Wayne Jones books Phil Taylor date

Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones is through to a second round showdown with Phil 'the Power' Taylor in the World Matchplay.

'The Wanderer' booked a date with the 11-time Matchplay champion on Thursday after a scrappy win over Scott Rand last night, while Taylor was pushed all the way by Rugeley's Mark Hylton.

Jones overcame a nervy start, where he shared the first six legs with the Coventry debutant, before pulling clear with a run of four straight legs.

A 161 finish saw Rand off but, despite a sub-standard performance, Jones is confident he will up his game.

He said: "I'm pleased to be through but not happy with how I played.

"It was an average display and that performance won't get me past Phil in the second round. It's frustrating because I know I'm playing well and I didn't show that against Scott.

"But my run last year started here and, hopefully, I can lift it on Thursday."

Taylor had to fight tooth and nail to get past newcomer Hylton, the left-hander who only turned professional just 18 months ago.

'Mile High' led Taylor 3-1 early on and hit back from 9-5 down, to reduce the gap to one leg and threaten an amazing fightback.

Hylton also opened the 18th leg with a 180 but, when he was unable to finish 121, Taylor held his nerve to secure a narrow victory as he seeks to claim his first major televised title of the year.

He said: "I'm relieved to get through because Mark came back well at me and, when he hit that 180 in the last leg, I was thinking we were going have a tie-breaker.

"His scoring was brilliant and he's a cracking player. He's done his apprenticeship and was impressive.

"I've got a lot of improvement in me yet and I know I need to be averaging around 106 to be in contention here.

"But the key thing is that I'm still in and I'll prepare well to play Wayne Jones on Thursday."