/180/ UNIBET PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND-UPS

NIGHT 1
And so that D16 closes an excellent opening night of the Premier League that sees Gerwen top the table again... although it's not THAT one.

James Wade avoided getting Waded himself by Raymond van Barneveld to record the first win of the PLD season. Barney missed multiple darts in legs 1 and 3 for a 3-0 lead and instead was 2-1 down before hitting a nice 104 for a level game. He finally got the break in leg 7 but then immediately lost throw to the Machine having missed 3 for 5-3. This would be the last darts at double he would get as Wade outscored him and won with a superb 124 on the bull.

Gerwyn Price overpowered the boo boys to produce arguably his greatest TV display to go top of the table on match average as he beat Daryl Gurney. Superchin took advantage of the Iceman freezing under the pressure to go 2-0 up, but was then subject to a barrage of scoring from Price, only allowing the Ulsterman two shots at double in a 5 leg streak averaging nearly 110. Daryl ended the run but couldn't find the break needed and lost 7-4, with the Welshman eventually averaging 104.

Chris Dobey should have done so much better against Mensur Suljovic yet somehow drew despite being 5-1 up. Hollywood hit 113 in the opening leg after a nervy start and went 3-0 up with the Gentle nowhere near. A great 84 on bull for the 5-1 lead proved to be disastrous as Dobey then struggled to put anything together, missing 6 darts for a "point" as Suljovic won 5 straight. The Austrian missed D18 for the match and the Bedlington boy hit a last dart D16 for 6-6.

Michael van Gerwen proved just how difficult it'll be for the rest of the field as he snatched victory against Michael Smith with a superb last leg. Amazingly it was not Mighty Mike who got the first leg as Bully Boy broke with a stunning 93 for a 12 darter, but didn't hold it as the game went level again. Three more holds followed before the first key moment; Smith binned two darts to finish 25 and van Gerwen pinned a last dart D8 for 4-2. However, MVG has shown to be vulnerable and proved it as he failed to press on with the break, missing two for 5-3 and then losing the lead thanks to a stunning 150 on D15 from Smithy. Yet again the World runner-up failed to press on, going behind again thanks to a skilled 86 on D4 from the Dutchman and despite taking him to a last leg and matching him dart for dart for the first two visits, a disastrous T5 and 54 scored all but ended it as MVG cleaned up with a perfect 81 closing an 11 darter for victory.

Despite being utter dullards, Peter Wright and Rob Cross played out a rather entertaining draw to close the evening. Although he'd allegedly got to grips with his new set of darts, Snakebite struggled to get anything together early on as Voltage surged into a 2-0 lead including a 10 darter. But Wright finally got his act together and won 4 of the next 5 legs including a clean 100 as his average went from nearly 70 to mid-90s, which Cross didn't expect. Rob survived two darts to go 5-3 down and instead took Peter to a last leg, which he missed D18 to win the game.

NIGHT 2
And so that D16 ends a rather nothing night that saw just a single 100% record remain.

Michael Smith somehow managed to throw away a 4-1 lead to give Peter Wright another jammy point. Despite saying his previous aluminium shafts were great and wouldn't need changing, Snakebite unsurprisingly changed his stem and flight setup again and promptly threw shit, winning the opener but then getting nowhere close in the next 4 legs as Bully Boy ran riot on the "Scot". A last dart D10 saw Wright reduce the gap to 2 but Smith went one away from a point. It was at this time that Snakey somehow got to grips with his setup and won the next 2 legs in 29 darts before he was helped by the crowd mercilessly booing Smith in leg 10, missing 6 darts at his unfavoured D16/D8 area for the draw as Peter tied it up and then missed bull for 6-5 despite Wright managing to completely fuck up a 64 attempt as Clownboy led for the first time since leg 1. Snakey never got a dart for the match in the last leg with both having bounceouts during it as Bully secured the draw.

