Darts / David Croft / 25 July 2008 /

James Wade and Phil Taylor are still on course for a classic final meeting, says David Croft. Meanwhile, somebody needs to find a barber's amongst the rock shops.

Two weeks ago I wrote that I wasn't looking beyond Phil Taylor and James Wade for this year's Stan James World Matchplay Darts, such was the current form and consistency of the two players.

As we approach semi-finals night I'm glad to say that the pair are still going strong and nothing has happened so far this week to alter my opinion that these are the two to watch, and could be for the foreseeable future. John Part looked all at sea against Alan Tabern following an easy first round win against Chris Mason. 'The Ace' was suffering from an elbow injury. Meanwhile, Ray Van Barneveld, who's tinkering with his throw and his darts matches Nick Faldo's attempts to rebuild his swing a few years ago, now looks a shadow of his former glorious self.

Talking of shadows Barney could do with having a shave before he goes up to play. The sight of him sweating almost from the off and a chin full of stubble wasn't a great advert for the sport. He looked how he played, terrible.

Taylor, though, keeps on going. His below par performance at the World Championships now a distant memory. This week in his three matches against Steve Beaton, Colin Osbourne and Kevin McDine he's dropped a total of only 17 legs. Powerful stuff if you pardon the pun although it would have been nice to see his opponents offer some sort of resistance, so far the challenge has been pitiful to say the least, competitive darts it hasn't been.

Taylor takes on Dennis Priestly in the semi final and here we may at last find one player putting up a fight. So many times over the years these two have treated us to classic match after classic match. Tonight, assuming the tired Priestly has got a good night's sleep back home in Mexborough we may see another. 'The Menace' has speeded up his game slightly which has helped this week and his victory over Terry Jenkins in the second round has given him huge confidence. I expect Taylor to come through but at a price of [20.0] it may be worth a small investment on Priestly at a price you can't ignore. Either way in what I think could be a closer game than Phil Taylor has experienced this week, the price of Priestly at [3.1] with a 5.5 leg advantage or [2.04]] with a 7.5 leg head start looks worth having.

Onto the second semi final where James Wade at [1.26] is justifiably the big favourite to beat Wayne Mardle at [4.7]. Mardle did very well to rattle off 8 unanswered legs in a row against Van Barneveld but he still very nearly lost out to a man playing well below his best. Mardle said that he's proved in all three games he's played this week that he can battle it out. "You get more resilient from each game and it makes you stronger", he stated, which is one way of looking at it. But, while Mardle may think he's resilient, I think he's been given second chances by both Barney and Van Gerwin who he played in the second round. Wade won't offer that chance which is why I'm looking at a correct score win for Wade of 17-7 at [14.0] with Betfair or even as low as 17-6 at a price of [18.0]. I'm not expecting a close one, which is why the price of [2.52] for Wade to win with a 6.5 leg advantage to Mardle is still an attractive one.

Then if all that works out, assuming you took the advice to get on Wade and Taylor at the start, you can sit back and enjoy the final, safe in the knowledge that whatever happens you're the winner.

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