Phil Taylor moves clear at top of Premier League darts

Phil Taylor moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League after starting the second phase with wins over Gary Anderson and James Wade in Sheffield.

The Power kicked off the evening top of the standings with a one point advantage over Michael van Gerwen and made the most of playing twice to extend his lead with two strong victories.

Taylor said this week that he felt two wins would all but guarantee a return to the O2 for Finals Night in May after missing out last year and he delivered those victories on the opening night of the second phase of the tournament.

First up for Taylor was defending Premier League champion and two-time defending world champion Gary Anderson and the Power clocked up an impressive 7-3 success after reeling off five successive legs after trailing 3-2.

The Flying Scotsman missed chances to forge a 4-2 and that seemed to affect him as Taylor cruised through the remainder of the match to apply the pressure on Van Gerwen who was up next.

The Dutchman responded by ending a run of three successive draws in a high-quality contest against a rejuvenated Robert Thornton.

MVG recorded an average of 117.95 in his victory but was made to work hard by Thornton who fought back from 6-2 down to 6-5 and give himself a chance of an unlikely point - it was not to be for the Scot and Van Gerwen reduced the gap on Taylor back to just a point.

However the Power was back in the final match of the evening to secure a valuable 7-4 victory over James Wade and a priceless lead at the top of the table ahead of next week's fixtures in Belfast.

Taylor was too strong for the Machine, although both men showed signs of tiredness in their second match of the evening.

With scoring and finishing scrappy, Taylor looked to have done enough when he moved into a 5-1 lead as Wade wasted a string of chances.

However the Machine fought back to 5-3 and 6-4 to remain in with a chance of a point before a ruthless Taylor closed out the match and a win that underlines the resurgence he has shown in an unbeaten run now stretching nine weeks.

"I'm over the moon and it's another four points and a step closer to getting into the play-offs," said Taylor.

"I think another one or two wins will put me through and that's what I'm after.

"Gary Anderson was the first stepping point. At three-each it was a close match and then he let me in, and I took advantage of him. It was hard in the second match against James, it's difficult but you've got to do it and to get the two points from that game is lovely."

In the night's opening match, Wade had begun with a fine 7-4 victory over Raymond van Barneveld.

Barney knew he needed victory to keep alive any slim hopes of a play-off place and the pair could not be separated until the 10th leg when Wade broke for the first time and a 6-4 advantage which he consolidated to win the match.

Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright shared the points in a scrappy and disjointed affair. The first 10 legs went with throw before Snakebite looked to have secured a crucial break but somehow Jackpot managed to earn a share of the spoils.

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