Matthew Dennant in the money on PDC Tour

A trio of events for the PDC's young darters first paired Dennant, 22, with Wednesbury's Matthew Dicken in an all-West Midlands tie at the oche on Saturday.

Dennant stunned Dicken, 20, with a 4-0 whitewash in the first round but was then pitched in against Ross Smith, twice a tournament winner on the tour this year.

A close-run battle came down to the last leg but it was Dennant who lost 4-3. Smith would go on to win the second tournament held at the venue later that day.

Dennant enjoyed a second whitewash of the day in the first round of the second event, 4-0 to Stuart Clark, while Dicken went out in a 4-2 defeat to Benito van de Pas.

It was Dennant who surged forward and dropped just a leg in a 4-1 victory over Colin Feeley, before seeing off Reece Robinson 4-2 in the first money stage to win £75.

That was the losers purse for the fourth round and Dennant was lumped in against Leicestershire's Gaz Cousins, who hit a nine-dart finish in his first game earlier that day.

This time it was Dennant on the wrong end of a 4-0 whitewash, finishing his day and leaving him focused on the final tournament of the weekend, which was held yesterday.

However, it was Dennant's turn to experience a first round defeat as he failed to get out of the blocks against Ryan Hegarty, who finished clinically on the way to a 4-2 success.

Dicken needed a last leg shoot-out to nudge past Stuart Hunt 4-3 in the first round but then faced Leicester's Sam Hill at the next stage, bowing out in a 4-2 defeat.

Ben Ward won the first of the three events, after a dramatic last leg 4-3 victory over Josh Jones, while Smith dropped just a leg by beating Sam Head 4-1 in Saturday's second decider.

Former BDO world championship semi-finalist Jan Dekker won yesterday's tournament, overcoming fellow Dutch youngster Dirk van Duijvenbode with a tight 4-3 win in the final.