Thornton Leaves Leeds with a Point after Lewis Fightback
ROBERT THORNTON 6 – 6 Adrian Lewis
Robert Thornton had to settle for a draw in Leeds after surrendering a 6-3 lead against Adrian Lewis in front of a record Premier League crowd of 11,000.
Former UK Open winner Thornton had also led 4-0 but an excellent recovery from Lewis meant that the pair took a point apiece on Thursday evening.
That took Thornton’s tally to six after eight matches in his second season in the tournament with just one fixture remaining for the Scotsman before two players are eliminated.
"It was disappointing to only get a point from the position I was in but we both had chances in almost every leg so it was probably a fair result on reflection,” admitted ‘The Thorn’, who will now head to Crawley for the weekend’s Players Championship events.
"I missed a dart for the match and that cost me but I’ll take it the point.
"The atmosphere was fantastic, the crowd were brilliant and I hope to back here next year.”
Thornton pegged double ten to take the first leg after both players had missed four attempts at double top.
The Scotsman then capitalised on another off-target double attempt from Lewis by taking out 76 to break.
He then fired in his first and cleaned up 60 before producing a fine 101 finish to race four legs clear.
Lewis took the next two legs but missed three more darts at doubles, allowing ‘The Thorn’ to step forward and take out 60 to go 5-2 ahead.
‘Jackpot’ nailed double four after Thornton missed four darts at doubles before the Scottish ace moved within a leg of victory, pegging double 18 to bag himself a point at worst.
World number three Lewis pinned double 12 to keep his hopes alive and, when Thornton missed a dart at tops, the two-time World Champion grabbed a break of throw to take the match to crucial twelfth leg.
And, when Thornton missed a dart a tops, Lewis pinned it to earn a share of the spoils.
Thornton will not feature in Dublin next Thursday as he has played a game more than the rest of the field. He will return to face Phil Taylor in Cardiff on ‘Judgement Night’ in two weeks time.
He added: "I’ll just sit back and see how it unfolds next week. Whatever happens it will still be in my hands on week nine so I’ll just enjoy the night off.”
Robert Thornton had to settle for a draw in Leeds after surrendering a 6-3 lead against Adrian Lewis in front of a record Premier League crowd of 11,000.
Former UK Open winner Thornton had also led 4-0 but an excellent recovery from Lewis meant that the pair took a point apiece on Thursday evening.
That took Thornton’s tally to six after eight matches in his second season in the tournament with just one fixture remaining for the Scotsman before two players are eliminated.
"It was disappointing to only get a point from the position I was in but we both had chances in almost every leg so it was probably a fair result on reflection,” admitted ‘The Thorn’, who will now head to Crawley for the weekend’s Players Championship events.
"I missed a dart for the match and that cost me but I’ll take it the point.
"The atmosphere was fantastic, the crowd were brilliant and I hope to back here next year.”
Thornton pegged double ten to take the first leg after both players had missed four attempts at double top.
The Scotsman then capitalised on another off-target double attempt from Lewis by taking out 76 to break.
He then fired in his first and cleaned up 60 before producing a fine 101 finish to race four legs clear.
Lewis took the next two legs but missed three more darts at doubles, allowing ‘The Thorn’ to step forward and take out 60 to go 5-2 ahead.
‘Jackpot’ nailed double four after Thornton missed four darts at doubles before the Scottish ace moved within a leg of victory, pegging double 18 to bag himself a point at worst.
World number three Lewis pinned double 12 to keep his hopes alive and, when Thornton missed a dart at tops, the two-time World Champion grabbed a break of throw to take the match to crucial twelfth leg.
And, when Thornton missed a dart a tops, Lewis pinned it to earn a share of the spoils.
Thornton will not feature in Dublin next Thursday as he has played a game more than the rest of the field. He will return to face Phil Taylor in Cardiff on ‘Judgement Night’ in two weeks time.
He added: "I’ll just sit back and see how it unfolds next week. Whatever happens it will still be in my hands on week nine so I’ll just enjoy the night off.”