Wade beats Eccles to reach last sixteen at Alexandra Palace

JAMES WADE earned his place in round three of the 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship with a 4-2 defeat of Tony Eccles.

In a game mirroring his first round win over Brendan Dolan, Wade never hit top gear during the contest but did enough to end the challenge of the Hartlepool man.

Wade led 2-0 in the opening set, breaking throw in the second leg by landing double ten.

Eccles missed two darts at doubles to win the third leg, and Wade stepped in to hit double top and take an early lead.

All three legs were won with throw at the start of the second to give Eccles the edge, and he then managed to win the fourth with an excellent two-dart 79 finish to level the match.

Wade missed two darts at doubles to win the first leg of the third set, and Eccles managed to hit double one with his last dart to go 1-0 up.

But Wade was clinical from then on, and took the next three legs in 14, 15 and 15 darts to regain lead.

Both players hit maximums at the start of set four, but it was Eccles who ended up taking the leg.

Wade soon levelled and then won the third leg against the darts with a 14-dart finish before punishing Eccles misses to take a 3-1 advantage.

In the fifth set Eccles, who defeated Remco van Eijden his first round game, produced some brilliant finishing to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

He hit a two-dart 65 finish to win the first leg, a 119 checkout to break throw in the second and a fine 143 to wrap up the set.

Both players held throw at the beginning of the sixth set, before Eccles hit a superb 123 finish on the bullseye to go 2-1 ahead.

Wade won the fourth leg and then hit his seventh maximum of the game in a 13-darter to seal victory.

Wade admitted afterwards to being frustrated with his performances so far at Alexandra Palace, saying: "I'm practising well but not taking it up on stage.

"The standard for the World Championship is high and I'm not there yet, but I can do it.

"A year ago I'd caught up with Phil but then he started to play under-par. Now he's found a new level and I'm chasing him again, and I'm not playing at the top of my game.

"I'm in the last 16, playing bad darts but still winning and I need to knuckle down now. I'm relaxed and happy and it's only a matter of time before it clicks in."