Watch finals night of the PDC Home Tour live on the Sky Sports app from 7.30pm on Friday
Friday 5 June 2020 23:59, UK
The cream has risen to the top on the PDC Home Tour, as two world champions, a former UK Open winner and a three-time PDC title winner will compete in Friday night's final.
Nathan Aspinall and Jonny Clayton came through the second semi-final ahead of Joe Cullen and Rob Cross, to join Gary Anderson and Jelle Klaasen in the ultimate stage.
There was incredible drama on what was undoubtedly the highest-quality night of the tournament thus far.
The first four matches of the evening fell in such a way that the last two clashes were de facto knockout games, with Aspinall edging Cullen and Clayton stunning Cross to take the spoils.
Cullen got off to the perfect start, overcoming Cross 6-4. 'The Rockstar' fired in seven 180s in the 10 legs, averaging 99 in a deserved victory. Nonetheless, Voltage hung in there and refused to wilt, and despite being outclassed wasn't far away at the finish, missing darts at double to force a deciding leg.
Aspinall and Clayton then served up a stunning match - arguably the best contest of the PDC Home Tour to date. The former UK Open champ set the tone early with a 10-darter, and the standard remained sky-high throughout. Indeed, what ultimately was the difference was that the Asp had thrown first. He sealed a 6-5 victory, averaging 107 compared to the Ferret's 100.
However, the Welshman quickly bounced back and this time he was the one to prevail in a last-leg decider as he held his nerve on a 101 checkout. It was a perfectly-timed run from Clayton, who had trailed the entire match.
The all-Premier League meeting between Cross and Aspinall didn't disappoint as the stunning standards continued. The Stockport man stormed into a 3-1 lead, with three ton-plus finishes. However, Voltage rallied and sealed a 6-5 victory, hitting a 107.5 average. Aspinall averaged 105 in defeat.
Remarkably, all players were on one-win apiece heading into the last two games, with just two legs in scoring difference separating top from bottom.
That all meant that the last two matches were winner-takes-all clashes.
First up was Aspinall vs Cullen. Fittingly, it went right down to the wire. Cullen hit the 'big fish' to level it at 2-2 halfway through the contest, and it eventually went down to just one leg. Aspinall had the throw at 5-5, and although the Rockstar opened with a maximum, the Asp held his nerve to get over the line.
And while the favourite prevailed in the first shootout, there was an upset in the second. The world No 4 was left shell-shocked, as Clayton dug deep to produce his best arrows to win 6-1 and seal his final berth.
Watch finals night of the PDC Home Tour live on the Sky Sports app from 7.30pm on Friday.
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