Nathan Aspinall has won his first Betfred World Matchplay title, the second major title of his career, with a thumping 18-6 victory over Jonny Clayton at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Sunday evening. Aspinall’s dazzling darts secured him the coveted Phil Taylor Trophy and the £200,000 prize.
‘The Asp’ provided the crowd with an unbelievable performance to claim his first major title since the UK Open in 2019. The Stockport native was simply phenomenal and played darts that the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price would’ve been proud of. It was just 18 months ago that he suffered a wrist injury which at one point had thrown his darts future in doubt, now Aspinall has claimed the biggest title of his career so far which can now act as a springboard for further success.
Clayton couldn’t help but sit back and watch the masterclass Aspinall delivered in Lancashire as the 32-year-old delivered one of the all-time great Matchplay displays. Given that this was the first year that ‘the Ferret’ had progressed past the second round it felt like this could be his year to win the Matchplay, but Aspinall was on a completely different level on the night to register the best performance of his career.
Clayton scored the first maximum of the match as well as getting a 141 checkout on double 12 to make a good impression early on, but Aspinall made sure he was able to keep close to him and make sure he punished ‘the Ferret’s’ mistakes.
Aspinall’s confidence was starting to show in the third session as he wouldn’t leave Clayton anything. After scoring his first maximum of the evening a second quickly followed. This, coupled with his clinical finishing, saw him take a five-leg lead, winning all five legs of the third session. That was one of the best performances we have seen in the entire tournament.
His spell-binding form continued into the next session. He took an 11-5 lead with a stunning 170 checkout on the bullseye, his first bull finish of the Matchplay. Clayton couldn’t do anything to stop him, he was just watching an incredible spell unfold before his eyes. The Welshman got a confidence boost with a 180 in the 18th leg but Aspinall responded with a maximum of his own in the following visit. ‘The Asp’ then checked out for 115 to extend his lead to eight legs.
Clayton had been left stunned and it became apparent when he squandered an opportunity to win his first leg since the second session and missed a checkout for 80. Aspinall then cleaned up the 20th leg to make it 10 on the bounce. It all went wrong for Clayton at the worst time and it all went right for Aspinall at the right time. He had firm control over the final and he wasn’t giving Clayton any opportunity to disrupt his remarkable flow as he sealed the trophy with a suspense-built finish on double five.
