Wade out in Purfleet semi-final

ROBERT THORNTON reached his first major PDC final at the coral.co.uk Players Championship with a 13-10 victory over James Wade.

The Scot continued his impressive charge up the Order of Merit by making a televised decider within a year of joining the PDC, bettering his semi-final appearance in the European Championship.

Thornton fell 8-6 down before stepping on the gas with some consistent high scoring to win seven of the next nine legs to record victory.

The Scotsman started the match well with a 15-darter before capitalising on three misses from Wade to break in the second.

World number two Wade stormed back to take the next three legs, including his first maximum of the game in the third leg in getting off the mark.

He followed that with a superb 151 checkout to level and hit a two-dart 60 finish to lead for the first time in the game at 3-2.

The reigning UK Open champion let four opportunities for a 4-2 lead slip and Thornton managed to land double five to break back and square the game.

The next two legs where shared before Wade broke his opponent's throw with a clinical 111 checkout, and then converted a 110 finish to open a gap at 6-4.

Thornton won the 11th leg and had an opportunity to level at six-all, but his attempt at double top for a 114 finish was off-target and Wade landed double eight to keep his advantage.

Thornton, a semi-finalist in the European Championship last November, won the next leg in 13 darts, but Wade went into an 8-6 lead by converting an 84 finish on the bullseye.

Wade missed a dart at double 11 which would have given him a 9-6 lead and Thornton managed to land tops to keep in touch.

The man from Stevenston then converted checkouts of 74 and 150 - despite maximums from Wade in both legs - to move 9-8 up and lead the match for the first time since the second leg.

Thornton was now in full cry and landed two maximums in the process of taking the 18th leg in 11 darts, followed by a two-dart 65 finish to move two legs away from victory.

Wade hit double ten to win his first leg in six to reduce the deficit to 11-9, but Thornton won the next in 13 darts to break throw and move a leg away from the final.

Wade broke the Scotsman's throw with a 14-darter, but Thornton hit his sixth 180 of the game in the next leg and followed that with a two-dart 60 finish to defeat the UK Open champion.

"I missed a few doubles early on and the first half of the match was scrappy but the second half went in my favour," said Thornton.

"James is one of the best players in the world but he didn't have a good second half.

"When I went two legs down and knew I had to pull it back. I'm like a back habit, I keep coming back and I hit him at the right time."