Will it be third-time lucky for Gordon?

He won Friday night’s qualifier to take his place in November’s showpiece event, where he will be targeting victory after being the runner-up in the past two years.

A field of 29 competed at the Ex-Service Club for this double-three-start competition.

Pete Evans, who leads the way in the highest point scorers competition, could not add to his tally as he was beaten 2-1 by Stuart Hodson.

Stuart beat Jim Wilson 2-0 and then met his match in the quarter-final as Smith beat him 2-0,.

Smith had previously beat Rick Seaman and David Tuplin, both 2-0, and was in a mean mood as he marched to the semis without dropping a leg.

After a first-round bye, Mark Simpson beat the in-form Nathan Careless 2-1 in a cracker of a game, but came unstuck against Scott Smith, losing 2-1 in the quarters.

The bottom half of the draw threw up some interesting games, one being a clash between Wayne Clarke and Lee Yates.

Clarke prevailed 2-0 but missed out 2-1 to Christopher Royal.

Kristian Thein was making steady progress with wins against Chris Fletcher, Scott Sutton and Stewart Yapp, dropping only one leg on his way to the semis.

Martin Bell claimed wins against Stewart Giles, Rob Pomeroy and Christopher Royal without dropping a leg to set up a semi-final against Thein. In a close game, Bell won 2-0 to reach the final without dropping a leg.

The other semi was between the two Smiths, Scott and Gordon. Gordon won 2-0 to move on to face Bell.

Something had to give as neither finalist had dropped a leg, and it was Smith who kept his record intact with a 2-0 succes.

There are two qualifiers left on August 10, a best-of-three event, and September 21, which will be a double-18-to-start contest.

The qualifier for the top points scorers will be on October 12.

Current top point scorers: Martin Bell 15, Pete Evans 13, Scott Smith 12, Stewart Giles 10, Chris Simpson 9, Spencer Davis 9, Rick Seaman 7, Stewart Yapp 7, Kristian Thein 7.

The pros will be: Anastasia Dobromyslova (sponsored by Fabrique Creations), Scott Waites (Zorba’s Kebabs), Gary Robson (Stuart Hodson Tyres), Dean Winstanley (Home Style Outlet), Rob Hewson (SeaviewPub), Jamie Caven (Batemans Brewery), Sam Hewson (AC Engineering), Lorraine Winstanley (The Saxby), Referee Mark Waters (DS Trophies), MC Chris Fletcher (Butchers 4 U).

Division One of the league will now be known as the Web Design of Skegness Division One, with the league becoming the Sid Dennis and Sons Ltd Darts League Skegness.