excessively long odds of 7/2, the match was very evenly poised: Taylor was the defending champion and reigning World Matchplay champion, while Priestley was the former champion and reigning World Pairs champion. Both players had conceded only a handful of sets between them en route to the final and produced (statistically) the greatest World Final ever at the time: not only was Priestley's average of 101.48 a landmark, Taylor's winning average of 98.52 was also higher than any previous World Finalist. Taylor won 6–4 in sets. The 1997 WDC World Championship Final was of a similarly high standard. A barrage of 180s took Priestley to an early 2–0 lead in sets before Taylor's brutal scoring and ruthless finishing put him in command. Trailing 2–4 in sets and 0–2 in legs, Priestley recovered to 2–2 in legs before clinching the set with a 160 checkout against the throw. Priestley found himself 0–2 down in the following set. Again he recovered to 2–2 before fractionally missing a 140 checkout for a similar escape, which would have made the match all square at 4–4. Taylor won that set to lead 5–3 in sets, and then won the next for a 6–3 win. Ironically, a year earlier in the 1996 WDC World Championship final, Priestley had similarly trailed 3–4 in sets and 0–2 in legs, recovered to 2–2 and just missed a 132 checkout (bull, bull, double 16) before losing the set. Although only one set 'against the throw' proved decisive in both the 1996 and 1997 WDC World Championship finals, the 1998 PDC World Championship final proved to be the most one-sided in the history of the World Darts Championship. Becoming the only duo to contest three successive World Finals, Taylor and Priestley were unable to produce another epic contest. This time Taylor won 6–0 in sets and lost just 2 legs in the whole match (3–0, 3–0, 3–0, 3–0, 3–2, 3–0). Taylor's win evidenced a cross-roads in their respective careers. While Priestley started getting some motivational problems and struggled to remain at the top of the PDC ranks, Taylor had already cemented an era of unprecedented domination and consistent 100+ averages. Despite this setback, however, Priestley bounced back to reach his sixth World Championship Final in 2000. An average of 98 gave him a 5–2 semi-final win over top seed Peter Manley, while Taylor blitzed into the final without losing a set.