Nathan Aspinall nails 11 consecutive legs to beat Clayton to World Matchplay

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    Nathan Aspinall produced a 11-leg clinic to blow Jonny Clayton away and win the World Matchplay.

    The Asp reeled off the consecutive legs across the third, fourth and fifth sessions of his 18-6 win over World Cup winner Clayton on Sunday night.

    Blackpool's Winter Gardens was left in awe by the display from Aspinall – while Clayton couldn't help but laugh at some of the astonishing checkouts that were downing him. Such was the domination, Clayton only had darts at doubles in four of the 11-leg run.

    Among the checkouts were a phenomenal 170 finish, where Aspinall was left chuckling to himself before he nailed the inevitable bullseye.

    READ MORE: Beau Greaves loses just four legs in entire Women's Matchplay – and books PDC Worlds spot

    The pair were neck and neck at 5-5 before Aspinall rattled off 11 legs in a row with Clayton not finding a sixth double until the 19th leg.

    The Englishman then went 16-6 up to go a leg away from glory, getting the final done in the first available leg to crown the highlight of his career so far despite missing three darts at tops.

    The World Matchplay is the second biggest ranking tournament behind the World Championships, with Clayton missing out on the £200,000 prize.

    Does Nathan Aspinall have what it takes to be a future world champion? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

    The Welshman does pocket £100,000 as the runner-up, but failed to win a fifth major PDC event from only his seventh final.

    Aspinall's only previous major win came in the form of the UK Open in 2019, having then lost three consecutive finals in the Premier League, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts.

    The 32-year-old came through matches against Krzysztof Ratajski, Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen on his way to the showpiece having entered as the ninth seed.

    Aspinall ran to his partner Kirsty and two young daughters after ending his major trophy drought following a period in which he had a lengthy lay-off.

    Following surgery on his wrist, Aspinall was worried that his career could be over, since finding the form of his career.

    Only the 12th winner of the trophy named after Phil Taylor, Aspinall climbed up to fifth in the world rankings having come into the tournament just one place inside the top ten.

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    He said on Sky Sports: "I walked off at five all and I hadn't hit a 180 but I just found my game. Johnny told me that I was playing really well and I didn't know what had happened."

    He added: "I think that third session, when I went from 5-5 to 10-5. That was key.

    "This is my local tournament, I'm 40 minutes away from here and I just want to thank the crowd for their support not just for me but for all the guys. It's been incredible."

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