Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FEEL THE POWER
Legend Taylor’s title dream is alive & kicking
BRING out the Paxo, crack open a bottle and let’s all get basted with the turkey.
Phil Taylor, the greatest achiever among British sportsmen of his lifetime, lived to fight another day at Alexandra Palace and left Justin Pipe to choke on his cough medicine.
After 16 world titles, the Power’s dream of a fairytale farewell to the oche – a 17th world title at the age of 57 – survived in a concerto of abuse straight from the football hooligans’ songbook aimed at his opponent.
Taylor booked an all-England third round date with Keegan Brown at the William Hill PDC world championship with a 4-0 annihilation against pantomime villain Pipe, the man who coughs only when the chips are down.
It wasn’t supposed to end in anti-climax, and thankfully Taylor got the memo. Romantics still hope the final curtain will be embroidered with gold, with a portly genius from the Potteries milking plaudits like a dairy maid, instead of falling on him like a ton of bricks.
For ex-lumberjack Pipe this was an opportunity to prove his bite was worse than his tree surgeon’s bark.
But he was so outclassed he didn’t even need to clear his throat.
Pipe was serenaded to the oche by boos and skittish coughing fits, lampooning his gamesmanship against Bernie Smith in the first round when the Kiwi plasterer was throwing for the match.
Some might say it served him right, but when the chorus line resorted to “You’re f ****** s***” and “Cheat, cheat, cheat” aimed at Pipe, it stretched the boundaries of good taste.
He appeared to relish the hostile soundtrack – the sort once reserved for boxer Chris Eubank’s ring walk – and he cupped his ears to the gallery.
But once matron had done her rounds with the throat lozenges, Taylor settled into the old routine.
Like 63-year-old Paul Lim 24 hours earlier, he rolled back the years with a 10-dart leg in the second set.
Fancy that: The two oldest men in the tournament still know the best short cuts.
Taylor was not prepared to let Pipe trash the Hollywood script by ending an era in Muswell Hill instead of the credits rolling in Beverly Hills.
And the fight had long evaporated from plodding and ponderous Pipe by the time Taylor took out 119 on the bullseye to go 3-0 up.
And Pipe’s hostile jury sent him into the night with a refrain of “You’re not coughing any more” when the Power declared the mid-championship Christmas break officially open by winning 11 legs in a row.