Nathan Aspinall earned his first Premier League darts victory of the season after beating Rob Cross 6-2 on night five in Exeter.
The Asp reached back-to-back finals with wins against Peter Wright and Luke Humphries before beating Voltage to move into fourth in the table.
His victory ended Michael van Gerwen’s run of three successive Premier League darts victories, with Humphries knocking the Dutchman out in their quarter-final clash.
Aspinall was beaten 6-4 in last week’s final in Newcastle and admits he has had a slow start to this year’s campaign.
He told Sky Sports: “It was a slow start to the season, last week was massive for myself and I made the decision tonight to forget about double 16 because I’ve missed it so many times and I went for tops.
“I’m very happy, the last two weeks I’ve really dug deep. Everyone knows I’m a fighter and I’ve been down the first three weeks, but a final and then a win the last two weeks, I’m over the moon.”
Aspinall took the early advantage in the final, winning the first three legs and after a series of missed attempts on the outer ring, he eventually hit double four to take the fourth leg.
Cross struggled on the doubles and missed a double eight, allowing Aspinall to snatch the fifth leg with a 160 checkout.
Voltage pulled two legs back to give his opponent a scare, but missed double 10 in the eighth leg before the Asp swooped in, hitting double 20 to secure the win.
“I like proving people wrong, that was my plan, didn’t start off like that. I’ve been down in the dumps but I think I’ve shown my fighting spirit the last two weeks,” Aspinall added.
“Granted, I’ve not performed at the level that I know I’m capable of but by God do I dig and I’ve dug deep tonight, last week was the same. That win against Michael Smith last week first game, scrappy game but that’s kickstarted my season.”
It was a disappointing evening for Cross, who stormed into the semi-finals with a dominant 6-1 victory over Gerwyn Price, throwing a 109.69 average during that game.
Voltage then met Luke Littler in the final four following Littler’s victory over Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.
He took a 2-0 lead before Littler found momentum and the game was tied at 3-3, but after missing six match darts Cross eventually reached the final hitting double two.
Littler eyeing World Championship redemption after latest triumph
Luke Littler is eyeing redemption at the World Championship finals later this year after securing his maiden World Series of Darts Finals title in Amsterdam on Sunday.
Littler, who won the Premier League in May, comfortably dispatched Michael Smith 11-4 in the final on Sunday with a 102.21 average after losing the first two legs.
The 17-year-old began the day with a quarter-final triumph over Chris Dobey before turning on the style against home favourite Michael van Gerwen in the semis.
Littler took home the £80,000 prize money but remains behind Dirk van Duijvenbode in the world rankings due to the tournament being an invitational one.
The teenager rose to fame earlier this year with his impressive run at the World Championships, reaching the final but losing to world number one Luke Humphries.
And Littler, who avenged Humphries in the Premier League final, wants to go one better at Alexandra Palace later this year.
"I'm playing well so I will go back home and practice even more. There is no time to sit about, it's a busy winter coming up," Littler said.
"Everyone wants to win everything but I've learned you can't do that. I would like to win another major [title].
"I want the Worlds as anyone else does but another major would mean the world."
Gary Caldwell hails Exeter after win at Northampton
Exeter boss Gary Caldwell hailed an “unbelievable” win after his side triumphed 2-1 away at Northampton despite playing the whole second half with 10 men.
Luke Harris steered the Grecians ahead at Sixfields but Ryan Woods saw red for violent conduct after clashing heads with Jon Guthrie on the stroke of half-time.
Northampton dominated possession in the second half but created little and even though Guthrie did bring them level, Exeter claimed all three points thanks to Will Aimson’s 83rd-minute winner.
“It was another brilliant display of character and team spirit,” said Caldwell. “I thought the way we started the game was excellent.
“We were surprised by their team, they showed us a lot of respect and changed formation and they locked onto our box and tried to stop us playing.
“But when we adjusted, I thought we caused them a lot of problems and we scored during that period and we could have scored more goals.
“The game then became a bit loose just before half-time and the sending off changes everything but this team fights and always finds a way and it was another unbelievable win.
“It’s not the first time we have won with 10 men this season and that’s all about resilience and character.”
On the red card, Caldwell said: “I think it’s really soft. There’s a coming together and he goes down very, very easily and the referee couldn’t wait to get his red card out.”
The defeat drops Northampton out of the top half of League One.
Manager Jon Brady said: “I actually thought we started really well. For 10 or 15 minutes we dominated the game, we stepped onto them and we had most of the ball.
“Exeter haven’t lost away from home since Christmas and they got back into it but we really stepped on the gas and we’ve hit the post and had shots cleared off the line.
“The goalkeeper’s put one onto the bar and another shot hits our player on the chest when it was going in so we should have scored two or three in that period, but we gave away a real sloppy goal for the first one.
“They then have a man sent off and they sit behind the ball and we get it back to 1-1 but did we really test their goal enough? Probably not.
“But then we give another goal away. We go to clear the ball and it hits their player on the foot and goes in. It’s disappointing because of course you want to finish with a win at home but it’s still been a brilliant season.”
Exeter record impressive win at Northampton
Ten-man Exeter continued their excellent form with a late 2-1 victory at Northampton.
The Grecians played the whole second half a man down but extended their unbeaten run to nine games thanks to Will Aimson’s 83rd minute winner.
The visitors opened the scoring at Sixfields when Harris collected Dion Rankine’s pass on 20 minutes and fired in off the post.
Jake Richards went close to adding to City’s lead before an almighty goalmouth scramble at the other end saw Louis Appere, Mitch Pinnock and Marc Leonard all have efforts either blocked or saved.
Exeter lost a man in first-half stoppage-time with Ryan Woods sent off for violent conduct after clashing with home captain Jon Guthrie.
Northampton inevitably dominated possession in the second half but it took until the 74th minute for the equaliser to arrive when Exeter failed to deal with a long throw and Guthrie stabbed in the loose ball.
But despite their numerical disadvantage, the visitors snatched victory thanks to Aimson, who ghosted in at the back post to convert Zak Jules’ cross seven minutes from time.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
