A review of Thursday night's Unibet Premier League action in Liverpool, featuring Michael van Gerwen's heated victory over Gerwyn Price.
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MVG melts Iceman in frosty affair
The standard of darts was ablaze with quality but there was a frosty end to another gripping instalment of Michael van Gerwen's rivalry with Gerwyn Price.
The world number one, who produced a stirring comeback in their epic UK Open final on Sunday, looked in danger of dropping points at 5-4 down despite bossing the averages but won three legs on the trot to claim a 7-5 victory.
Price headed to Liverpool probably still cursing a run of 12 missed darts at doubles in four legs that cost him 'FA Cup of Darts' glory at the weekend, but he looked to have put it to the back of his mind enough to produce a battling display, even if it was below his best.
The first 10 legs of the match all went with throw and although van Gerwen spurned five darts to break, including three in the ninth, his barrage of heavy scoring prevented Price creating one opportunity to do the same.
Within this period of play, the pair traded big 100+ checkouts in successive legs when Price's 157 was followed by MVG's 123 to level the match at 4-4.
Eventually the break came in the 11th leg when MVG took out 81 to complete a fine 12-darter with Price waiting to come back on 85 while he completed the job thanks to his sixth 180 of the match.
The five-time champion's average of 106.27 was his highest of the Premier League season while he also hit seven of his 17 darts at doubles, as Price posted a mark of 98.07, hit five maximums and missed five at the outer ring.
Van Gerwen is one point behind Glen Durrant in the table as he bids to maintain his record of winning the 'regular season' in each of his eight campaigns.
There had been a flashpoint earlier in the encounter when Price started a visit so soon after MVG had retrieved his darts that he nearly threw one in the Dutchman's head.
The Grand Slam of Darts champion has now lost 21 of their 24 meetings but he's not been beaten by more than two legs in any of their last 10, which includes his two wins and a Premier League draw in 2019.
Duzza delight again
Glen Durrant's dream debut season in the Premier League continued as he maintained his grip on top spot with a battling 7-5 victory over Daryl Gurney.
The three-time BDO world champion produced yet another deadly display of finishing which has characterised his campaign - but also had to show his iron mental strength to repel his opponent's late comeback.
Duzza didn't hit a single maximum in the match but crucially pinned seven of his 11 'double' attempts, which included two at the bullseye to finish off 127 and 88.
Gurney, who headed to Liverpool with renewed confidence having reached the UK Open semi-finals at the weekend, kicked off the match with a stunning 144 checkout and despite falling 6-3 down, he fought back to force a deciding leg.
The Northern Irishman hit three 180s and averaged fractionally higher with 95.43 but ultimately his nine missed darts from 14 attempts were pivotal.
Durrant completed the job with a 14-darter which ensures he'll stay top after the night on nine points, while Gurney remains bottom and winless on two.
Aspinall rallies for point
Nathan Aspinall produced an inspired comeback from 5-1 down to rescue a point in an entertaining draw with Gary Anderson.
It initially looked as though it would be a night to forget for the Stockport man, who missed seven darts at a double to break the Flying Scotsman in the opening leg, and while he quickly responded with an 11-darter, he just didn't seem to be at the races.
Anderson wasn't exactly at his best either but looked home and dry when an 87 checkout put him two legs from victory.
Suddenly the Aspinall of the past 18 months turned up with a bang, reeling off legs in 13, 11, 14 and 11 darts to restore parity, hitting four 180s in the process.
A match high checkout of 95, with Aspinall waiting on tops, guaranteed Anderson a point only for his opponent to fire in an eighth maximum and a finish of 88 en route to a 12-darter in the decider.
Snakebite shines to sink Smith
Peter Wright bounced back from his disappointing UK Open weekend as he outclassed Michael Smith in Liverpool.
The world champion, who also beat Bully Boy to win the season-opening Masters final, was unable to make it three televised titles on the trot in Minehead when Daryl Gurney dumped him out in the sixth round but rediscovered his touch on Thursday night to run out a relatively comfortable 7-4 winner.
Snakebite averaged 100.78 compared to his opponent's 94 and hit one more maximum with five, while his checkout of 65 to take the second leg was surprisingly the highest of the match.
There may have been little in the way of high finishes to thrill the crowd but Wright's scoring and quality finishing helped him surge into a 5-1 lead.
Smith finally sprung into life when threatening an unlikely comeback by taking three of the next four legs - including 13 and 14 darters either side of a shambolic ninth in which both players missed nine doubles between them.
However, it served only to lessen the legs difference as Wright finished him off with a quality 10-darter.
Bunting draws home comfort
Stephen Bunting became the sixth Challenger to earn a Premier League draw as he pinched the deciding leg to deny Rob Cross a crucial victory.
The Merseysider, playing in front of his home fans in this competition since losing 7-1 to Phil Taylor as a fully fledged member of the line-up back in 2015, even looked in pole position to emulate Luke Humphries' historic victory two weeks ago when surging into a 4-1 lead.
Voltage, however, fought back by taking four legs on the spin, with a fabulous 119 checkout edging him in front.
After the next two legs went with throw, the decider was a tense affair with neither player able to find the trebles consistently and when Cross missed a single attempt at double 18 to win, Bunting held his nerve to seal a 6-6 draw.
The former BDO world champion's average of 91.25 was higher than Voltage's 90.14 despite failing to hit a single 180 while his opponent hit three of those.
Table, night six results & next week's fixtures
2020 Premier League Darts Table
- Durrant P 6 W 4 D 1 L 1 LegD +11 Pts 9
- Van Gerwen P 6 W 4 D 0 L 2 LegD +8 Pts 8
- Smith P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 LegD +4 Pts 7
- Aspinall P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 LegD +2 Pts 7
- Wright P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 LegD +1 Pts 7
- Anderson P 6 W 2 D 2 L 2 LegD -1 Pts 6
- Price P 6 W 1 D 3 L 2 LegD +0 Pts 5
- Cross P 6 W 1 D 3 L 2 LegD -2 Pts 5
- Gurney P 6 W 0 D 2 L 4 LegD -12 Pts 2
Night Six, Thursday March 12
M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Michael Smith 4-7 Peter Wright
- Daryl Gurney 5-7 Glen Durrant
- Gerwyn Price 5-7 Michael van Gerwen
- Rob Cross 6-6 Stephen Bunting
- Gary Anderson 6-6 Nathan Aspinall
Night Seven - Thursday March 19
Utilita Arena, Newcastle
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- Michael Smith v Gary Anderson
- Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
- Nathan Aspinall v Gerwyn Price
- Chris Dobey v Daryl Gurney
- Peter Wright v Glen Durrant