Heydon back to his best in Derby

The 40-year-old has struggled to scale the heights this season after an impressive rookie year on the PDC circuit.

However, during a two-month hiatus in the pro tour, he regained his enthusiasm for the sport which he says served him well in Derby.

“It’s been a bit harder this year balancing work and home life,” said Heydon. “I wasn’t mentally positive and working all week and then playing on the weekend was draining me.

“Last year I was managing on adrenalin, but this year everyone has stepped up against me. I’m not an unknown and everyone knows they have to bring their game to beat me.

“But we’ve had two months off and I’ve been playing locally which has helped me. It allowed me to be a bit more positive and it was an awesome run.”

Heydon beat Tony Eccles and Mark Dudbridge before avenging his previous day’s defeat to Simon Whitlock in the third round.

A 6-2 win over Alex Roy then set up a quarter-final clash against the in-form John Part, which Heydon lost 6-4.

“It was a close game,” said Heydon. “At 5-4 down I had three darts at double top and wired them all.”

Part went on to lost 6-5 to eventual winner Gary Anderson in the semi-final.