Scarborough's Sam Spivey edges closer to earning PDC Tour Card

He was handed arguably his hardest opening draw of the week in the form of former Tour Card holder Aaron Monk, who had been in really fine form all week.

But the pressure of the situation did not seem to get to Spivey, throwing an average of almost 95 in a 6-3 demolition of Monk, who averaged 88 in defeat.

The contest was littered with quality throughout, with only one leg in the whole match going beyond six visits, Spivey pinched it in what proved to be a pivotal eighth leg.

Spivey bookended the contest with a pair of 14 dart legs and found a 12-darter in leg three to stamp his authority on the game.

Monk did take his three winning legs in 15,15 and 16 darts underlining his undoubted quality.

Spivey found three maximums in the contest but the highest finish went to Monk, taking a maximum 170 checkout in the second leg.

Spivey then faced the experienced James Richardson, knowing that this could be the game that went a long way to securing his tour privileges.

But it was Richardson who took the contest 6-5, Spivey missing three match darts across the last two legs.

Spivey did find another three 180s in the contest but the highest finish again went to his opponent, this time in the final leg, Richardson sealing a 98 checkout in two darts.

The loss leaves Spivey in third in the order of merit, knowing one win on Sunday’s final day could well be enough to secure his spot, but two would make it secure beyond doubt.

Fellow Scarborian Graham Usher was again in action for a sixth consecutive day, opening his day with a 6-3 win over Killian McCormack, moving him to three points for the week.

An 82 average was enough to get “The Gambler” over the line.

It was far from his sparkling best but he showed composure to take enough of the chances presented by the Irishman, even when his scoring at times was lacking.

Usher took the final three legs of the contest to seal the win.

He then faced Dorset’s Tommy Morris in the next round and after taking the opening leg, Morris would then respond with a 17-dart hold of throw.

Despite this Usher took the next leg and Morris was seeming still below his best, until leg four where he exploded into life with a 156 checkout with Usher waiting to take a 3-1 lead.

And Morris didn’t look back for the remainder of the contest averaging over 102, failing to hit a treble only once in the final four legs of the contest taking every opportunity that came his way at the first time of asking, taking the contest 6-2.

That defeat leaves Usher knowing his best, and likely only chance of winning back his tour card is to do it through one of the two available automatic spots in Sunday’s play.

Yorkshire did taste success, with Tom Sykes coming through the field to gain his tour card for the first time. Shane McGuirk was the day’s other winner.