The 2026 Premier League Sheriff of Nottingham honour belonged to Jonny Clayton, who produced an emphatic victory over Luke Humphries on a night when the Rocky Horror Show continued for Northern Ireland star Josh.
Before a dart had even been thrown in this year’s Premier League, bookmakers had installed Jonny Clayton as the favourite to finish bottom of the table. Six weeks into the competition and the Welshman is making a delightful mockery of that prediction, sitting imperiously at the summit of the standings.
The Ferret took a short while to ignite his evening, or perhaps more accurately Michael van Gerwen exploded from the starting blocks to seize an early 2-0 lead, looking every inch the decorated champion he remains. Clayton, however, has yet to lose a quarter final in this year’s campaign and after restoring parity at 3-3 he engaged the afterburners.
Benefiting from the Dutchman’s frustrations on the doubles, the Welshman surged clear to claim another composed victory.Next in Clayton’s path was Stephen Bunting, who had just administered a convincing victory over Josh Rock, gaining a measure of Minehead revenge in the process.
Unfortunately for the Northern Irishman, he remains without a win or even a point in this year’s Premier League.
Clayton’s semi-final followed a remarkably similar narrative to his earlier encounter with van Gerwen. The contest could be neatly divided into three distinct passages. The opening exchanges belonged entirely to the Welshman who surged into a 3-0 lead. Middle segment-wise swung towards Bunting as The Bullet discovered his rhythm to level up.
But the closing act once again featured the league leader delivering a clinical trio of legs to extinguish Bunting’s challenge and bring his evening to a close.
Cool Hand enjoyed a night of exorcising a few lingering demons. The first act of deliverance came in the form of improving his record against Gian van Veen, who had dominated their recent encounters, winning eight of the previous nine meetings ahead of the evening’s clash.
Neither combatant produced their most scintillating darts and you would have received extremely generous odds on the pair combining for just a solitary maximum throughout the contest.
Ultimately, however, Humphries demonstrated superior scoring composure and clinical finishing, which proved to be the decisive difference and more or less the tale of the tape.
The reigning Premier League champion knew that his next opponent would be either Luke Littler or Gerwyn Price. That particular encounter produced an absolute belter, with maximums raining down in relentless succession.
Fourteen in total were registered between them, eight of which came from the eventual victor, Luke Littler, who pinched the decisive final leg. Even with a rather modest outer ring success rate of just 27 percent, The Nuke still managed to produce an astonishing average north of 108, which offers a fairly emphatic indication of just how ferociously the world champion was scoring.
Yet for Littler, he did not quite reach those vertiginous heights in the semi-final against his compatriot, whereas Humphries produced arguably his most authoritative performance of the campaign to date.
The English World Cup pairing may have been seen earlier in the week celebrating a few winners from the VIP enclosure at Cheltenham, but on the Nottingham oche in this race to six legs there could only be one victor. For Cool Hand, it represented a moment of long-awaited vindication as he finally overcame his youthful nemesis for the first time since that memorable evening at the O2 Arena last May, when he lifted the Premier League title.
At 5-2 ahead and throwing with majestic authority, it appeared very much like Luke senior’s contest to lose. Yet five minutes later the match had transformed into another dramatic shoot out. Fortunately for Humphries, he capitalised upon the advantage of throw to edge past the recently crowned back to back UK Open champion and secure his place in the night’s showpiece final.
After the early drama and exhilaration on the banks of the River Trent, only two men remained standing. Although, with Jonny Clayton unfortunately battling a bout of gout, “standing” may have been something of an exaggeration. Walking – or more accurately hobbling – appeared the more appropriate description.
Continuing the earlier Cheltenham analogy, it was the Welshman who burst from the starting gate with the greater authority. The Ferret quickly seized the initiative, pinching an early break of throw before galloping into a commanding 2-0 advantage. Luke Humphries, however, is rarely one to remain passive for long and responded by metaphorically cracking the whip and halving the deficit with a composed bullseye finish.
Just as Humphries began to manoeuvre himself back into contention, Clayton produced another surge of clinical precision. The Welshman rattled off a brace of legs in swift succession, the second punctuated by a magnificent 146 checkout that brought the Nottingham crowd to life. Suddenly the scoreboard read 4-1, and Clayton had jockeyed into a masterful position, placing considerable daylight between himself and his English rival.
Moments later that advantage stretched further still. Clearing yet another metaphorical fence with confidence, the Welshman moved to within touching distance of the finish line while Humphries struggled to rein him back in. With only a single hurdle remaining, Clayton capitalised ruthlessly on his opponent’s inability to close the gap.
Despite his evident discomfort, the limping 51-year-old summoned one final flourish of authority to stride – or perhaps more accurately limp – into the winner’s circle.
The reward for his efforts was substantial. Clayton pocketed the £10,000 nightly bonus, extended his lead at the summit of the Premier League standings, and secured the distinction of becoming the first player this season to collect two nightly victories.
The moral of the story? The bookmakers, it would appear, do not always get it right. It’s Dublin next with Jonny walking into Ireland eight points clear.
PREMIER LEAGUE – WEEK SIX RESULTS
Nottingham, England (Thu 12th March)
Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Josh Rock
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Humphries 6-4 Gian van Veen
Luke Littler 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Semi-Finals
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries 6-5 Luke Littler
Final
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Luke Humphries
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
