Premier League Darts results: Raymond van Barneveld comeback stuns Gerwyn Price as MVG & Rob Cross win

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Barney battles back to deny Price

Raymond van Barneveld came back from 6-2 down against Gerwyn Price to rescue a plucky draw - but he's more than in a little in debt to the vociferous Glasgow crowd.

The Dutchman received an incredible ovation on his way out to the SSE Hydro stage for the last time in his legendary career and was in stark contrast to the boos that rang out for pantomime villain Gerwyn Price.

But the controversial Welshman, whose severe unpopularity with many fans stemming from last year's Grand Slam of Darts final against Gary Anderson is showing no sign of fading away any time soon, managed to silence the crowd by blasting out of the blocks in his bid to make it two wins from two at the start of the Premier League season.

After losing the opening leg, Price took out 107 before an 11-darter put him 2-1 up and he quickly followed that up with a 120 checkout to leave a shellshocked Barney in deep trouble.

A 14-darter moved him further clear although van Barneveld, who lost to James Wade in the opening match of his final Premier League season before retirement at the end of the year, then punished him for missing two darts at tops in the next leg.

The former rugby player refused to let that deter him and followed up a 13-dart break of throw with a checkout of 82 to guarantee himself a share of the spoils and on the brink of victory.

Despite kicking off the next leg with a 180, Price went on to spurn his first match dart at tops amidst plenty of booing from Glasgow's Barney Army as their fan favourite came back to take out 46 - while he missed a further two at the same target in the next leg.

A comfortable hold from the Dutchman forced a deciding leg which he'd snatch dramatically with his last dart in hand at double nine - but only after Price had blown another match dart at double 12 as he attempted to take out a showstopping 132 checkout.

There's no doubting the crowd involvement played their part in getting Barney on a roll and adding extra pressure on the finishing of Price - similar to what happened during his World Championship exit at the hands of Nathan Aspinall.

"From 6-2 you have to be happy with a point, I couldn't have done it without the crowd - they were amazing as always," said van Barneveld.

"I feel really proud of myself to get that point, I want to enjoy my last Premier League campaign and I think tonight was the start of that."

MVG rises to the top

Michael van Gerwen is the only player to have a 100% record after two games but he was far from convincing despite a one-sided looking scoreline of 7-3 against Mensur Suljovic.

The world champion, who has topped the table in each of his six Premier League seasons and is bidding to win the title for a fourth year in a row, averaged just shy of 100 compared to his opponent's 101.07 but his superior finishing proved to be the difference.

Van Gerwen may have missed 10 of his 17 attempts at doubles but the Austrian blew seven of his 10 and the closest he got was when winning back-to-back legs to trail 3-2.

"I wasn't playing well in practise and I wasn't at my best tonight but a win is a win and overall I'm happy with my game," said MVG, who hit one more 180s with three.

"I did what I had to do at the key moments and now I'm top of the table I want to stay there, but there's a long way to go."

Voltage heats up Glasgow

Rob Cross picked up his first victory of the Premier League season as he produced an impressive performance to see off James Wade 7-4 in Glasgow.

Voltage averaged over 100 for the second Thursday in a row and while last week it was only good enough for a point against Peter Wright, this time it helped him come from 3-1 down to stun the Machine.

The 2018 world champion, who had lost four of his last five meetings with Wade, struggled to get going as the European and World Series champion seized the early initiative with three legs on the spin after losing the opener.

Cross then kick-started his comeback with a fine 115 checkout before legs of 13 and 11 darts put him 4-3 up and a superb 85 finish on the bullseye sent him two clear.

The Hastings thrower then sealed at least a point with a 72 checkout and although Wade clawed one back, he punished his opponent's missed dart at double 12 in the next to seal victory.

Cross averaged 102.58 compared to Wade's 100.81, hit one more maximum with four and both hit 50% of their doubles.

"I missed a few darts early, maybe there were a few nerves but I've been working hard on my game and it's paying off," said Cross.

