MVG remains top of the standings while Mensur Suljovic & Peter Wright will fight to stay alive on Judgement Night after Gerwyn Price is eliminated
Friday 30 March 2018 10:57, UK
Defending Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen bashed Raymond van Barneveld, while Daryl Gurney enjoyed a fabulous homecoming in Belfast against Rob Cross in a titanic tungsten tussle on Thursday.
With just a week remaining before the Premier League's bottom two players are eliminated on Judgement Night, Welshman Gerwyn Price was shown the exit door after his sixth defeat at the hands of high-flying Michael Smith.
Gary Anderson popped in some big finishes to open the evening with an entertaining win over Mensur Suljovic, while Peter Wright made sure the battle for survival will go down to the wire when he stole a dramatic draw against Simon Whitlock to end the night.
Best of rivals Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld clashed in a repeat of the 2014 Premier League final and it didn't disappoint.
Van Gerwen averaged 104.47 to stay clear at the top of the table with his sixth straight win.
Barney served up a classy 81 checkout on tops to open proceedings, but a 132 on the bullseye in the fourth leg enabled The Green Machine to level in what was turning into another rollercoaster clash.
The five-time world champion was punished for five missed darts at doubles in the fifth leg and Van Gerwen established a 4-2 lead thanks to D8. The world No 1 was relentless by now and another break followed by tops for 60 put him into a commanding 6-2 lead. And it was curtains for Van Barneveld when the reigning champion closed out a brilliant win on D16.
He missed too many doubles in the fifth leg. I was waiting for him to make a mistake and for myself to throw a phenomenal leg. I took advantage and after that I didn't make a mistake. I could see Raymond's body language and you could see he was struggling; then I knew I got him.
Northern Irish ace Gurney struck nine maximums in a staggering show of scoring to secure his status in the event on home soil.
Gurney, who claimed his maiden victory last week by seeing off Mensur Suljovic in Glasgow, made an emotional entrance. But on his first televised appearance in his homeland, the 32-year-old was broken in the first leg, with the world champion staying ahead in a tit-for-tat encounter until Gurney landed D4 to hit back in the eighth leg.
Cross left himself a two-dart combination in the next leg, but could only watch Gurney take out a barnstorming 119 finish.
And the home support hit fever pitch when Gurney ended Cross' five-match winning streak with a 15-dart break on tops for a huge victory.
Under-pressure Wright headed into his latest contest having lost three successive Premier League matches 7-1 before reaching the weekend's European Darts Open final.
But the Scot's bid to continue his revival suffered an early blow after being broken in the sixth leg. There followed consecutive breaks before The Wizard sunk a sixth maximum of the match to tee up a 124, which he nailed on the bull, for a 6-3 advantage.
Both players were smashing in 180's for fun - 13 in total - as Wright turned on the afterburners to win the next three legs - including a brutal 120 checkout - to grab an unlikely draw.
Smith recorded his sixth Premier League win with a comprehensive display to eliminate winless Price.
The first four legs were squared-off before Bully Boy regained the lead courtesy of a 13-dart hold on D18 and moved 4-2 ahead with tops.
Smith then rammed in his best checkout of the tournament with a stunning 160 and sealed an emphatic win with tops. Welshman Price will next take on Simon Whitlock in his final match at Judgement Night before exiting the tournament.
Anderson moved onto nine points and is mathematically safe from elimination after a fine win which leaves the Austrian in danger of elimination.
The Flying Scotsman opened with a two-dart 74 combination before unleashing a nerveless 82 kill on D7 for a 15-dart hold. Suljovic got going with the first ton-plus finish of the match - a 101 in the fifth leg - and then an 81 checkout helped him level up at 3-3.
A 29th maximum of the tournament for Anderson left him 57, which he gleefully took out, to break back. The two-time Premier League champion nailed a 124 on the bullseye for 5-3, but Suljovic responded with an 81 on the bull in the next leg. Anderson sunk 62 to guarantee a point before stumbling over the finishing line with D9.
The 2018 Premier League heads to the Echo Arena in Liverpool for Judgement Night next Thursday, with coverage underway from 7pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix, which you can find on channel 287, and is free for all Sky customers. Six weeks of tungsten action will then continue through to the season's conclusion with the Play-Offs on May 17 at The O2 in London.
Keep up to date with the latest darts news, previews, reports, reaction and expert analysis. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts- don't forget to use #LoveTheDarts
