If anyone was going to bring an end to Simon Whitlock’s unbeaten run in this season’s Premier League, then at least it ended up being by a man called Painter.
Despite one or two glimpses of brilliance in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, the ‘Wizard of Oz’ was on the wrong end of an 8-3 defeat to Kevin Painter.
Whitlock had topped the table after claiming a win and a draw in the opening two weeks and was an odds-on favourite to triumph.
But Painter started strongly and claimed the opening three legs, the highlight an 86 finish in the second leg.
The Leyland sponsored marksman, roared on by the majority of the crowd, hit back to take the next two legs before Painter restored his three-leg cushion.
The Englishman had been on the wrong end of a nine-darter against Phil Taylor last week, and history looked like repeating itself in the eighth leg as Whitlock landed back-to-back 180s.
However, he missed the treble 20 with his seventh dart and, although he captured the leg, Painter then rattled off three successive legs to wrap up the victory.
The next stop on the Premier League bandwagon is Exeter, where everyone at Leyland will be hoping that Simon gets back to winning ways.