Simon Whitlock moved closer to a place in the Premier League Darts Play-Offs with an 8-4 win over Raymond van Barneveld in Bournemouth.
The Dutchman failed to reproduce the form that saw him win both UK Open Qualifiers held last weekend as his own hopes of a semi-final spot suffered a setback.
He now trails Whitlock, who has six wins in the competition this year, by four points going into the final three weeks of the regular season.
A miss from Whitlock allowed Van Barneveld to take the opening leg but the Australian responded by taking the next five, with killer checkouts of 115 and 155 moving him 4-1 ahead.
After missing double tops to give Whitlock another leg, Van Barneveld made no mistake at the same bed to take the next but another miss at double 18 saw him go 6-2 behind.
Van Barneveld reduced the gap to 6-4, hitting maximums en route to a 72 checkout and then punishing misses from Whitlock in two visits to win the tenth leg on double two.
But the Wizard saw off any potential fightback with a 180 and an 82 finish before sealing the victory with a 14-darter.
