TERRY Jenkins secured fifth place and £32,500 after securing a 7-7 draw with Raymond van Barneveld in the Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts.
Van Barneveld needed to claim a point from his final league game in Cardiff to jump above Mervyn King into third and he took a 4-1 lead.
Ledbury’s Jenkins hit back to lead 5-4 and took out 120 in the deciding leg to claim a draw.
Van Barneveld had opened the match with a brilliant 10-darter and hit a second 180 in leg two only for Jenkins to reply and take out 41 on double top.
The Dutchman landed double 10 for the next leg, double 18 to break throw in the fourth and then double 16 to lead 4-1 after the pair again traded maximums.
Two misses at double 18 from van Barneveld allowed The Bull in for the sixth leg and further wayward finishing allowed the world number five to land a 14-darter and cut the gap to 4-3.
A 12-darter saw Jenkins level before he took out double 10 to punish further misses from van Barneveld and lead for the first time in the game.
Jenkins landed back-to-back 180s in the next leg but wasted five darts at a double as van Barneveld stopped the rot on double nine.
Jenkins left himself 16 in the next leg with a 171 score only to be denied a dart as van Barneveld hit double four to go 6-5 up.
A sixth 180 of the match helped Jenkins level again in the next but he was punished by van Barneveld in leg 13, missing double top in single five before the world number three took out tops to secure at least a draw.
But Jenkins was stronger in the deciding leg and took out 120 to secure a point, which sees him end the season in fifth place, jumping above John Part.
“I dug in there and it paid off,” said Jenkins. “I was 4-2 down at the break but it could have been 6-0.
“There was a lot of pressure on both of us with how things could have turned out and I’m happy with how it turned out.
“I played pretty well during most of the Premier League and just a few doubles in the early games have cost me a place in the play-offs, but hopefully I can win a place in next year’s tournament.”
Van Barneveld said: “I was hitting everything for five legs but then missed a few doubles.
“Terry’s a great player and he came back fantastically, and in the end I think I was lucky to get a draw.
“But I’m in the semi-finals now and that’s the main thing, and it’s a new day when I play James Wade at Wembley.”
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