Power surges past Barney

Phil Taylor maintained his 100 per cent start to the Whyte & Mackay Premier League after brushing aside old rival Raymond van Barneveld in Exeter.

The 15-times world champion was in blistering form yet again at the Westpoint Arena, powering to an 8-2 victory after the Dutchman had claimed the opening two legs.

Taylor remains on top of the table with four wins from his opening four matches, however Mervyn King and Ronnie Baxter kept the pressure on 'The Power' with impressive wins of their own.

Second-placed King dug deep to overcome Terry Jenkins 8-6, while fan-favourite Baxter won by the same scoreline at the expense of Simon Whitlock.

The other game on Thursday evening saw defending champion James Wade pick up his first point of the campaign after sharing a 7-7 draw with Adrian Lewis.

Superb

'Barney' came to the oche on the back of a nine-darter on the practice boards and immediately transferred that form onto the main stage by bursting 2-0 ahead.

But the response from Taylor, who has won the last nine meetings with Barney, was nothing short of superb as he left the Dutchman in his wake.

The 15-times world champion reeled off the next four legs before the interval with a vintage display of heavy scoring and clinical finishing.

With his average soaring towards three figures, the procession of Taylor legs continued as a deflated van Barneveld looked on in awe of his rival.

And the Stoke thrower finished the match in style, wiping out 116 with minimum fuss to extend his dominance over the Dutchman.

Speaking after the match, Taylor told Sky Sports 1: "Raymond seemed to drop his head as soon as I went in front - he's not the same player he was 12 months ago.

"It's not easy performing week in week out but I'll keep going, and I'll keep enjoying it."

The first match of the evening saw two of the most precocious talents in darts go face-to-face as defending champion Wade attempted to bounce back from three straight defeats against 'Jackpot' Lewis.

Wade kicked off with a 148 checkout - his biggest of the Premier League campaign - and followed that up with a nerveless 104 finish to power 2-0 ahead.

A 13-darter saw 'The Machine' threaten to run riot, however Lewis then reproduced the type of form which saw him demolish van Barneveld two weeks ago to ignite an inspired fightback.

'Jackpot' reeled off the next three legs with aplomb and ensured he and Wade went into the interval level pegging.

Double 10 edged Wade back ahead at 4-3, but yet another sensational checkout, this time a 134 from Lewis, restored parity once more.

A break at this stage was crucial, and, after holding throw under pressure, Wade unearthed a Bull, Bull, double 16 checkout to choke Lewis and move 6-4 ahead.

Bottle

Double 18 handed Wade his first point of the campaign, but Lewis refused to surrender, holding throw before breaking to reduce the gap to 7-6.

With the darts in Lewis' hands first, the Stoke-on-Trent man held his nerve, wiping out double four with his final dart to ensure a deserved share of the spoils.

Speaking after the match Wade, who remains bottom of the table, said: "Adrian took shots and I missed shots, I think it was about even really. At 7-4 up you shouldn't lose games of darts - that rather sums up my start really."

Lewis added: "Tonight I started slow, if I had started well I would have won."

Premier League returnee Baxter and World Championship runner-up Whitlock were next on stage, both looking for back-to-back wins in the competition.

Blackpool fan-favourite Baxter started the night with an 11-darter and broke Whitlock's throw on two further occasions to march into a 4-1 lead.

The Aussie crucially held to go into the interval only two legs behind, and an immediate break piled the pressure back on Baxter. 'The Rocket' responded though, breaking back immediately before holding to open up a 6-3 lead.

Averaging well over 100 at this point, Baxter sealed his point in leg 11, but, just as Wade had done in the previous match, 'The Rocket' failed to close out an immediate victory as Whitlock fought back.

Baxter missed a total of nine match-winning darts, but, with a draw looking favourite, he eventually rediscovered his bottle with a 14-darter against the throw to clinch an 8-6 victory.

Speaking on the victory, which sees Baxter move up to third in the table, he said: "It went all 14 legs, I've still got life in me yet! Half of the win was from these guys (the fans) down here."

The penultimate match of the evening saw last year's runner-up King overcome 2006 runner-up Jenkins 8-5 in a high-quality affair.

'The King' fired down six 180s and averaged just under 100 as he claimed his third win and ended Jenkins' unbeaten run in the process.