Rob Cross recorded his first victory in the PLD this season with a surging comeback win against James Wade. The first two legs went with throw before the Machine took advantage of some sloppy finishing from Voltage to open up a 3-1 lead. This shot Cross into life as he took out 115 to kick off a ridiculous 5 leg run which gave Wade zero attempts at a finish and included an 85 bull finish to lead 6-3. James brought it within 2 and missed D12 for a 138 to make it 6-5, with Rob winning on a last dart D5.

Gerwyn Price aimed to shut out the baying Glasgow crowd but managed to lose 4 legs in a row to give Raymond van Barneveld his first point of the campaign. The roaring started early from the Iceman with a nice 174 in his second visit but missed 2 darts for the opening leg as RVB took it. A brilliant 107 kicked off 4 legs of brilliance from Gerwyn; the Welshman took out an awkward Shanghai on 20s for 3-1 and then went 4-1 up. 2 missed darts for 5-1 saw van Barneveld get within two, but he threw the leg away having missed bull for 4-3. Price secured the point the next leg, but missed tops for a last dart 100 for 7-2 and then two more at tops for 7-3, at which point he imploded and only had a dart at D12 for 144 in the deciding leg, which he missed.

Glen Durrant's first TV game as a PDC player was not a complete waste despite getting a lesson in doubling from a brilliant Daryl Gurney. Duzza's first visit of 180 looked to give him a big advantage in the opening leg, but he missed bull as Superchin held throw. A nice 177 setup to leave 12 for the three time BDO winner was wasted through three poor misses and Gurney punished him on D8. Despite scoring brilliantly Durrant just couldn't cope with the near-perfect finishing of Daryl, who hit a 13 darter for 3-0 and then incredible back-to-back 121s on D14 for 5-1. Those sandwiching a 12 darter for Glen, who missed D16 for a 134 the very next leg. Another pair of misses at D18 saw the Ulsterman secure his first point of the campaign, but a surprise miss on 161 for the match allowed the Boro boy to win back-to-back legs, but he got nowhere near in the decider. Such was Gurney's proficiency on the doubles that he had the same attempts in total (7 from 9) than Durrant had misses (9 from 12).

The PLD season already looks ominous as Michael van Gerwen had time to mess about and still batter Mensur Suljovic with ease. The Gentle struggled from the off and immediately lost throw as well as the next two legs to Mighty Mike, who was playing his B+ game. Suljovic survived two darts for 4-0 and got the game back to 2-3,at which point MVG realised what was happening and smacked in a 13 darter followed by a 12 to reopen the 3 leg lead. Mensur's beloved D14 failed him in the next leg in a 121 attempt as Michael cleaned up to secure the point. A rare 170 start eventually got the Austrian another leg as his game finally got together, but it was too late at this stage and he lost the very next leg to be defeated 7-3 and go bottom despite averaging more than his opponent.

NIGHT 3
And so that last dart D8 ends a varied night of darting action.

James Wade suffered a Wading at the hands of Gerwyn Price in a superb clash between the two controversial characters as he lost a 5-2 lead to only exit with a draw. The Machine hit 127 for a 12 darter to hold throw and broke the very next leg as the Iceman's scoring was nowhere and went 2-1 up. Price missed tops for what would have been a monstrous 157 to go 3-2 ahead and then missed a pair for a level game. Wade went 5-2 ahead with an 11 darter but Gerwyn finally found his form, getting the roaring going with a 14 followed by a 13 and then a crucial 88 bull with James waiting on 24 for a point. The Welshman led for the first time since leg 1 at 6-5, but scored 73 with his first 6 darts in leg 12 to draw thanks to a sublime 129 from the Aldershot maniac.

Peter Wright finally recorded a win in the Premier League as Steve Lennon started strongly but fell away massively. Having changed darts yet again, Snakebite was performing far better than he has done recently but couldn't break Lennon early on, missing D16 to win the opening leg and then conceding an 11 darter and a quality 105 out to be 3-0 down. However, a bust on 12 for a 4-0 lead for Steve got Wright into the match with the local hero finally realising where he was and lost 5 legs in a row. The Irishman stopped the rot but couldn't break Peter and lost 7-5.

