Terry Jenkins was given a scare by youngster Joe Cullen before booking his place in the second round of the PDC World Championship on a mixed night for Dutch players at Alexandra Palace.
Jelle Klaasen and Michael van Gerwen were both dumped out on Tuesday, although Vincent van der Voort did restore some pride as he progressed in the final match of the night.
Seventh-seeded Jenkins looked to have his first round encounter in hand as he cruised through the first two sets without dropping a leg against his 21-year-old opponent who could not find a double.
Jenkins then broke in the opening leg of the third set and looked on course for an easy victory but, having finally got on the board by hitting double-six, Cullen made it two legs in a row to boost his confidence.
Although Jenkins took the next to level, the Bradford-born youngster claimed the set as he took out double-16.
That seemed to lift him further and following an exciting fourth set he levelled the match as he won the deciding leg with an 11-darter.
That was as good as things got for Cullen, though, as Jenkins went up a gear in the final set to win it 3-0 and seal his passage.
The Bull admitted afterwards that he had let his opponent back into the match and nearly paid the price.
“I made hard work of it in the end,” he told Sky Sports. “I was 2-0 up and should have wrapped it up.
“I felt a bit sorry for Joe when I was 2-0 up because he’s a good player and he didn’t come out firing like I thought he would.
“Joe was struggling and I suppose I should have beaten him 3-0, But I let him off the hook and he came back well.
“I was expecting him to play a lot better than he did and I went to sleep I think.”
Mixed fortunes for Dutch
Klaasen found Steve Brown too hot to handle as the Englishman recorded a deserved 3-1 victory to progress.
After Brown had swept through the opening set, Klaasen looked to have found his form as he discovered some fluency and finishing power to level.
But his scoring quickly tailed off again and Brown remained cool and consistent to book a second round showdown with Jenkins.
Van Gerwen tumbled out to Serbian-born Austrian Mensur Suljovic after missing a whole host of doubles on his way to a 3-1 defeat.
Like Klaasen, van Gerwen levelled after falling a set behind, but like his compatriot he could find no real consistency and paid the price as Suljovic found the doubles when it counted.
Van Gerwen did take out 82 in two darts to stay alive in the fourth set, but it proved a temporary reprieve as his opponent hit double-5 in the next to seal victory.
Van der Voort was a long way from his best but still had far too much for qualifier Preston Ridd who beat Michael Mansell 4-0 in a preliminary match earlier in the night.
Van der Voort dropped only one leg in a one-sided contest with the out-classed Ridd simply unable to exert any pressure on his opponent.
