Darts

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Brilliant battle between Gezzie and Bully. Bully probably playing slightly better but Gezzie has edged in front 3-2. He notched a 9 darter along the way but lost that particular set! Just great darts from the two of them and played in excellent spirit. Anyone's game.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Gezzie out 4-5 after missing two match darts. Bully played a great game but should have lost it. Sad to say the crowd were complete arseholes and Gezzie had to stop mid throw to remonstrate with them and report an individual to the referee who, of course, did fcuk all about it. The abuse Gezzie gets has now gone too far and I think it cost him his world title tonight and that's not to disrespect Bully Smith who played a superb game.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
What a night of darts on the third night of the Premier League in Belfast!!!!! It was just fantastic!! Jonny Clayton who won Round 2 in Cardiff lost 3-6 to James Wade in the quarters. Gezzie Price then beat Michael 'Bully' Smith in his quarter game ending the match with a Big Fish finish of 170. Wade beat Peter Wright in the semis then Gezzie faced MVG and won 6-5 after getting a 9 darter! On one throw for his niner he'd put two in the triple 20 and dropped his third dart on the floor. He picked it up and arrowed it straight into the 60 bed alongside the other two.

Gezzie went on to beat Wade in the Final and got a SECOND 9 DARTER in the process. It was a pulsating Final and could have gone either way as Wade was playing really well. But Gezzie was just awesome! There were 180s and 177s flying in from him so often it was just jaw-dropping. His average for the three games was 108+: 108+ and 105+. Just brilliant and if he hadn't missed 5 darts at one double against Wade his average in the Final would have been even higher. It was a fabulous night of darts and will live long in the memory.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Phil Taylor is the only other player to notch two nine-dart games on the same night in the history of the Premier League.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
First game in tonight's Premier League in Exeter saw MVG back to superb form as he absolutely wiped the floor with Jonny Clayton in a 6-1 win. It's entirely his business and choice of course but I'm thinking that, if Jonny wants to be at the very top of the pole, maybe he should ditch the distraction of his job as a plasterer with the local council and concentrate entirely on his darts. Obviously he has his reasons to keep his job but I'm thinking that perhaps it might be a hindrance to his ultimate darting ambitions. Interesting to see how Gezzie goes in his game against Peter Wright. Price is the bookie's favourite but Wright can beat anyone on his night....... and he has a lot of nights.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
No fireworks from Gezzie tonight. After leading Wright 2-1, he never got out of first gear and lost 2-6 as Snakebite won four on the trot. Price was never at the races and Wright just played steady darts to put him away. You can tell when Gezzie's not at it: his first dart too frequently boards below the treble 20 at a 45 degree angle and blocks the bed. His cover shooting on 57 was pretty good but never enough to threaten Wright.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Read today that Gezzie was the very first thrower to get 3 televised nine-darters in a calendar year.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Back to the Premier League where MGV was awesome. After blitzing Clayton 6-1, he beat Bully 6-2 then whitewashed Wright 6-0 in the final. Now that takes some doing!

Now some Welsh news. I see that Richie Burnett has won his PDC tour card for the next two seasons. Richie won the BDO title in 1995 beating Peter Wright 6-3 along the way before seeing off Raymond van Barneveld by the same score in the final. Now 55 years old Burnett is unlikely to win another world title but there again Wright won it last time and he's 51. Having overcome a drugs problem and depression I hope he has some success.
 

