STEVE Maish found the challenge of Raymond van Barneveld too much after the world number one knocked the Southend darts professional out of the PDC Amsterdam Casino Open Holland Masters.

The 44-year-old has faced van Barneveld three times in the past month, taking on the Dutchman twice at the two PartyPoker.net Players Championship tournaments played in Bad Soden, Germany, last month.

In the first, van Barneveld produced a fine display to win 3-0, but the second match saw Maish turn on the style to win 3-1 on the way to a season's best run to the quarter-finals.

Last weekend Maish had already overcome the challenge of German Marcel Plaewe and another Dutch player, Rico Vonck, without losing a set before going down to the former postman from Den Haag.

While the Essex player picked up £150 for his efforts, 40-year-old van Barneveld went on to lift the trophy and take the £5,000 first prize after beating Colin Osborne 3-0 in the final.

Billericay-born Kevin Painter was disqualified from the tournament after becoming involved in an on-stage altercation with world number seven Adrian Lewis before the pair were set to meet in the quarter-finals.

Both players have been referred to the Darts Regulation Authority and could face suspensions.