The final week of the Premier League darts was brought to us by the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, as the final two play-off places were decided. Simon Whitlock has already booked his place at Wembley next week and met Adrian Lewis in the first game of the night. The pair met in Brighton in week five where the Australian won 8-4. Lewis secured the first break of throw in the fourth leg with a bull finish to make it 3-1. Whitlock made it 4-2 going into the break with a 130 check-out before then breaking back in the ninth leg. It became 5-5 before Whitlock managed to secure a 140 check-out to crucially break in the penultimate leg. The Australian held his throw to win the match 8-6 and dump Lewis out of the 2012 Premier League Darts.
Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter battled it out in the second game in a winner takes all match. Painter won 8-5 in Brighton and that would be enough to put him into the final four regardless of the Raymond Van Barneveld, James Wade match. It was Hamilton that started better in a cagey opening by breaking the second leg to take a 2-0 lead. That soon became 4-0 before Painter finally put a score on the board, against the throw, before Hamilton retaliated to make it 5-1 at the break. The point was guaranteed two legs later before Hamilton put himself into the semi-finals with an 8-1 win.
With Hamilton through, it just left Barneveld and Wade to fight it out for the final play-off place. Only a win would be enough for the Dutchman but it was Wade that won way back in week five, 8-6. Barney secured the first break of throw in the fourth leg after a whole host of missed darts at the double but The Machine instantly broke back. But Barneveld managed to make it three breaks in three legs after Wade missed a further two darts at the double to take a 4-2 lead going into the adverts. It then became four breaks in a row before Wade finally held to level the score. Wade broke once again in the ninth leg to take the lead for the first time in this match. The Dutchman secured an amazing 161 check-out to make it 6-5 in Wade's favour before levelling with an 80 check-out via a 25, bull's eye finish. The Machine then missed two darts at his beloved double ten to allow Barney to take a 7-6 lead going into the final leg. Wade recovered to hold his throw and break Barneveld's heart by stealing that final play-off spot.
The final match of the night saw top play bottom as Phil Taylor took on Gary Anderson, The Power derailed the Flying Scotsman 8-1 in Brighton. The first break of throw came in the fourth leg with Anderson securing an impressive 161 check-out. But Taylor instantly broke back before making it 3-3 at the interval. Anderson then broke the Taylor throw again in the eighth leg after the Power missed four darts at the double. Again Taylor broke straight back and managed to equalise once more despite missing a further three darts at the double. The final four legs all went with throw to finish at 7-7, a result that means Anderson remains at the foot of the table. Final standings:
Taylor 20 +57
Whitlock 16 -1
Hamilton 13 0
Wade 13 -6
Van Barneveld 13 -11
Lewis 12 -8
Painter 11 -12
Anderson 10 -13
Next week will see Whitlock face his nemesis Hamilton while Taylor meets Wade in the play-offs, with the winners meeting on the same night.
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