"I thought we were caught chasing the game a little bit, but what was really pleasing is we were able to fight back in the second half, both physically and mentally," Thirlby reflected post-match. "There was an awful lot of discussion over a decade ago about the golden generation of England players - Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Terry - but in truth, this now is England's golden generation. "They seem to pick more on Gezzy. I don't understand why people want to pay good money to watch a game of darts and try to put somebody off. Me personally, I'd want to pay good money and want to see the best of their ability. By booing somebody, I don't think that happens. Sardar Azmoun, Ehsan Hajsafi and Ali Gholizadeh were all on target as the Iranians moved on to 16 points from six games in Group A and victory over Iraq when qualifying resumes on January 27 would secure their spot at next year's tournament.