Michael van Gerwen's 100% record continues with a crushing of a very poor Rob Cross. After a sloppy start in having given Voltage two darts at double, Mighty Mike went berserk on the 2018 World Champ, going 2-0 up with a clean 100 and completely outplaying the forlorn baldie in the next four legs. Cross just had no consistency or rhythm and was on the verge of an historic whitewash. However, van Gerwen inexplicably bust 68 for 7-0 thanks to two dismal D4 attempts (one of which hit single 13) and Rob broke for 6-1. MVG missed a further three for 7-1 and only the most minor inklings of an upset came into play. Alas, it wasn't to be as the Englishman missed D16 for 6-3 and Michael secured the win on D4.

Michael Smith is now bottom of the table after a deserved last gasp win of Daryl Gurney in a very watchable affair. Bully Boy started with a clean 85 and went 2-0 up on Superchin, but was overpowered by the Ulsterman's scoring in the next leg. Smith wired tops for a 154 as Gurney levelled it up and another wired D20 from Michael saw Daryl break and go into the lead. A stunning leg followed as Blubby left tops after 9 but didn't get a shot at it as the two-time major winner thundered in a 140 on D10 for the key hold of throw and 4-2. Norn Iron's #1 then remarkably missed 10 (no thanks to the baying Republic crowd) for 5-2 and instead lost 3 legs in a row to be 5-4 down. But as mentioned before Chin was scoring at a far heavier rate, to the point he didn't give Bully a single shot at a finish in the last 3 legs, which saw the mandible master truly dish out some sweet chin music to the crowd with a 99 average.

Mensur Suljovic suffered a reverse of night 1 where he was the on the end of a fightback from 5-1 down by Raymond van Barneveld. The Gentle must have thought his first win was imminent as Barney played with the air of someone who really couldn't give a fuck, averaging around 82 early doors as Suljovic went 3-0 up with minimal pressure whatsoever (apart from a miss at tops in leg 1). D17 got van Barneveld into the match but he immediately threw it away with two more conceded legs to Mensur, the latter on the beloved D14. This woke Raymond up as he took advantage of the Austrian's scoring collapsing and won 4 legs straight, with just a D18 attempt from Suljovic in leg 8 the only checkout opportunity he got. An important D14 got the point for the Gentle, but a miss at D19 for a daredevil 158 to win let RVB in and he duly stole a point.

NIGHT 4
And so that D20 ends a very good night of action that saw the only 100% record ended.

Luke Humphries shook off a poor start to almost defeat Gerwyn Price in a sensational opening game. The Iceman sped into a 2-0 lead as Cool Hand Luke froze under the lights, averaging low 70s. But a wonderful last dart D14 having survived a dart at tops for a 145 and 3-0 shot Humphries into action and he countered a brilliant 147 from Price with a stellar 161 for what was the night's highest finish. Gerwyn then almost produced a perfect leg, missing D12 for a 144 out but cleaning up the very next dart for a 4-2 lead. Luke then went bonkers himself, holding in 15 before breaking with 81 on the bull and going ahead with an 11 darter ending on 96. The Welshman re-tied the game at 5-5 but the Englishman went ahead once more to "secure" a point on D15 and then just wired D14 for a 148 finish to win the game, allowing the Grand Slam winner to get the tie with a 76 finish that then saw him mock the crowd like a tit... again.

Rob Cross claimed his second win of the campaign with a near-whitewash of a completely disinterested Daryl Gurney. Voltage controlled the match from the off, immediately breaking Superchin in 16 darts and holding to go 2-0 ahead. The Ulsterman just wasn't allowed any double opportunities as Cross missed only 3 darts in the entire game, although Gurney averaging below 90 for most of the game didn't help either. A colossal 153 in leg 5 was the Englishman's highest finish, although he did drop leg 7 to a clean 80 on D10, but Daryl was completely out of sorts, which is worrying for the UK Open.

