Holsten Premier League of Darts - Week 5 (includes Barney V Taylor)

Kingp35

The lineup for tonights matches is as follows:

Week Five - 23 March
BIC, Bournemouth
Raymond van Barneveld v Peter Manley
Roland Scholten v Ronnie Baxter
Colin Lloyd v Wayne Mardle
Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld
Live on Sky Sports at 7:30pm

As Barney was not at last weeks event he is due to play two matches tonight with the opening match seeing him against Peter Manley. Manley has been very much hit and miss so far in the league having both lost and beaten Colin Lloyd so far among his matches. Barney on the other hand has been a revelation. He has played top darts right the way through and never looked trouble in any of his matches. This should really be an easy enough win for him which will set him up nicely for his second game of the night.

Second game up sees the other dutchman Roland Scholten up against an in form Ronnie Baxter. Baxter found it tough at the start of the league as he was not involved last year and perhaps he felt the nerves for the first couple of games. Since then he has played very well and he was excellent last week, cruising to a victory against a Peter Manley who was averaging over 90. Scholten ahs been very hit and miss so far and remains very inconsistant. He has the ability to hit 180's for fun but when he is not on form he can be simply awful. He certainly has the ability to beat Baxter but it depends on which Scholten turns up. However I think Baxter will win this one in a tight match.

Third game game pits two struggling players up against each other as world number 1 Colin Lloyd comes up against rock bottom Wayne Mardle. Mardle has been a huge disappointment so far in the tournament and has yet to play to his real ability. The reason for that is not known but he looks very down and seems to lose his confidence ver early in a match. If he wants to have any realistic chance of progressing in this tournament he must win this game. As for Lloyd he has also been a huge disappointment only winning one of his games so far and losing the rest. He put up a great comeback against Peter Manley last week after going 5-1 down but it wasnt enough. He has looked out of sorts and again this is a must win match for him or he could see himself in real trouble. This for me is probably the most important match of the night as both these players need a win badly.

And last but certainly not least sees the clash of the Titans, the two players with 100% records, Phil Taylor V Raymond Van Barneveld. This match has been building up for weeks now and finally the night is upon us and coincidentally it falls and Barneys birthday as well. Both players have been very good so far in the league but for me Barney ahs been better than Taylor so far although Barney has played 2 games less. This one is impossible to call but I expect a match of unbelievable quality with some terrific finishes and plenty of 180's. Its a brave man that will call this one but I would love to see Barney win it.

So sit back and enjoy another night of Darts.

The current league table is as follows:

Current League Table - 16 March
Name P W D L F/A LWAT Pts
Phil Taylor 5 5 0 0 +23 14 10
Raymond van Barneveld 3 3 0 0 +16 10 6
Roland Scholten 5 3 0 2 +4 11 6
Ronnie Baxter 5 2 0 3 -5 8 4
Peter Manley 5 2 0 3 -6 10 4
Colin Lloyd 4 1 0 3 -12 5 2
Wayne Mardle 5 0 0 5 -20 4 0
NB - LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw

MBC

My Accumaltor for tonight will be:

All wins:
Barney
Baxter (C'mon the rocket)
Lloyd
Taylor

Really looking forward to the Taylor V Barney game....it should be a cracker. I think Barney had his 1st defeat in the PDC last week againist Alan Tabern (who is a cracking player) in the Budweiser UK Open North-West Regional Semi Final.

Kingp35

MBC wrote:

I think Barney had his 1st defeat in the PDC last week againist Alan Tabern (who is a cracking player) in the Budweiser UK Open North-West Regional Semi Final.

That he did. Tabern beat him 2-0 in sets in the semis and Tabern went on to win the tournament. Still a semi-final position is not a bad start for Barney and he picked up some very useful ranking points because of it.

Kingp35

Barney has just hit a 9 dart finish!!!!! He beats Manley 8-3 to set up an amazing match with taylor later on.

Absolutely fantastic darts!!!!

BigCon

Clash of darts titans ends in dramatic draw

23/03/2006 - 23:43:20

Raymond van Barneveld fought back from 7-4 down to snatch a 7-7 draw with world champion Phil Taylor in the Premier League tonight.

Taylor had seemed on course to edge a tight contest – the pair’s first meeting since Van Barneveld defected to the Professional Darts Corporation – in Bournemouth.

But the Dutchman was unbowed and responded to claim a result that leaves both unbeaten in the competition.

