SCOTT Mitchell was left to rue a last-gasp disappointment against nemesis Scott Waites in the semi-final of Sunday’s Police Masters in Poland.

Having made his way to the last 32, Mitchell came through tough tests against Tony Martin (4-1), Martin Atkins (4-1) and 2014 World Championship runner-up Alan Norris (5-3) to set up his showdown with Waites, a man he has never beaten on the BDO circuit.

In a close contest, Dorset’s England international, who was second seed for the tournament, missed two darts to win the match against his Yorkshire rival before suffering a 5-4 defeat to the eventual champion.

But despite the setback, the Bransgore-based star still racked up more ranking points to further improve his prospects of automatic entry to Lakeside 2015.

Mitchell, who is up to fifth in the World Darts Federation’s latest global rankings, told the Daily Echo: “The annoying thing was having those two darts to beat him, it would have been nice to get that one out of the way but it wasn’t to be.

“It is starting to get on my nerves now but I’m sure the opportunity will come round again.”

The impressive display came after a shock last-64 exit in Saturday’s Polish Open to unknown Czech Pavel Drtil.

“I was disappointed but there was little I could do, he just hit absolutely everything which sometimes happens,” added Mitchell.

“When you have some good form and climb the rankings you get headhunted a little bit in the earlier rounds and fair play to him, he played out of his skin.”

Mitchell’s next assignment is with Dorset, who travel to newly-crowned champions Cornwall for their final match in the British Inter-County Championships Division One at the weekend.

Dorset currently hold the second promotion spot and could reach the top flight for the first time in their history.