At long last Mensur Suljovic has a PLD win this year as he outplayed Peter Wright in a game that eventually got good. Two breaks of throw started off the game with Snakebite missing a pair to go 2-0 ahead and conceded legs 2 and 3 to a last dart D14 from The Gentle. Wright's bull shot for 124 in leg 4 missed, and this started a run of 3 legs without a single attempt at a finish as his scoring vanished. Suljovic punished him to the full, securing the point with an audacious bull start 121 that was finished on D16. But then Mensur lost his concentration and Peter surged, winning the next 3 legs in 11, 14 and 14 darts as a repeat of the Austrian's choke last week looked on. However, three straight 140s in leg 11 from the former Champions League winner put the "Scot" in a whole load of trouble and subsequently won the leg.

Michael van Gerwen suffered his first TV defeat of 2019 as he imploded against a valiant James Wade. The match started rather sedately with 3 straight holds, all in 5 visits or more. The key moment of the match came in leg 4; having got down to 47 after 9 against throw, Mighty Mike binned 5 clear darts at double and allowed the Machine to pin D1 last dart in hand for 2-2 rather than 3-1. Despite hitting a 124 the very next leg, incredibly this would be the last leg van Gerwen won as Wade outplayed him from then on, surviving 3 more darts at double to tie it again at 3-3 and then breaking with an exhibition shot of 25-D1-D19 to lead for the first time. Michael's game crumbled to such an extent that he didn't get a single dart at double in the last 3 legs, with James securing the point on a beautiful 121 on the bull and producing the biggest upset of the PLD season so far the next leg. When the bipolar one averaged more than MVG despite averaging 96, you know the Dutchman wasn't there properly.

Raymond van Barneveld drops to the bottom of the table as a crippled Michael Smith produced his best display of the season to win his first game of PLD 2019. Despite visible discomfort, Bully Boy held the opening leg but back-to-back 76s from Barney put him 2-1 ahead and held once more for a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately for van Barneveld he then lost three legs straight as Smith put him under pressure, albeit not that much as just one of the legs was won in under 5 visits to the board. The Dutchman tied the match up again but this was to be his last leg as the Englishman won the match in 14, 12 (including Michael's match high out of 90) and 14 darts.

NIGHT 5
And so that tops closes probably the most incredible league phase game in PLD history to end a night of what was otherwise a series of one sided thrashings.

Rob Cross bounced back from his UK Open final disaster with a crushing victory over Michael Smith. The first four legs went with throw as Voltage just couldn't compete on the Bully Boy throw. But a sensational 164 (the highest out in the PL so far) from the former World Champ in leg 5 completely killed Smith, who didn't even get a dart at double in the next 3 legs. A miss at tops for a 117 match winner from Rob let Michael get a 90 on the bull, but he missed D13 for 6-4 and Cross won with a last dart D3.

Daryl Gurney was on the end of the season's first whitewash as he was annihilated by one of James Wade's greatest performances. Superchin again looked poor to start as the Machine immediately broke and denied Gurney a chance at 48 to break back with a clean take on tops. The gamechanger was leg 3; Daryl had got down to 54 with James on 158, but incredibly Wade hit T20, T20 and D19 for a stunning checkout. The Ulsterman had back-to-back legs where he missed D14 for a 121, but a 13 and 11 darter from the Aldershot ace made it 5-0. A pedestrian 17 darter and then a quality 116 completed the rout in just 96 darts for a 109.59 average and just two darts missed at doubles.

Gerwyn Price produced a sensational showing of finishing to send Mensur Suljovic to yet another defeat. Despite both men having been booed on the walk-ons for their own reasons, it was the Iceman who broke with a 107 and went 2-0 up. The Gentle got his first leg with a last dart D5 but couldn't break as Price went 3-1 up. The surprisingly reserved Welshman then let out a trademark roar as he slammed in 127 on the bull to go 3 ahead and then extended the lead to 4. A Suljovic 11 darter got him to within 3, but Gerwyn crucially never let Mensur get anywhere near on throw and served it out to win 7-3.

