DORCHESTER darts ace Ben Ward enjoyed a promising start to life on the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour with some impressive performances at Barnsley Metrodome.

Playing in three competitions over two days, the 24-year-old recovered from a second round exit to eventual winner Josh Payne in the first event to twice reach the last 16.

Ward will take that form into the Salisbury Open this weekend and he is already looking forward to the next Challenge Tour event in Wigan on April 20-21.

“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Ward told Echosport after his trip to Yorkshire. “I felt I played really well but did make a couple of mistakes.

“There were a lot of good players there and some terrific darts over the weekend and the standard was incredible. I’d say it was one of the best events I’ve played at in terms of the standard.

“I was pleased with how I scored and with my consistency but sometimes against the throw I didn’t punish my opponents enough.

“I could throw a 12-darter then slack off a bit but that will sort itself out over time and it’s something I’ll be looking to build on in Wigan.”

Ward overcame Mark Tomlinson 4-1 in his opening game of the two-day event before going down 4-2 to Payne.

In the second competition, he then breezed through the first four rounds with victories over Peter Browning and Lewis Venes, both 4-2, and Curtis Turner and James Welding, both 4-1.

His run was eventually ended by Oliver Stell in the fifth round with his rival getting the better of him in a last-leg decider.

The next day, Ward received a bye in round one and then saw off Samuel Poland (4-0), Shaun Griffiths (4-2) and Tom Sykes (4-0) before a 4-2 loss to Jason Marriott, again in round five.

His victory over Griffiths, one of the best young players in the country, and checkouts of 160, 127 and 123 also gave Ward a lot of satisfaction as he sets his sights on the professional circuit.