PDC World Darts: Fallon Sherrock loses first-round THRILLER to Steve Beaton in front of raucous Ally Pally...

FALLON SHERROCK’s Ally Pally homecoming was shattered by darts royalty Steve Beaton but she vowed: See you next year.

Returning to the residence where she has had such enormous success, the Queen of the Palace was dethroned 3-2 in thrilling first-round clash of the William Hill PDC World Darts Championship.

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Beaton, the 1996 Lakeside world darts champion, survived all the noise and bluster of the gladiatorial oche bearpit to produce his best performance of the calendar year.

It means there will be no special run over Christmas for Sherrock like two years ago.

And PDC and Sky Sports bosses will have a big decision on their hands about whether or not to select her for the Premier League after this early exit.

Sherrock, 27, promised to return for the 2023 worlds, saying: “I’ll be back next year, 100%.

“If I had thrown my darts steadier, it might have been a different result. But I’ll take pride from this.

“Sometimes I don’t make it but I’ll never give up and will always fight.

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“People are talking about me and giving me all this hype, and I’m really proud of that. Any opportunity that comes my way I’ll never turn it down.

“I believe 100% on my day and on my game I can live with these people in the PDC.

“If I get more opportunities and chances I can prove myself. I want to play them. My game is stronger than what it was two years ago.

“Just because I bombed out of this tournament early now doesn’t mean I can’t come back next year or fail to progress in other tournaments.

“I do believe given the opportunity and if I can qualify I’ll eventually get to them points.

“That’s something that what I want to achieve and I won’t stop until I get there.”

There was a real buzz in the air all night in anticipation of Pink Princess returning after a two-year absence.

Fallon, fuelled by her pre-match Nando’s butterfly chicken, had asked for the crowd to respect Beaton and not subject her veteran opponent to jeering.

Yet that polite request fell on deaf ears with fans booing as soon as his Bee Gees’ Jive Talkin’ walk-on began playing.

Former hairdresser Sherrock – watched by boyfriend Cameron Menzies – started off magnificently and raced into a 2-0 lead in the first set thanks to three 180s.

But despite his back being against the wall, Beaton won the next three legs, hitting a 99 and then sealing the opening set with a classy 126.

World No.94 Sherrock could have crumbled at that setback but responded immediately with an 11-dart leg and levelled up at 1-1 with double top.

The match went to a fifth and final set as Beaton and Sherrock won the next two sets respectively without dropping a leg.

But Beaton’s seniority and experience proved invaluable, becoming the darts version of the guy who shot Bambi’s mum with his double 16 finish.

Beaton, 57, plays Belgian seed Kim Huybrechts on Wednesday evening, and he said: “I’m exhausted.

“That was one of the hardest games I’ve ever had to deal with. Fair play, she didn’t let me go at all.

“The crowd weren’t that bad. I had to get rid of my darts quickly so they didn’t have time to boo.

“These are the games you want to play in. I didn’t want to be the loser.”

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