I’ve had to dig really deep, says Aspinall

NATHAN Aspinall earned his first Premier League victory of the season after beating Rob Cross 6-2 in the night five final in Exeter.

The Asp reached back-to-back deciders with wins against Peter Wright and Luke Humphries before beating Voltage to move up to fourth in the table.

His victory ended Michael van Gerwen’s run of three successive victories, with Humphries beating the Dutchman in their quarterfinal clash.

Aspinall was beaten 6-4 in last week’s final in Newcastle and admitted he has not been quickly into his stride this season.

He told Sky Sports: “It was a slow start to the season, so last week was massive, 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, pictured, took the early lead 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 ten in the eighth leg before the Asp swooped, with double top to secure the win.

“I like proving people wrong, that was my plan, but 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, and 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, and a 109.69 average during that game.

Voltage then met Luke Littler in the final four following the 17-year-old’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 hit double two for the win.