Taylor continued his winning run against Raymond van Barneveld in the third match on stage at the packed-out Motorpoint Arena, though he did not have it all his own way against his old rival.

The Power breezed through the opening three legs and, after his opponent had got on the board by taking out double 12 at the second time of asking, made it 4-1 thanks to a 124-finish.

However Barney came rumbling back, taking a leg either side of the interval to cut the gap down to one.

The Dutchman then looked certain to level matters at 4-4 but contrived to miss eight attempts to win the leg, misses that would prove extremely costly.

Having already failed to take out double 20, Taylor stepped back up to hit double 10 and edge 5-3 ahead.

From then on it became one-sided, the five-time champion holding immediately afterwards to consolidate his lead before taking out 68 in two darts to make it 7-3.

Different

A fourth leg on the spin sealed the match, an 85 checkout ending on double 14, though Taylor admitted afterwards it might have been a very different story had Barney pegged him back when he had the chance.

"I was thinking about the next leg. I thought Raymond was going to hit it, so I was concentrating on the next one," he told Sky Sports.

"I think if Raymond had of got that then I think the last few legs would have been brilliant.

"There was a lot of pressure on Barney to still qualify. I think there's a lot of pressure on all the players. You can feel that in the atmosphere in the back room. I'm just glad I've qualified."

While table-topping Taylor is already certain to be at the O2 Arena, reigning champion Anderson is in danger of not even making it through to the semi-finals after taking just one point from his two outings in Yorkshire.

The Scotsman lost his opener 8-3 to James Wade but looked set to bounce back when he reeled off five legs on the spin to storm into a 7-4 lead over Andy Hamilton.

Yet with victory in his sights Anderson suddenly lost his way, allowing his rival to come roaring back and snatch a draw that leaves both men on seven points in the table, three back of that all-important fourth place.

The Hammer - who had led 4-2 at the break - stopped the rot with double five in leg 12 and then sent the game the distance with double 18 after Anderson missed two darts for the match.

The deciding leg saw Hamilton produce a moment of magic to make sure honours ended even, the Stoke thrower taking out 102.

Resurgence

The other match saw Simon Whitlock continue his resurgence in the competition with an 8-5 triumph over Kevin Painter - a result that means the Wizard now sits second in the table.

The Australian fired a second successive ton-plus average as he moved through the gears after the pair were deadlocked at 4-4. Painter impressed before the break, including a 12-dart opening leg and a 71 checkout.

However it was all Whitlock when the players returned to the stage; he took three out of the next four, Painter's only moment of success coming when he took out 119.

A double-tops finish kept Painters hopes alive and he landed another maximum in the 13th to leave 81. He missed double 13 though, allowing Whitlock to land double 10.