First night of Premier League darts with Jonny and Gez both losing their opening matches and showing some pretty patchy form. 'Nuff said. Van den Berg outclassed Jonny and Nathan Aspinall did likewise to Gez.
Darts
- Thread starter ivoralljack
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Premier League darts, the second evening this time in Cardiff, and Jonny went down 3-6 to Bully Smith who was easily the better player with a far higher average. Jonny is still sliding like an Olympic bob-sleigher. He was 3-5 down, needing a good start, and his first two darts found the middle of the 5 bed!!!!! On his next throw his first two darts hit the treble 20 but his third dart was again slap bang in the middle of the 5 bed. Every time he does that he loses a minimum of 15 points and it's 19 when he finds the 1 bed - and he does it often. I didn't count tonight but I'm guessing that he missed the big 20/19 five times more often than Bully, which is why he's going home again with no points and little chance of reaching the finals.
Gezzie up soon and he's not playing well either but we'll see how he goes.
Gezzie up soon and he's not playing well either but we'll see how he goes.
Gezzie through to the next round edging last week's winner in Belfast, Chris Dobey, by 6-5. It was nip and tuck with Gezzie's weak doubling making it hard work for him. He had 10 shots where he missed the 'big' bed but 4 of those were on two identical shots where he had two triple fives in a score of 90. And one of them was a very unlucky deflection when he was going for a max and the third dart, right on target, deflected into the triple one.
There was an absolutely amazing atmosphere during this game from a very big crowd and the comms mentioned it was one of the best they'd ever experienced. Gez will play the winner of the present game, MVG v Dimitri van den Bergh with MVG leading 4-3 as I type.
There was an absolutely amazing atmosphere during this game from a very big crowd and the comms mentioned it was one of the best they'd ever experienced. Gez will play the winner of the present game, MVG v Dimitri van den Bergh with MVG leading 4-3 as I type.
Gez plays MVG who won his game 6-4. Wouldn't like to call it. MVG is playing better but Gez's game is improving. However, he'll need to start converting his doubles better as MVG will be taking his for sure.
Bully just took out 137 with triple 19 and two double tops. Fabulous watch!! 
And he follows up by nailing a 148 finish. He's playing Nathan Aspinall who's throwing some pretty impressive stuff himself. It's 3-3 right now.
Aspinall with 2 x 10 dart legs is actually leading this match 4-3. The standard of darts in this day and age is just mind blowing.
Gezzie just beat MVG 6-5; amazing because he only averaged 96.88 against 110.75 by his opponent!! Gez led 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 before MVG won two legs to even the match. He had the darts but from 56 missed two match darts. Gez had pinged in a high score to leave 36 but must have thought it was all up. However, incredibly MVG missed twice and Gez took out his 36 to win. He now plays Aspinall in the final who played brilliantly to beat Bully 6-4 and, as I think he's playing better than Gez, I expect him to win. Hope I'm wrong but Aspinall is really on form.
Btw, I only count darts that miss the big bed in scoring open play, as counting those when a player is going for doubles is a bit harsh. Gez slid into adjacent beds 12 times against MVG but still managed to win. How, I'll never know!
Btw, I only count darts that miss the big bed in scoring open play, as counting those when a player is going for doubles is a bit harsh. Gez slid into adjacent beds 12 times against MVG but still managed to win. How, I'll never know!
Surprise, surprise, I was wrong again! Gezzie beat the Asp 6-3 after missing a match dart by narrowly failing to take out 157 at 5-2. The game was played in great spirit between the two of them and, fair play to Nathan, who good-heartedly accepted the ton of booing he was getting. Gezzie in interview said he was glad to get support for once because he knew he was going to get 15 weeks of Hell as the season progresses.
There were no fireworks in the final and Gez was a comfortable winner despite throwing another dozen sliders. He now sits joint top of the league but Jonny is bottom with zero points and has it all to do to make the play-off finals night a couple of months down the line. And, of course, I really hope he makes it.
Gezzie beat the Asp 6-3 after missing a match dart by narrowly failing to take out 157 at 5-2. The game was played in great spirit between the two of them and, fair play to Nathan, who good-heartedly accepted the ton of booing he was getting. Gezzie in interview said he was glad to get support for once because he knew he was going to get 15 weeks of Hell as the season progresses. There were no fireworks in the final and Gez was a comfortable winner despite throwing another dozen sliders. He now sits joint top of the league but Jonny is bottom with zero points and has it all to do to make the play-off finals night a couple of months down the line. And, of course, I really hope he makes it.
Third night of PL darts in Glasgow and Gezzie went down 3-6 to Bully Smith in the quarters - no points gained after winning the event in Cardiif last time out. Apart from sliding, Gez has been missing his doubles for some time. His once nailed on tops has totally deserted him and he misses more often than he hits. Trouble is he's missing double 10 equally as badly as well. He won't be a force again until he gets this right. As an example, Bully was on 295 when Gez wanted tops. He missed and left double 10. Before he had a shot, Bully had hit a 180 then took out 115 to leave him stranded. That's how a top pro performs and Gez isn't doing it right now.
