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He was brutal in his destruction of Wes Newton, racing away with the all-Unicorn clash 10 legs to 2, to set up a potential 2nd round blockbuster against Phil Taylor.

“It wasn’t pretty,” he admitted, “but I am still happy and it is something to build on. I have worked on my game over the last few months and winning the Las Vegas Desert Classic has given me a lot of confidence.”

It turned into a nightmare debut for Newton, who just couldn’t hit a double – it was as simple as that. He had been building up to his hometown tournament – living just three miles away in Fleetwood – but it will go down as a performance to consign to a distant memory as soon as possible.

The Unicorn new-boy hit only two doubles from 15 attempts – missing eight shots to win legs in the first session….all of a sudden, Part was 4-1 up and there was no coming back for Newton.

Part won six consecutive legs to claim victory, including a brilliant 127 finish on the bull. He just missed a 124 check-out to win the match and finally nailed double four to book his ticket into the 2nd round.

World No.8 Mark Dudbridge produced one of his worst performances in a major TV tournament, as he crashed out 10-6 to ‘The Ace of Herts’ Alex Roy.

Dudbridge, who has had a dreadful 12 months, reached the final in Blackpool only two years ago and of course lost to Phil Taylor in the final of the 2005 World Championships.

But Roy took the shine out of the man they call ‘Flash’ with a steady show. He was 9-4 in front, before Dudbridge finally produced a couple of decent legs but it was only a short delay for Roy, who reached the 2nd Round for the first time in four years.

He will now face the in-form Dennis Priestley….He celebrated his 56th birthday only last week but ‘The Menace’ has been in terrific form this year and looks the part. He is playing as well as he ever has and is surely in the mix this week. Priestley though, was forced to draw on all his experience to see off St.Helens qualifier Alan Tabern.

Priestley won the first three legs, then raced into a 7-2 lead, before Tabern found some form. He pulled out a brilliant 131 and came back to 6-8 and 7-9….but Priestley wasn’t to be denied and double four gave him a hard-fought 10-7 victory.

Monday’s action features a feast at The Winter Gardens, with the likes of Taylor, Lloyd, Lewis, Mason, Painter and Mardle all coming to feast at the top table of darts. Perhaps the pick sees Taylor against Bob Anderson in another all-Unicorn clash.

And you will be able to keep in touch with all the action right here on the Unicorn website.

Monday order of play (1pm)

Terry Jenkins v Lionel Sams
Adrian Lewis v Matt Clark
Peter Manley v Andy Hamilton
Chris Mason v Steve Beaton

Monday night (7pm)

Kevin Painter v Barrie Bates
Colin Lloyd v Steve Maish
Phil Taylor v Bob Anderson
Wayne Mardle v Steve Hine

BY STUART PYKE