PHIL TAYLOR 4-1 MATT CLARK
(1-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-1)
PHIL TAYLOR recovered from an early scare to defeat Matt Clark 4-1 in the second round of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and remain on course for an unprecedented 13th title.
Kent star Clark, ranked 31 in the world, stunned Taylor by winning the first set 3-1 to take a shock lead.
But the defending champion came back strongly, winning 12 out of the next 14 legs to storm into the next round.
After seeing Taylor take the first leg against the darts, Clark landed 97 checkout to level matters and then won the next two legs to move ahead.
A rattled Taylor won the next seven legs in succession to put himself ahead in the game before Clark hit a 141 finish to square the fourth set.
Taylor wasted little time in wrapping up that set, and then won the fifth 3-1 to move into the last 16.
"I'm through and happy with that," said Taylor. "Matt's a steady player and he did well.
"With the format getting longer you can afford to lose a set, but not two, so I had to step my game up a bit.
"But I'm getting more confident as the rounds go on and it gets longer."
Match Stats
|
Phil Taylor |
4-1 |
Matt Clark |
|
28 |
100+ |
23 |
|
9 |
140+ |
8 |
|
8 |
180 |
2 |
|
34.13 |
Ave1 |
28.54 |
|
102.40 |
Ave3 |
85.62 |