The Blobster

Prediction Champ
I played against Richie for Swansea in the Glamorgan super League ( early 80's) , I lost but Richie was great , no airs and graces just a normal guy enjoying his darts . He was very young at the time but the talent was there for all to see .
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Gezzy makes hard work in sneaking a 10-9 win against Jamie Hughes in the UK open. He'll have to play a lot better than that to win this title. That said, MVG who's been in blistering form was dumped out in a huge upset.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Premier League darts from Nottingham tonight. Gezzy missed the last one through injury and Jonny is in a run of poor form. Hoping they'll both do well obviously but others playing better at the moment.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Amazing!! Bully Smith just beat James Wade 6-1 and Wade averaged over 102!!!!! Smith averaged about 104 though and there were 10 x 180s in just 7 legs. Fantastic darts. Gezzy next up against MVG, who must be favourite on recent form. However, the winner has to play Bully who'll take some beating if he maintains the standard of his first game.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Gezzy, playing with a bad right hand that kept him out last week, beat MVG 6-4 after being 1-3 down. He averaged just under 103. Jonny playing Anderson now and is 1-2 down.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
A totally out of form Jonny Clayton goes down 5-6 to Gary Anderson both averaging in the low 90s. Jonny had one dart at bull to win it but missed out. He's sliding far too often into the 5 bed for a top pro and, these days, getting far too many trebleless visits. Nothing like the Jonny of old. Interesting to note that both he and Gezzy always seem to miss out on the pre-game bull shot to decide who plays first. Both went second again tonight but going off first is a huge advantage in a race to 6. Much more bull practise required by both Welsh darters methinks.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Gezzy loses 4-6 to Bully Smith after being 4-0 up. He was throwing brilliant darts and wiping the floor with Smith then his game fell off the cliff. He was continually missing the 60 bed and going low into the 5 bed. He did it so often the comms could only surmise that his injured hand was giving him problems. He missed a double to go 5-0 ahead then completely went to pieces. From an average of 105 or so he dropped to just 86. It was unbelievable. As I said, the comms were convinced that his injury finally caught up with him as he obviously couldn't deliver his darts properly by the end. Shame.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Great Premier League darts from Birmingham tonight. Gezzie, with a fractured right hand went out in the quarters 3-6 to Joe Cullen. But it was back-to-form Jonny Claytons's night, which he started with a 6-1 demolition of Michael Smith. He followed up by beating Peter Wright 6-4 coming from behind to do so, before facing James Wade, who had beaten MVG, in the final.

Poor Wade, who threw first, scored just FIVE and watched as Jonny notched a 180 followed by another in the first leg to break the throw. Jonny never looked back. Wade took out a 96 finish with 20, double 18 and double top and that was it from him. Jonny threw fantastic darts to win 6-1 with a total of 5 x 180s and a game average of 111.16. Fabulous stuff!! He now sits joint top of the Premier League table with MVG.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Some more fantastic darts from the Premier League in Manchester tonight. Gezzie beat Peter Wright 6-4 despite throwing crap. He was all over the shop but did nail a 157 finish. Don't know how he won because Wright threw some good stuff but Gezzie plays Wade in the semis.

Then Jonny Clayton beat MVG who threw the kitchen sink at him with three ton plus finishes to Jonny's one. Brilliant darts and Jonny broke the throw in the final leg by getting a two dart 71 finish to edge the match 6-5. Thrilling stuff with MVG averaging 105+ to Jonny's 109+.

I noticed that both Gezzie and Jonny went second in their games. This is a HUGE disadvantage in a race to six at this level. It worked out okay tonight because they won but they often throw second in the PL, which means their opponents only have to hold throw to win the game. I'm not sure how the order of throw is decided but I believe it's a shot at bull behind the scenes prior to the game. If this is in fact the case then both Taffs had better start putting in some more practise on their bull shots because they're giving themselves a hell of a handicap far too often.

Jonny now plays Cullen in the semis who smashed an out of sorts Bully Smith.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Gezzie didn't get away with it against Wade who hammered him 6-2. Erratic doesn't begin to describe Gezzie's throwing. He was in the 5 bed so often it was painful to watch and the number of trebleless visits he notched was unbelievable for a top pro. Maybe he hasn't been able to practise because of the fractured hand that hampered him last time out. Whatever, he's out and deserved to be. Now for Jonny against Joe Cullen.
 
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