DAVE Butler found some inspired form to beat one of the league favourites Andy Masters 4-1 with some terrific heavy scoring.

Arguably, Butler’s two other defeats would not have concerned him with such a major scalp, this adding to his 3-3 draw last week to another title favourite, Sam Ward, showing Butler has the potential to make a dent in the top 12.

Matty Betts picked up two wins with a 4-2 win against Guy Paddock and a fantastic victory over the ADC Summer Division One champion Trev Honnor.

Classy Simon Sharpe picked up two victories and a draw to help his push up the table, 4-2 wins coming over Masters and a quality 127 finish on the bull against Paul Paice.

Honnor himself made amends with his other two games, both 4-0 victories.

Paice did go on to grab a 3-3 draw against draw specialist Arnie Quinn but succumbed to a 4-1 loss to in-form Simon Churchill.

Churchill had another great night winning all three matches and hitting four 180s to cement his place in the top 12.

Quinn’s night did not improve as he lost 4-2 to Andrew McDermott and 4-0 to an in-form Stew Masters.

The highlight for the latter came in the battle of father versus son with Stewart prevailing 4-2 despite constant pressure from the older Masters.

Mel Burton got into the Christmas spirit handing out three crushing victories, with a highlight being a 114 checkout and a solid 4-2 win over Drew Tweedy.

Tweedy did pick up a 4-2 win against Terry Tucker but fell to league leader Danny Aplin 4-0.

Aplin remains top of the league after routine victories against Scott Gannon and Billy Short.

Short did however pick up another three points from his remaining fixtures, including a 3-3 draw against young Eddie Knell.

Knell ended with two points from a possible six as he drew 3-3 with Shaun Lampard but lost 4-1 to the improving Ian Lloyd.

Lloyd produced some great darts winning all three matches and finding two 180s, including a big 4-2 victory over top-12 rival Paul Dormer.

Dormer only managed one victory from three matches against the ever present Bazza Stratford, the latter recording a point against the slowly improving Scott Gannon.

Mark Samways collected two wins and a 180 from his three matches, including a 4-2 victory over Stewart Masters, but fell to a 4-2 defeat despite a 105 checkout against McDermott.

McDermott kept his second spot whilst hitting four maximums in his three wins from three.

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