Van Gerwen returns to winning ways in the Premier League as Durrant marches on

Michael van Gerwen recovered from 4-1 down to defeat Nathan Aspinall 8-6 on Night Ten of the Premier League in Milton Keynes, as Glen Durrant defeated Gerwyn Price to remain clear at the top.

Following back-to-back defeats to Glen Durrant and Gary Anderson, Van Gerwen was facing the prospect of three straight Premier League defeats for the first time as Aspinall opened up a three-leg lead.

Aspinall, who beat the Dutchman in Cardiff back in February, saw his lead slashed by Van Gerwen who won four consecutive legs to go ahead for the first time at 5-4.

Van Gerwen went 7-5 up to ensure his losing run would come to an end, but Aspinall checked out 81 to take the match the distance.

Aspinall missed a dart at the bullseye in a tense final leg, allowing the world number one to step in and find double top to get back to winning ways.

“I’m not in the best form of my life but I keep fighting,” said a relieved Van Gerwen, who moves up to second place in the table.

“I think it was a really tense game from both of us. We both badly needed the points.

“I keep making things so difficult for myself with poor scores at the start of legs and I need to work hard to get over that step.

“At this moment I’m happy with two points, that’s the most important thing.

“Darts is a mental game and when things don’t go your way then you need to work hard to get out of it and that’s why I’m world number one.”

Durrant cemented his place at the top of the table by seeing off Gerwyn Price 8-4 in a frosty encounter to notch his third straight win.

Despite averaging under 100 for the first time since Tuesday’s restart, Durrant kept his opponent at arm’s length throughout the contest to pick up another two points to maintain his cushion ahead of the chasing pack.

Finishes of 140 and 116 from Price were not enough to spark a fire in the below-par Welshman as he suffered a second loss of the campaign to Durrant, who now has a Play-Off place within reach.

“That’s a massive win for me. To get seven points against four of the best players in the world is massive for me,” said Durrant.

“I’m showing a different side of myself, no more ‘Mr Nice Guy’. It’s about me and I’ve got good people around me.

“There was no disrespect from my part. I was just glad to get over the winning line.

“I shouted when I won my seventh leg because that’s how I felt in the moment.

“The problem was the celebration was premeditated. If you look at my 15 darts before that I don’t think I hit a score over 100 because I was waiting to shout and scream but I won’t make that mistake again.”

Gary Anderson produced a six-leg surge from 5-2 behind to deny fellow Scotsman Peter Wright 8-5 in a thrilling contest in which both players averaged 101.

Reigning World Champion Wright came out firing with finishes of 127 and 102 en route to a 5-2 advantage.

However, Wright would attempt just four more darts at double in the match as Anderson found spells of his fluent best to reel off six legs in a row with a 98 checkout in the process.

“I just kept going,” said Anderson. “Peter was taking out some great finishes at the start but I thought it might come good and he might start missing a few doubles.

“It’s going alright, I feel very calm up there even though my darts are sometimes all over the place. I’ve still got a bit of fight left in me.”

On Saturday’s opponent Durrant, Anderson added: “Glen has played really well. He’s averaged 102, 104 and 106 in the last few games.

“It’s the first time in a long time that Michael [van Gerwen] hasn’t topped the group and it takes a good player to do that.”

Michael Smith remains just a point outside the Play-Off spots after he claimed a comfortable 8-3 victory over Daryl Gurney.

Smith shook off the disappointment of squandering a 5-3 lead in his 7-5 loss to Aspinall the previous night as he punished 14 missed doubles from Gurney, who is now three points adrift at the foot of the table.

“I felt sick last night, I couldn’t sleep, it was one of the worst losses I’ve had,” admitted Smith.

“I’m happy with the points tonight but not happy with my game.

“I was good in patches but on two other nights I’ve been mint and come off the loser so I’m just happy to get the points.”

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Premier League Darts 2020 Results

Night Ten – Friday August 28

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

Glen Durrant 8-4 Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright 5-8 Gary Anderson
Nathan Aspinall 6-8 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith 8-3 Daryl Gurney