Raymond van Barneveld's farewell tour continues to be a complete waste of time as he remains winless after going down easily to Peter Wright. Barney survived a dart at bull to take the opener, but failed twice to hold his throw as Snakebite hit tops for a 2-1 lead. That lead was extended to 3-1 on D19 as RVB demonstrated the complete lack of interest that has seen him fall out of the top 32 in the PDC. Wright then hit 12 and 11 darters before Ray hit his own 11 darter with no celebration whatsoever to get it back to 5-2. A 10 darter secured the point for Peter and although he missed D12 for a 7-2 win, secured the victory on the unlikely D1 with a 106.64 average.

The big one delivered. From the bagpipe walk-on for John Henderson, you just knew this was going to be special. Michael van Gerwen was determined to shut down the boisterous crowd, and went 3-0 up in 41 darts. The Highlander's 6 rocking 180s throughout saw the Aberdeen crowd constantly douse themselves in their own beer, and continued to do so when he got on the board with D10. Mighty Mike extended the lead to 3 and back-to-back maximums for the pair saw Hendo pin D6 for an 81 finish but couldn't break MVG. However, 5-2 saw a change in the Dutchman as his scoring flopped, not even getting a dart at double in leg 8 after 18 darts to only lead 5-3. Leg 9 was the key moment as John countered a 174 with a 180 and completely shook van Gerwen, who binned 4 darts for the point and caused the Aberdonian crowd to go berserk with the score now 5-4. However, a start of 21 in leg 10 saw MVG thump him with a 171 and a 12 darter for 6-4 and it looked over. But it wasn't: not a single score of 100 for the reigning champ in leg 11 meant it was 6-5, and despite an audacious show-off of a T20-T19-T18 start, the big man cleaned up 337 in 8 to secure a famous draw and send the Dons doolally.

NIGHT 6
And so that tops ends a rather low-key night that saw the last unbeaten record go and the league leader change once again.

Nathan Aspinall's UK Open title wasn't enough to see him overcome the Premier league atmosphere as he was hammered by Michael Smith. The Asp struggled to compose himself and immediately lost his throw to a similarly struggling Bully Boy. A disastrous second leg saw Aspinall miss D12 for a 141 to break back and then missed a further 6 darts to level it as Smith went 2-0 up. Nathan went 4-0 down as his doubling deserted him, but finally got on the board in leg 5. Michael hit a 112 to go 1 away from a point, but a stunning 158 from the UK Open winner after the St. Helens fat lad blundered an 81 attempt for said point looked to get him back in the game. Alas, it wasn't to be as the Asp missed big 14 for an 84 bull attempt to go 6-2 down and then, having missed another 3 at tops to stay in the match, watched on as Bully slapped in 127 on the dot for a vital win.

James Wade failed to extend his lead at the top as his uncharacteristically solid finishing deserted him against an impressive Mensur Suljovic. Both players held to open before the Machine missed a pair at D16 to hold, which saw the Gentle swoop in. Two more breaks followed before a key sixth leg saw Wade miss 4 darts to make it 3-3 and Suljovic suitably hit an unorthodox 109 using the outer bull for a 2 leg lead. James hit an 11 darter to get within one but 14 and 15 darters secured the point for the Austrian. The Englishman got nowhere in the 10th and final leg, with the former Champions League winner averaging 101 and finishing at 50% compared to his opponent's lowly 27%.

