Jonny Clayton will need to take another day off from his role as a key worker during the coronavirus crisis after progressing to the next round of the PDC's Home Tour.
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The Ferret, sporting a new shaved head look from his house in Pontyberem, has been delivering food to the elderly and vulnerable for Carmarthenshire council during lockdown rather than his usual full-time job as a plasterer.
He took the day off to prepare for a return to his lucrative 'side job' of darts and the decision paid off as he became the sixth player from the opening eight nights of action to qualify with a 100% record of three wins from three.
The world number 15, who started the season by shocking Michael van Gerwen in the first round of the Masters before hitting a nine-dart finish en route to the UK Open semi-finals last month, was a clear favourite despite question marks over whether he'd been able to practice as much as his rivals.
Clayton kicked off the night in style with a 5-2 triumph over world number 115 Adam Hunt, earning a break of throw in the sixth leg before finishing it off with a classy 100 checkout.
The Welshman, whose career highlight is reaching the 2017 Players Championship Finals, averaged 96 in that match and despite following it up with a mark of 90 in his next against Richard North, it was still enough for a battling 5-3 victory.
Clayton still had work to do in the final match of the night against David Pallet, who had earlier beaten a winless North 5-2 while Hunt was also still in the running on four points having claimed 5-3 and 5-1 wins over Pallett and North respectively.
The Ferret needed four legs to guarantee his progress and after twice coming from a leg down, he moved 3-2 up with a 15-dart break before taking the next two to complete a clean sweep with an average of 93.
Jonny Clayton tops the table!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 24, 2020
A 5-2 win over Dave Pallett for the Welshman to make it three wins out of three and top the table on Night Eight! pic.twitter.com/VS1feuUIld
"It is hard to play against mates, we are all very close and it is hard to play against each other," said Clayton.
"I am glad I won my three games, I am a happy man. I really enjoyed it, really enjoyed playing against the lads because we see each other every weekend usually. I am looking forward."
- Each night’s action begins at 1930 BST, and will include webcam footage of each player and their dart board, live score graphics and commentary from Dan Dawson. All PDC Home Tour action will be broadcast live on PDCTV for FREE to ALL registered PDCTV users, regardless of whether you have a paid or free membership
PDC Home Tour Darts: Friday results and Saturday Fixtures
Play begins at 1930 BST each night
Best of nine legs
Click here for Sky Bet odds
GROUP 8: Friday April 24
- Jonny Clayton 5-2 Adam Hunt
- Richard North 2-5 David Pallett
- Adam Hunt 5-3 David Pallett
- Jonny Clayton 5-3 Richard North
- Richard North 5-1 Adam Hunt
- David Pallett 2-5 Jonny Clayton
GROUP STANDINGS
- Jonny Clayton P 3 W 3 L 0 Leg Diff +8 Pts 6
- Adam Hunt P 3 W 2 L 1 Leg Diff +3 Pts 4
- David Pallett P 3 W 1 L 2 Leg Diff -2 Pts 2
- Richard North P 3 W 0 L 3 Leg Diff -9 Pts 0
Group Nine Fixtures - Saturday April 25
- Michael Smith v Martijn Kleermaker
- Harry Ward v Matt Clark
- Martijn Kleermaker v Matt Clark
- Michael Smith v Harry Ward
- Harry Ward v Martijn Kleermaker
- Matt Clark v Michael Smith
GROUP STANDINGS
- Michael Smith P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
- Martijn Kleermaker P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
- Harry Ward P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
- Matt Clark P 0 W 0 L 0 Leg Diff +0 Pts 0