At least Jonny got 2 points on the board tonight by demolishing Chris Dobey 6-1 in the quarters. He was 4-2 up on Bully in the semis and started sliding badly again. He just can't help himself. It was 5-5 and Bully had the darts, so Jonny needed something special to break for the win. So what does he do? His first dart was treble 20 then he put the next two in the 1 bed for a score of 62!!!!! That's just not good enough at this level and both Jonny and Gez know what they have to correct but they ain't doing it - why not is anyone's guess.
At least Jonny got 2 points on the board tonight by demolishing Chris Dobey 6-1 in the quarters. He was 4-2 up on Bully in the semis and started sliding badly again. He just can't help himself. It was 5-5 and Bully had the darts, so Jonny needed something special to break for the win. So what does he do? His first dart was treble 20 then he put the next two in the 1 bed for a score of 62!!!!! That's just not good enough at this level and both Jonny and Gez know what they have to correct but they ain't doing it - why not is anyone's guess.
Footnote: Bully beat van den Bergh in the final to win the night. I have to say that he justifies his World #1 rating as well as being World Champion as he's easily the best player around right now. I reckon he's the most natural thrower I've ever seen and he's a pleasure to watch. Some of his throwing is absolutely amazing.
Premier League darts in Dublin and Gezzie, who has the lowest tournament average of the 8 players (93+), beat Van den Bergh 6-4 in the quarters. He wasn't too bad with his sliders with 10 in the game but his worst was missing the BIG 12 by going in the 9 bed, which he needed to leave a double. VdG went on to check out but losing the leg like that could have cost Gez the match. Overall though he played well with a 104+ average.
Jonny next up against Aspinall and Bully Boy Smith already in the semis beating Wright 6-5.
Jonny next up against Aspinall and Bully Boy Smith already in the semis beating Wright 6-5.
Jonny beat the Asp 6-4 but was lucky to do so. He was 3-1 up and and the comms reckoned the Asp should have been leading 4-0! Jonny slid 8 times, which was not bad for him but Aspinall missed 23 doubles and you don't win at this level doing that. Gez plays Bully next and I've got a sneaking feeling who's going to win.
ME WRONG AGAIN!!!! Gez beat Bully 6-1 with an average of well over 100. Noticeable that he only slid two darts and one of those was an unfortunate deflection into the triple 5 when he was going for a maximum. He now plays the winner of Jonny and MVG in the final.
MVG beats Jonny 6-3. Jonny was 1-4 down, brought it back to 3-4 then missed FOUR darts at his favourite double 16. That would have levelled the match with his throw to come. He slid 7 times but those double misses was the thing that knocked the wind out of him. He literally threw it away although there was no guarantee that he'd have gone on to win as MVG threw some great darts. Probably favourite for the final.
Gez just threw away the final (5-6) missing SEVEN MATCH DARTS against MVG. He was 5-2 up, missed 2 match darts at 5-4 then in the last leg missed 5 more. In a game as tight as this the 8 darts he slid into the adjacent beds probably cost him the win and the chance to go top of the Premier League. I know that pros can and do slide but Gez and Jonny seem to do it more than most and often at crucial times. It definitely cost Gez tonight along with his terrible double throwing.
Fifth night of the Premier League in Exeter and Gezzie went out straight away beaten by MVG who was 1-3 down but then took 5 on the trot to win 6-3. Gez not at it these days. His scoring has gone to pot and he had far too many trebleless visits to beat the likes of MVG. He's definitely gone off the boil in recent months as has Jonny who plays Peter Wright in his first game. Wright hasn't won a game in this PL series and is rock bottom of the standings, so there's some hope for Jonny to progress to the semis.
Gez, Jonny and Wright are the 3 highest profile examples of players who have badly lost their form. They have flashes of brilliance but their overall consistency is not good enough. Couple this with the fact that others have upped their game and pickings have become very slim for them these days.
Gez, Jonny and Wright are the 3 highest profile examples of players who have badly lost their form. They have flashes of brilliance but their overall consistency is not good enough. Couple this with the fact that others have upped their game and pickings have become very slim for them these days.
Jonny edged Wright 6-5 in a very nervy game. Wright actually hadn't had a match dart in this series despite having the third highest average of the 8 players involved. Go figure. Anyway, he had one tonight and missed it. He had it courtesy of Jonny who, on 88, managed to stick his dart in the middle of the 1 bed!!! Jonny had EIGHTEEN darts slide including one in each of his first two throws of the match. Then he missed a BIG 14 attempting to leave a double by going into the 11 bed. He's got to stop doing this and got away with tonight, just, because Wright was even worse with his sliders.
Anyway, Jonny is in the semis but he won't win tonight unless something drastically changes.
Anyway, Jonny is in the semis but he won't win tonight unless something drastically changes.
Jonny hammered Van den Berg 6-2 to meet MVG, who's in tremendous form, in the final. He slid only 10 darts in this game and was 4/4 with his doubles at one stage. Good performance but on tonight's form MVG will be favourite.
Stat just mentioned - Jonny 18 trebleless visits to 10 from MVG. Jonny needs to up his game. Hope he can do it.