Fermanagh man Brendan Dolan produced a superb performance to stun former champion Gerwyn Price on Thursday night and march into the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship.
Fifth seed Price was dumped out after falling to a 4-2 defeat against Enniskillen's Dolan.
Dolan held his nerve to close out the match with his first shot at tops after Price had clawed his way back from two legs down to level in the sixth set.
It was a crushing defeat for Welshman Price, who had been intent on repeating his victory in the behind-closed-doors tournament in 2021.
DOLAN STUNS PRICE AT ALLY PALLY! 🤯
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 28, 2023
What a performance that is from Brendan Dolan to beat former champion Price and reach the Fourth Round 👏
That is an ice cold performance from the Northern Irishman!
📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD#WCDarts pic.twitter.com/9pC6cbJORw
Dolan, who got through his second round match via a sudden death leg against his Northern Irish compatriot Mickey Mansell, had served an early warning when he took out the opening set with a 144 checkout.
His crisp finishing proved the difference as he nudged in front again at 2-1 on the bull, and 64 to repel Price's advances to go 3-2 up and one set from victory.
Dolan looked set to be made to pay for missing a match-dart at bull at 2-0 in the sixth when Price hit back to break his throw, but the 50-year-old saw it home in style.
Dolan told Sky Sports: "I was thinking we might go to a last leg but thank God it didn't because I don't know if I would have held myself together."
He was followed into the next round by another Northern Irishman, Daryl Gurney, who got past a dogged Ricky Evans 4-2.
In the final match of the night, Gurney ground down his English opponent to keep his ambitions alive.
Tournament favourite Luke Humphries survived a huge scare against Ricardo 'Pikachu' Pietreczko to squeeze through.
Humphries looked dead and buried when he fell 3-1 behind against the German, but he clawed his way back into the contest, building up a head of steam to ultimately power to a 4-3 win.
Earlier, Chris Dobey [above left] overcame a scare from Ross Smith to win 4-2.
A back-and-forth contest that saw 27 maximums posted throughout started with Dobey taking the first set with a 116 checkout before continuing his ruthless run to clinch the second with an average of 122.
The world number 17 took the opening two legs in the third, but was unable to find the crucial doubles as Smith dragged himself back into the game to pull one back.
Smith drew level but another tight set saw Dobey edge ahead and he hit double 16 for the match to set up a meeting with reigning world champion Michael Smith in the last 16.
Another close contest saw Joe Cullen reach the next round with a 4-2 win over Ryan Searle.
Cullen breezed through the opening two sets but Searle found some rhythm to take the third.
'Heavy Metal' put up a fightback in the fourth, where a tight deciding leg saw him take advantage of Cullen's missed double with a 124 finish on the bullseye to level the match.
A cagey set followed as 'The Rockstar' edged to victory and another tight set followed, but Cullen managed to hit double top for the win.
Stephen Bunting produced a stunning performance to beat Florian Hempel 4-0.
An electric opening saw Bunting set the tone with two 180s in his opening leg before winning the next one, but an excellent 164 checkout spurred Hempel on as he took the next two legs.
With the first set level at 2-2, the "Bullet" took the decider with an average of 115.62 and from there the momentum was firmly with Bunting as he swept Hempel away with a whitewash, averaging 101.15 throughout.
Victory means Bunting will now face Michael van Gerwen in the last 16.