Raymond van Barneveld remains winless as he was outplayed by a superb Rob Cross. A wonderful 129 for a 12 darter followed by a 13 darter saw Voltage surge into a 2-0 lead, but somehow threw it away as Barney actually put some effort in to get it back to 2-2. RVB missed a pair to take the lead as Cross pinned D4 before re-establishing the 2 leg lead with a 12 darter and then cleaning up leaving 16 after 9 to go 5-2 ahead. Raymond almost recovered a botched 62 attempt but missed D16, allowing Rob to secure the point the next visit. The former World Champ then missed 4 to win the game as the Dutchman DID manage to recover a botched 88 attempt, but finally got over the line in leg 10 after Ray completely fucked up 82, averaging 101 in the process.

Gerwyn Price remains cursed by Michael van Gerwen as the reigning champion moved back to the top in a scrap of a match. In one of the worst opening legs you'll ever see, the Iceman held in 18 darts with Mighty Mike way back on 170, averaging 63 in the leg. MVG levelled it with a 21 darter before breaking for the lead thanks to the game's first 180. Price then missed 4 to break back and the reigning champ opened up a 2 leg lead, but held the next leg. However, the Welshman's first massive roar to celebrate a 174 in leg 6 activated autism and having survived a tops attempt for 3-3, Michael hit it himself for 4-2 and then had two more misses from Gerwyn to thank as he hit that trademark MVG outer-bull start 132 for a 5-2 lead. Van Gerwen cleaned up in 13 and 14 darts to go back to the summit and extend that record to 14-0.

Daryl Gurney secured a vital point as he came from 6-3 down against Peter Wright. Superchin's recent struggles were plain to see in the opening leg as he got nowhere near the Snakebite throw, and had to survive a 148 attempt just to get on the board. Gurney missed tops to break in leg 3 and survived another big shot from Wright, this time 124 on the bull, to hold again. The Scot then hit 91 with an 11 darter for 3-2, but that looked to be the gamechanging moment was in leg 6, as Daryl somehow missed D8 for a 121 and a 12 darter for 3-3 and then proceeded to fluff a further 6 darts to get broken by Peter. A crucial last dart D4 saw the Ulsterman break back having survived a dart for 5-2, but lost his throw again to an 11 darter from the former UK Open champ who got the point with a 90 bull finish. The swagger was back in Chin's game at this point though, and he only let Snakey have one more dart at double despite nearly binning the final leg with a starting visit of 28 to claim the most precious point of his season.

NIGHTS 7-16
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PLAY-OFFS
And so that killer 130 ends what was in all honesty a very anti-climactic evening to end what has been a dragging 2019 Premier League Darts season. Once again, it was Michael van Gerwen who dominated, claiming his fifth PLD title, but it could have been so much different had two players taken their chances.

The first semi-final between Mighty Mike and Daryl Gurney was an extremely tight and scrappy affair that looked to be a replica of their recent TV meetings; despite winning the throw on account of winning the league, MVG just couldn't break Superchin's throw. The first 8 went with throw before Gurney had the chance to break, but missed 3 to do so. Van Gerwen missed D10 to break himself and Daryl pinned D12 last dart to keep it level at the interval. Upon resumption, the Ulsterman got the big break he needed. Alas, he collapsed the very next leg and then missed 6 darts to hold in leg 14. He won just one more leg as MVG's perfect semi-final record continued.

The second between Rob Cross and James Wade was far a higher standard game to start with, as the Machine sped into a 3-1 lead but failed to hold the break and lost 4 legs in a row, concluding with a super 112 for Voltage. 4 missed darts for 6-3 saw Wade get within 1 of Cross, but 2 missed darts for a level game proved costly as Rob hit D8 last dart in hand and surged to victory, dropping only 1 more leg and winning with a nice 128 as James reverted to his 2017 standard.

The decider saw Cross win the throw and immediately lose it to a 15 darter. Two missed darts to finish 87 saw him go 2-0 down and MVG piled on the pressure, going 5-1 ahead with a 112 finish. Suddenly the Englishman produced his best standard against MVG since that Worlds win, rattling off 3 legs in 39 darts and left D18 to level it. Unfortunately, he completely bottled the lot and a huge 74 checkout all but ended it as Cross won just one more leg.