Nathan Aspinall made it all the way to the final in Cardiff during the second round of Premier League Darts on Thursday night, pulling off a number of notable finishes in the process.
Although he was ultimately knocked out by former world number one Gerwyn Price, albeit not on his best form on the night, ‘The Asp’ looked like the man to beat as he managed to brush past two-time WPDC winner Peter Wright and reigning world champion Michael Smith on his way to the final.
If ‘The Iceman’ didn’t have the home crowd on his side — admitting that they got him over the line and now has “14 weeks of hell ahead of him” — Aspinall may very well have taken the win, having beat Price on his way to the semis on the opening night in Belfast on February 2.
However, despite going one further, the Stockport lad fell at the final hurdle, but not before hitting a remarkable 136-checkout to knock out world number one Smith by 6-4.
His overall performance on the night was lauded by fans as not just “impressive” but “outrageous” at times, averaging 105 every three darts.
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The 31-year-old has just one major to his name so far which came in the 2019 UK Open but has continued to develop his game, having reached the semis in the worlds in 2019 and 2020, as well as coming runner-up in the Premier League, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam all in the last three years.
With that in mind, not to mention going one better than last week and following show-stoppers like his 136-finish, it’s looking like The Asp is starting the year off right.
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That wasn’t the only shot that got the crowd on their feet either, as he also pulled off a rare ‘phantom nine-darter’ (also known as a ghost nine-darter) after a bounce-out denied him a perfect leg against Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright. Still, 10 darts isn’t bad either.
A bounce-out foiling the perfect leg, but a 10-darter to win got Aspinall up and running in STYLE! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/lgW8h5rZel
Once again, his performance on the night was so good that many fans remarked that it deserved to be a true nine-darter but at least it added to the theatrics.
Nathan Aspinall currently sits fourth in the table, level on points with Chris Dobey, Gerywn Price and Michael van Gerwen, though the top three do boost a higher leg difference.
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Here’s hoping he puts in another strong showing in Glasgow on Thursday, 16 February.
Featured Image — PDC Darts/Sky Sports (via Twitter)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
10th February 2023 
