THERE were plenty of positives for Nicky Kenny to take from his first experience as a player on the PDC circuit in Barnsley.

Cwmbran’s Kenny won a two-year PDC tour card last month after losing in the first round of the BDO World Championships.

In Yorkshire, the 26-year-old reached the last 16 and last 64 of Players Championship events at the Barnsley Metrodome.

Joe Cullen, who lost to eventual winner Gary Anderson, ended Kenny’s run in the first, while reigning PDC world champion Peter Wright dispatched the Welshman in the second.

Kenny’s performances bode well for the future, starting with European Tour qualifiers and two more Players Championship events in Wigan, which get under way this Friday.

“It’s all a learning curve,” he said. “I stole the first leg against Peter and could have gone 2-0 up.

“I had three darts for 2-2 and lost 6-1 in the end but I averaged 93 and should have been 4-3 up at one stage.

“It’s all about building my ranking, and I’ve done quite well so far, I’m actually above some of the top players on the money list.”

He added: “People expected me to do well in the BDO because I was ranked third in the world.

“I’m an underdog in the PDC and not many people are expecting me to do a lot.

“I now know what to expect at PDC events and if I play like I did in Barnsley, I won’t do too badly over the season.

“My aim is to get to the latter stages of as many tournaments as I can because that is where the money is really good.

“As well as the Players Championship and European Tour events, I’m definitely in the UK Open in early March, so a good run there would be great.”

With the possibility of more than 30 weekends away from home this season, Kenny says he is considering taking a break from his day job as a civil servant.

“It’s all go as a PDC player,” he added. “I’m thinking about taking a career break from work.

“It’s all about whether they would let me do that, how I do in this first lot of tournaments, and if I can get more sponsors on board.”

Kenny’s last tournaments as a BDO player had come after he secured his PDC tour card – and it was a memorable swansong in more ways than one.

Having reached the final of the Romanian International Open, Kenny needed double 20 to seal a 6-4 victory over home favourite Laszlo Kadar.

But as he threw his first dart, Kenny was put off by a shout from the home crowd, resulting in him missing tops.

After giving the offender the “death stare”, Kenny was off target with his second dart, before nailing double 10.

A handshake with Kadar was then followed by Kenny jumping off the stage and directing a fist-pumping celebration in the direction of the spectator.