Fri, 10th Sep 2010
Malvern Sport
Bull is knocked out of Matchplay by debutant
2:40pm Thursday 22nd July 2010
Steve Brown 10, Terry Jenkins 6.
STEVE Brown enjoyed a dream StanJames.com World Matchplay debut with a 10-6 win over Ledbury’s two-time finalist Terry Jenkins at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
The 29-year-old, a plasterer by trade, has made just two previous televised appearances, at the World Championship, but landed three hundred-plus finishes in a fine performance against the world number five.
Brown settled any nerves with a 127 bullseye finish in the game’s opening leg, and double top gave him a 2-0 lead as Jenkins struggled to get into the match.
Double top got last year’s runner-up off the mark in the third, and after Brown hit the same bed to move 3-1 up, Jenkins made the Bristol man pay for six missed doubles in leg five, cutting the gap to one leg at the first break.
A 96 finish from Jenkins saw him level in the sixth, and the pair traded the next two against the darts before Brown produced a 180 and a nerveless 83 check-out to move 5-4 up.
Brown then produced two moments of magic to move 7-4 up, firstly checking out 116 before bettering that with a 149 finish in the next.
Misses at the bull, double top and double 10 from Jenkins in leg 12 gave Brown the chance to further extend his lead, which he took on double 10 before then landing the bull for a 9-4 lead.
With the finishing line in sight for his first major win, Brown faltered with a miss at double top in the next leg, with Jenkins breaking back and then finishing double 12 to reduce the gap to 9-6.
But Brown edged clear in the next leg, and recovered from two further missed match darts to post double six for the win.
He said: “It’s awesome, the biggest win of my career.
“It’s a monkey off my back to go on television and win.
“Terry’s a Premier League veteran and I’m inexperienced but it was always going to be a battle.
“I was more nervous about my performance rather than Terry, because recently I’ve been the more consistent player, and from the first leg I felt if I could be consistent throughout the game I’d be hard to break.
“The 149 was a nice finish and it was a pivotal leg.”
