I’ll be Gurney’s new nightmare
Thorn out to halt shocking run
ROBERT THORNTON is ready to put the frighteners on his Ally Pally rivals after watching scary exorcism movies.
The Scottish star aims to lay the ghost of some poor recent form with a shining show against Daryl Gurney tonight.
Thornton was forced to stay in London over Christmas Day with storm Barbara wrecking his plans to go home to Ayrshire and celebrate with his family.
Holed up in a hotel room with missus Chrissy, the Saltcoats slinger spent a fright night watching horror films.
Now he wants to be a nightmare for Gurney and said: “In the past we’ve gone out into London and watched a show or movie but this year we came down with our tablets loaded with movies.
“We both love to watch spooky films, anything with exorcism involved. We watch them at night, then can’t sleep because we are too spooked!
“Storm Barbara ended any hopes we had of getting to see the family over the past few days.
“We had planned to go home but couldn’t chance it. It was a room service Christmas dinner for us. That’s nothing unusual for us. Darts does usually ruin Christmas but it’s just part of the job.
“We’ll have a second Christmas for the grandkids when we get home. Hopefully that won’t be until January 3!”
Thornton will have to hit top form to extend his stay in London with Gurney a dangerous opponent.
The Northern Irish ace is full of confidence, while the Scot was beating himself up in stages of his first-round game against Zoran Lerchbacher.
Thornton was becoming visibly frustrated as he defeated the Austrian and said: “I was getting annoyed with myself in the first round.
“I didn’t really click on the night but it’s just about winning. But there’s no way I will get away with that sort of performance again.
“I love the Ally Pally. It’s such a beautiful place to play darts and the atmosphere is out of this world.
“I just don’t think over the years I’ve had good draws. I’ve always ended up facing top players early. I need to up my game and end that record right now.”