Top seed O’Shea delivers darting masterclass to dump out big-hitter Bunting

Top seed Tony O’Shea defied a battling performance from beefy Stephen Bunting to win through 4-0 and book a place in the last eight.

The strapping six foot giant from St Helens had blasted in eight 180s but was punished by his Cheshire county team mate for consistently missing doubles.

Afterwards the Stockport grandfather declared: “It was all down to experience and that is a word I have used a lot since finishing runner-up 12 months ago. The confidence and experience gained in last year’s final set me up for six or seven good tournaments afterwards.

“You just can’t buy experience. That match did not seem like 4-0, I was really chuffed because I scored well myself but Steve scored heavily on the 180s but it’s doubles that win games.”

Bunting has never fulfilled his early potential since making his debut in 2004 as a rookie 18-year-old but after his promising start to the match he must have sensed that it might be his day.

He  blazed into the match blasting out four 180s and and 112 checkout finished on double tops but could not convert his good form into a winning double, twice missing double 18 and then fluffing his dart for double nine. O’Shea after initially missing double 18 recovered to steal the set against the throwing advantage with double nine.

Despite power-scoring from Bunting in the second – including three 180s – it was the experienced O’Shea who drilled his darts into the doubles, battling back from 1-0 down to take the set 3-1 and a 2-0 match lead.

The top seed turned the screw in the next after battling Bunting hit his eighth maximum to annex the opening leg, levelling and then taking the following two legs with double 18 and double 16 to establish a 3-0 lead after just 28 minutes of furious play.

After taking the opening leg of the fourth set, Bunting again fluffed his shot for double tops to lose the opportunity of taking the initiative, as cool O’Shea hit double 16 with their third dart to edge within a leg of victory. After Bunting missed a bid for a 170 match-saving finish, experienced O’Shea powered in a 81 victory flourish, completed with double 12.

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