TheOche.com

Phil Taylor versus Kevin Painter is usually an entertaining match for one reason or another, and today’s action was more of the same.

Taylor pulled ahead 2-0 and with thoughts of another whitewashing on people’s minds, when Painter closed out on bullseye to grab a leg and make it 2-1.

Taylor kept his head though as always, and won the next leg to once again pull 2 legs clear, 3-1.

The next leg was again Taylor’s to win. Never letting an opportunity slip by he grabbed the leg, extending his lead to 4-1.

For five more legs, Taylor continued his domination, closing out his doubles first and giving himself a 9-1 lead.

Not quite down for the count just yet, Painter hits an 11 darter  in the next leg after the break to make it 9-2.

Not to be outdone, Taylor snatched yet another leg from Painter’s grasp to pull further ahead 10-2 in the twelth leg.

The next leg saw both players on 25, but Taylor closes first as both players missed their first go. Taylor doesn’t miss much and takes out next trip with first dart, 11-2 in Taylor’s favor now.

In the 14th leg, Taylor left himself with D20, and closes it with his first dart. 12-2 Taylor and pretty much a done deal.

After the next leg and as they head into another break, Taylor has now extended his lead to eleven legs,  13-2 clear of Painter.

The next leg was again Taylor’s, adding to Painter’s frustration. 14-2 Taylor.

Painter woke up a bit in the seventh leg and stole another one, making the score 14-3, but a 119 close by Taylor in the next leg bursted any hopes of a comeback and changed the scoreboard to 15-3.

Painter grabbed one more leg to bring himself back to within eleven the next leg, score 15-4.

A 180 from Painter in the last leg was a case of too little too late, as Taylor closed the match and put an end to things, taking the win 16-4.

Painter need not get too frustrated with himself though. No one invests as much of themselves in the sport of darts, being unrelenting on both the practice boards and in the money matches. Until others are prepared to make the same investment then this will be the normal outcome.