It was a good night for Van Barneveld, who remains second in the table to Taylor, as he earlier produced a nine-dart finish in a convincing 8-3 win over Peter Manley.

DC

That was my first time seeing a 9-darter live as it happened. Amazing stuff. So fluid and natural. I think Barney will only improve with the move to PDC. I reckon he will have more motivation to practice harder and may improve his averages to a level that can beat Phil in every other match. We may see the two sharing the major titles, though I think Phil still has greater consistency right now.

Kingp35

Truely brilliant night of darts with not abad match among them. The first match Barney eased past Manley while itting an fantastic 9 Darter, the first one I have ever seen live. I got a huge adreniline rush when he did so I cant imagine what he felt. Manley didnt play badly at all but with a 78% check out rate Barney was unstoppable.

The next match between Scholten and Baxter ended in a 7-7 draw which didnt surprise me. Both players played very well hitting the high scores and had some good check outs. A draw was a fair result and keeps the both of them in the top 4.

In the third game Mardle finaly got himself a point but he will be kicking himself that he didnt take all three as he was throwing for the match but allowed Lloyd to break back and snatch a draw. Both players played some excellent stuff and I was delighted that Mardle looked like he was playing the darts he is capable of but he hada nightmare last leg. Fair play to Lloyd for coming back and if im honest a draw was probably the fair result again.

So that brings us onto the big one. Sadly both plyers didnt perform to their true ability which took away from the match slightly but it was still a cracking game and I bet Sky are delighted as they can milk the rematch for al its worth now. Both players were mising crucial doubles but it was Barney that came out of the bloks the strongest by going into a 3-1 lead before Taylor fought back to level it 3-3. The game then went to 4-4 before Taylor stored out into a 7-4 lead after some missed doubles by Barney and it looked as if it was all over. But Barney held his throw and then produced an 11 dart leg to break Taylors throw. The fnal leg had the same drama as Taylor only had to finish 80 with three darts to win the match but missed one dart at double top which allowed to come in and gain the draw. Perhaps Taylor was a little unlucky but no one can begrudge Barney the draw.

The best night of darts in the Premier League so far.

MBC

Totally agree what a night of entertainment......I was absolutley glued to the telly. If a (female) stripper had of walked through my sitting room last night I wouldn't have even noticed.:eek:

I really think "the Rocket" is coming into his game now, he was a bit shell shocked in his 1st few games - but I think he has the justed of the big occassion now. On his day he can beat anyone. I am going to stick a tenner each way on him at 28/1.....you saw it here 1st.

There's only one Ronnie Baxter,
Only one Ronnie Baxter,
Walking along, singing a song
Walking in a Rocket Wonderland

Ronnie give us a wave
Ronnie Ronnie give us a wave!

Green_Martian

Can't believe i missed the Match last night.........I was ready to watch a whole night of Darts and then..............something happened ( That's right i was in th gf house and the mother had control of the TV lol:D ) i ended up watching the most boring game of football.............

Firewalkwithme

Despatch wrote:

Barney is good but Taylor will crush him just like he does with everyone else he plays.

I think Barney would even be doing well to compete with the likes of Lloyd, Part, Mardle and Painter but it should be interesting to see how he does.

I posted the above a few weeks back but I've no problem taking it all back. Barney has been great to watch and clearly worries Taylor which has got to be good for the game. Fair play to Barney I really didn't think he was as good as he has proved himself to be.

What's up with his nickname though? "The Man"? I thought he was only ever known as Barney?

Did anyone see the interview where he said his favorite song was by Boyz 2 Men? :eek:

The Rooster

Its odd, I was almost invariably up for his opponent whenever I saw Barney playing on the BDO side - now that he's in the PDC he's one of my favourite players!

I stood up when his treble 19 went in, and went lepping round the sitting room when the D12 went in. Delighted for him. I'm sure thats going to go down as my most memorable moment watching darts alongside Deller sinking 138 (T20 T18 D12) against Bristow in 1983.

Great to see Barney snatching a draw v Taylor as well.

MBC

Taylor should have closed the game out 7-4 but he got cocky - signalling to the crowd etc, but fair play to Barney he done really well to come back.

mchurl

lads does anoyne have a link to barneys 9 darter??

Carrickman

mchurl wrote:

lads does anoyne have a link to barneys 9 darter??

Here is a link I found to it from Dutch TV, enjoy!!
Barneys 9 darter

mchurl

thanks ive been dieing to see it!!!