Lawrence, of Beech Avenue, South Elmsall, progressed to the quarter-finals of the 'FA Cup of darts' at Bolton's Reebok Stadium before being dumped out by on-song Taylor, 10-0.

But the 44-year-old lorry driver has revealed to the Express that he was delighted with his display in the competition, which saw him progress to the last eight of a televised competition for the very first time.

"I was over the moon at how the weekend went in Bolton," he said.

"My aim was to get through the first round to get into the money and I did that and the progress I made after put me on cloud nine."

He continued: "It was brilliant to come up against someone like Phil, but he doesn't give you a chance and he was in brilliant form against me.

"He doesn't give a lot of the so-called main players a chance so it was always going to be difficult for me against him."

Lawrence, who also picks up the arrows for Frickley Colliery in the Yorkshire Super League Premier Division, received a bye from his second round clash with Paul Cook after his opponent failed to take to the oche in time, arriving 25 minutes late.

But the father of two's progression in the competition was anything but lucky, with some big scalps along the way to his semi-final clash with Taylor.

Lawrence saw off Steve Brown 9-8 in the third round before overcoming Mark Dudbridge 9-4 in round four and former world number one Colin Lloyd 9-3 in round five.

"I think my best win probably came against Dudbridge," Lawrence continued.

"I was high in confidence after I came out on top against Steve Brown and that built on as I progressed through the tournament."

Lawrence started 2009 ranked 81 in the PDC Order of Merit but his performance in Bolton, and throughout the year, has seen him rise to 64.

But he's revealed the growing costs of travelling to tournaments, especially in the current financial climate, have hindered his progress in the world rankings.

"There are tournaments coming up in Germany and Las Vegas but there's no way I can pay the money required to go out there and risk getting knocked out in the early rounds," he said.

Lawrence will make the shorter trip to Barnsley Metrodome instead this weekend for a competition which could well pit him against Taylor again, with the rumours of the darts ace travelling to South Yorkshire to take part.

And he'll be back on home soil on Sunday when he's aiming for bullseye with Frickley Colliery at the club's Westfield Lane base.

The darts ace is currently on the lookout for a sponsor to help him with travelling costs.

Anyone interested can call him direct on 07776 393643.

To read this story, and the rest of the local sporting news, see Thursday's Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express.