to break Priestley's throw.
He was off-target on the bullseye to take a second break of throw and move 4-0 up, with Priestley hitting back to get off the mark.
Manley's 97 finish, on double 12, put him 4-1 up before Priestley took the next two legs either side of the break to cut the lead to just one leg.
However, Manley opened leg eight with a maximum and took out double eight with his first dart to stop the comeback in its tracks.
He took out a superb 111 finish on double top to push clear at 6-3, landed double eight once again to take the next and then won the match with a neat 62 checkout.
Match Stats
|
Peter Manley |
8-3 |
Dennis Priestley |
|
17 |
100+ |
13 |
|
6 |
140+ |
9 |
|
2 |
180 |
0 |
|
31.36 |
Ave1 |
28.16 |
|
94.09 |
Ave3 |
84.47 |
|
3 |
LWAT |
1 |
|
111 |
High Finish |
40 x2 |
COLIN LLOYD 8-0 TERRY JENKINS
COLIN LLOYD produced the first whitewash in Premier League history with an 8-0 rout of Terry Jenkins at Alexandra Palace.
Lloyd has been in mixed form throughout the tournament this year and cannot now qualify for the play-offs, but showed his determination to finish with a flourish with his best display yet.
He failed to drop a leg in a thrilling display, setting the tone with a superb first leg to break Jenkins' throw.
A 13-darter in the second leg put him 2-0 up before he broke Jenkins' throw once more with a superb 90 checkout.
His fine finishing continued as he stormed into a 7-0 lead by hitting the double on his final dart in the next four legs to leave Jenkins astounded.
He then completed the victory with another two-dart 90 finish to claim the first flawless victory in the three-year history of the Premier League,
"This is a great result and I'm very happy," said Lloyd. "Terry has been fantastic throughout the Premier League and to whitewash him is amazing.
"Sometimes I've not played to the best of my ability but I'm playing for self pride and I want to give Dennis Priestley as hard a time as possible in Birmingham next week.
"I'm playing full of confidence now and I've not had that for a while. Alexandra Palace is pretty much a home game for me I felt at home!"
Match Stats
|
Terry Jenkins |
0-8 |
Colin Lloyd |
|
9 |
100+ |
11 |
|
6 |
140+ |
5 |
|
0 |
180 |
0 |
|
29.11 |
Ave1 |
32.32 |
|
87.32 |
Ave3 |
96.97 |
|
0 |
LWAT |
4 |
|
0 |
High Finish |
90 |
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD 8-5 ROLAND SCHOLTEN
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD secured second place in the Holsten Premier League Darts table with an 8-5 win over Roland Scholten in their all-Dutch clash at Alexandra Palace.
The World Champion ended Scholten's slim play-off hopes with the victory, which also confirmed that he will not face defending Premier League champion Phil Taylor in the semi-finals.
Scholten could - and should - have led 4-0 but paid for missed doubles in the first and four legs to let van Barneveld off the hook.
He was royally punished, with a run of six successive legs putting van Barneveld 7-2 up and enabling him to hold off a late fightback to secure his seventh win of the campaign.
"It was hard for me because I knew that I would probably finish second so I didn't have as much focus for this match," said van Barneveld afterwards.
"I lost my concentration but managed to play well in the middle of the game.
"I will be very focused next week to be the first man to beat Phil Taylor in the Premier League.
"Nobody can do what he can and I've got the weekend off to relax now. I'm not playing in the Open Holland but I'll work hard from Monday onwards and I hope it's going to be a great match next week in Birmingham."
Van Barneveld opened with a quality two-dart 93 finish after Scholten was off-target with double top, before the former UK Open champion took the next two to lead.
However, he missed an incredible ten darts at a double to move 3-1 up, with van Barneveld eventually stepping in on double top to level, with a clinical 64 finish then giving him the lead.
A 14-darter against the throw gave van Barneveld a two-leg cushion going into the break, and he won the next three after the restart to move 7-2 up and ensure at least won point.
Scholten kept fighting and won three in a row of his own, including a 120 finish and a 13-darter, but van Barneveld took the 13th with a two-dart 76 finish to seal the win.
Match Stats
|
Raymond van Barneveld |
8-5 |
Roland Scholten |
|
22 |
100+ |
17 |
|
8 |
140+ |
12 |
|
1 |
180 |
2 |
|
30.83 |
Ave1 |
30.51 |
|
92.49 |
Ave3 |
91.54 |
|
3 |
LWAT |
2 |
|
93 |
High Finish |
120 |
PHIL TAYLOR 8-2 ADRIAN LEWIS
PHIL TAYLOR continued his march towards a third Holsten Premier League Darts title with an 8-2 romp against former protege Adrian Lewis at Alexandra Palace.
The defending champion made it 13 games unbeaten in this year's event - and 41 in the tournament's history - with a powerful showing against the 22-year-old.
Lewis paid for missing darts to win the first two legs, having hit two 180s in the second, and Taylor never looked back after establishing a 4-0 lead.
Lewis hit back with two legs either side of the break to trail 5-2, but even a tally of five maximums in the first seven legs was not enough.
Taylor took the eighth and ninth legs in 13 darts, and better that in sealing victory with a quality 11-darter.
The 13-time World Champion averaged over 100 for the fourth time in five weeks, setting up a mouth-watering final league game against Raymond van Barneveld when the pair meet in Birmingham next Thursday.
"It's going to be a massive game against and it's one that everyone loves to watch," said Taylor. "We will enjoy it too, we have a good challenge between us and we feed off each other.
"I'm very happy with this display and that I'm still unbeaten. It's been a hard 13 weeks so far and if Adrian had hit his finishes it could have been different here.
"He's still learning though and he's a cracking player."
Match Stats
|
Adrian Lewis |
2-8 |
Phil Taylor |
|
8 |
100+ |
14 |
|
7 |
140+ |
9 |
|
6 |
180 |
0 |
|
31.41 |
Ave1 |
33.82 |
|
94.23 |
Ave3 |
101.45 |
|
0 |
LWAT |
3 |
|
40 |
High Finish |
90 |