PHIL TAYLOR and Raymond van Barneveld remain unbeaten after two weeks of the Holsten Premier League Darts, after taking victories from the visit to the Seaburn Leisure Centre.
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Taylor played twice on the opening night of the event last week, and came from behind to end Roland Scholten's unbeaten start in Sunderland.
The defending champion trailed 3-2 before putting in a run of five straight legs that gave him the cushion to win the game.
"I'm very happy," said Taylor. "I've still got areas in his game that I can improve on, but three wins from three is all I wanted."
Scholten had earlier opened proceedings with his own 8-4 win, against Ronnie Baxter, while fellow Dutchman van Barneveld was also victorious.
After opening his campaign with a win last week, he came from 2-0 down to win 8-4 against Wayne Mardle, including five ton-plus finishes in another impressive display.
The evening's other game saw Colin Lloyd defy the pain of a bad back to win 8-6 against Peter Manley.
Holsten Premier League Darts
Seaburn Leisure Centre, Sunderland
Ronnie Baxter 4-8 Roland Scholten
Wayne Mardle 4-8 Raymond van Barneveld
Colin Lloyd 8-6 Peter Manley
Roland Scholten 4-8 Phil Taylor
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RONNIE BAXTER 4-8 ROLAND SCHOLTEN
ROLAND SCHOLTEN punished Ronnie Baxter's missed doubles to maintain his 100% start to the Holsten Premier League Darts with an 8-4 win.
Scholten overcame Peter Manley in his Premier League opener last week, and his impressive form continued as he despatched Baxter with ease.
Baxter led 2-0 after a superb start, landing a 158 checkout in the second leg to move clear.
But he paid the price for missing six darts at a double, with Scholten taking five of the next six legs to move into a 5-3 advantage.
Baxter hit back to win the ninth leg, despite a maximum from Scholten, before the Dutchman restored his cushion by punishing two further misses from his opponent.
He hit another maximum on his way to securing at least a point at 7-4, and then wrapped up the win with ease in the 12th leg.
"I'm very happy," said Scholten. "It was a good win, the crowd were awesome and the atmosphere lifted me.
"Ronnie missed a few doubles, as I did, but it took me a little time to settle down and I'm feeling confident now."
WAYNE MARDLE 4-8 RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD continued his dream start to the Holsten Premier League Darts with an 8-4 win over Wayne Mardle at Sunderland's Seaburn Leisure Centre.
The Dutchman made his debut in the PDC with a superb win over Ronnie Baxter, and averaged 100 in seeing off Mardle.
He hit five finishes of over 100, including the night's highest of 164 to earn him a £1,000 bonus, which he will donate to charity.
Mardle started well, taking the opening two legs before Barneveld landed a 107 checkout.
He then hit two successive 12-dart legs, following up his 164 finish with a 126 before Mardle hit back to level the game at 3-3.
Barneveld came back from the break with checkouts of 120 and 116 to put himself in command, although Mardle landed double nine to pull back to 5-4.
The Dutchman, though, moved closer to victory in the tenth leg, a 171 setting up a two-dart finish before he took the next two legs to complete the win.
"I was enjoying myself and this is fantastic," said van Barneveld afterwards. "The atmopshere makes you want to play good darts.
"This is the level I want to play at, every week against the best players in the world and it's great."
He takes on fellow Dutchman Roland Scholten next week in Aberdeen, and added: "Roland and me are good friends and he's a fantastic player.
"He's won two games already and there are no easy matches, so I'll look forward to the challenge."
COLIN LLOYD 8-6 PETER MANLEY
COLIN LLOYD defied the pain of a bad back to edge out Peter Manley 8-6 and claim his first win of the 2006 Holsten Premier League Darts.
The world number one opened his campaign with a heavy loss to Phil Taylor seven days ago, but responded in style against Manley in a thrilling game.
Lloyd raced into a 4-1 lead, including a 160 finish in the fifth leg.
Manley managed to pull back a leg before the break with double eight, and took the next two after the restart, including a 141 finish, to level matters.
Lloyd landed a 102 checkout to move 5-4 up, but Manley then took the next two legs to move to within touching distance of a point.
However, the man nicknamed "One Dart" saw his trademark double top finish fail him in the next two legs, missing three darts to allow Lloyd to go back in front at 7-6.
Lloyd - who hit a nine-dart leg to win the Irish Masters last weekend - then ensured both points with a brilliant ten-darter to leave Manley without a victory in two matches.
"My back is playing up a bit, but it wouldn't have been an excuse for me if I'd lost tonight," said Lloyd.
"To get the win is nice because I knew it would be tough, but it was great to put in such a big last leg.
"Peter took some good shots out, but it's two points on the board for me and I'm very happy."
ROLAND SCHOLTEN 4-8 PHIL TAYLOR
PHIL TAYLOR'S unbeaten start to the Holsten Premier League Darts continued with an 8-4 victory over Roland Scholten.
The pair went into the clash unbeaten after two games, but Taylor made his Dutch opponent pay for a string of missed doubles.
Taylor himself was under par after a fine opening week in Blackburn seven days earlier.
The 13-time World Champion went 2-0 up before Scholten stepped in to take the next three legs and edge clear.
However, Taylor responded with five straight legs to secure at least a point at 7-3, with the Dutchman a total of nine darts at a double as he slipped behind.
A maximum helped Scholten on the way to the 11th leg, but Taylor landed double top in the next to seal victory.
"That's a good win for me," said Taylor. "Roland's a very high scorer and it was a tough game.
"I've got things I can work on in my game but I'm okay and very happy with how I've started."