"I lost my smile last year, everything was difficult for me in my first Premier League season, it's a ruthless competition but this year I'm playing properly and I'm enjoying it."

Gurney deflates Durrant debut

Daryl Gurney produced a sizzling performance on his doubles as defeated Premier League 'Contender' Glen Durrant 7-3 to pick up his first victory of the season.

Three-time Lakeside king Duzza, who matched Eric Bristow's record of three successive BDO World Championship titles last month before earning his PDC Tour Card at qualifying school seven days later, was this week's replacement for Gary Anderson.

He came to Glasgow on cloud nine having already reached a Players Championship final on Sunday in just his second PDC event and while he scored impressively enough with a 99.89 average and four 180s, he missed nine of his 12 attempts at doubles and Gurney made him pay.

Last year's Players Championship Finals winner bounced back from last week's disappointing defeat to Price by pinning seven of his nine attempts at a finish, including twice on double 14s to take out a pair of 121 checkouts.

Gurney, who finished the match with an average of 100.05 and hit two maximums, said: "I know I can outscore anybody but I've been doing a lot of practising on my finishing and I think that showed tonight.

"I really needed the win to get some points on the board because if I'd lost tonight then the pressure would've been on me, so now I can look to kick on and do some damage in this competition."

Strange stalemate opens the night

Michael Smith won the last leg to rescue a 6-6 draw with Peter Wright in the opening match of the night at the SSE Hydro but he'll be by far the unhappier player having earlier let a big lead slip.

Bully Boy, who spurned a 5-2 advantage in losing 6-5 to Snakebite in a terrific match at Saturday's Players Championship event despite averaging 112, stormed into a 4-1 lead before missing a dart at tops for 5-1.

Wright made him pay with a 60 checkout to complete a 15-dart break although sloppy finishing of his own looked as though he'd wasted this chance to get back into the game as Smith broke straight back.

The Scotsman, who had been chuntering to himself in frustration at the standard of his play, suddenly found some momentum as a 64 checkout followed by a steady hold saw him reduce the gap to 5-4.

Smith, last year's Premier League runner-up, looked a player under pressure to get over the finishing line and wasted six darts at doubles from 32 to gift Wright, who missed three of his own, a match-levelling leg.

Wright made it four legs on the spin to guarantee himself a point before the St Helens man comfortably held his own throw to ensure he didn't go home empty handed.

Smith ended with a far higher average of 98.74 compared to Wright's 88.95 and hit three more 180s with six but ultimately it was his poor checkout percentage of 26.32% with cost him his first victory of the season having lost to Michael van Gerwen in a repeat of the World Championship final last Thursday.

Wright, who hit 40% of his doubles, now has two points following on from his draw with Rob Cross in Newcastle.

2019 Premier League Darts Table

1. MVG P 2 W 2 D 0 L 0 LegD +6 Pts 4
2. Cross P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 LegD +3 Pts 3
3. Price P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 LegD +3 Pts 3
4. Gurney P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 LegD +1 Pts 2
5. Wade P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 LegD 0 Pts 2
6. Wright P 2 W 0 D 2 L 0 LegD 0 Pts 2
7. Smith P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 LegD -2 Pts 1
8. Van Barneveld P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 LegD -3 Pts 1
9. Suljovic P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 LegD -4 Pts 1

Night two results & next week's fixtures

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Night 2, February 14
SSE Hydro, Glasgow
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• Peter Wright 6-6 Michael Smith
• Rob Cross 7-4 James Wade
• Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gerwen Price
• Daryl Gurney 7-3 Glen Durrant
• Mensur Suljovic 3-7 Michael van Gerwen

Night 3, February 21 3Arena, Dublin TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• Gerwyn Price v James Wade
• Steve Lennon v Peter Wright
• Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
• Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney
• Mensur Suljovic v Raymond van Barneveld

Tickets: 0818 719 300 (Ire) or click here

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