Welsh number one Jonny Clayton was on the wrong end of an upset on night eight of the Premier League Darts, after being dumped out in the quarter-final by Josh Rock.

The Ferret still sits pretty at the top of the table but becomes just the second leader to lose to the player at the opposite end of the standings.

The match had a cagey opening, going with the throw for the first five legs, split 3–2 in Rocky’s favour.

Clayton was finally broken at the third time of asking in a match which saw his average hover around 91, well below his competition standard.

It was a solid performance from Rock and a win that was worth its weight in gold, evident by the Northern Irishman dropping to his knees after hitting the match dart.

Fortunes were marginally better for fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price, who made it one round further than his World Cup teammate.

The Iceman raced to a 5–0 lead but may have felt some jitters as Gian van Veen broke him in the sixth leg, echoing the night seven final, which saw Price win the first five legs before losing six on the spin to Luke Littler.

The former World Champion joked that he had asked The Giant to take another week off after missing the last Premier League Darts round with kidney stones.

Perhaps the Dutchman will be regretting not taking Price up on the offer after being broken straight back, sealing a comfortable 6–1 win.

The result set up a rematch of last week’s final.

The Nuke and The Iceman traded blows, but neither could find a break of throw until the ninth leg.

The world number one held his throw in the tenth and final leg, sinking Price 6–4.

Ultimately, it was Littler’s night as he faced Michael Van Gerwen in the final and beat him with the same 6-4 scoreline with two 170 checkouts to ascend to the top of the Premier League standings above Clayton.

Night eight of the Premier League Darts leaves Clayton in second place, just ahead of Price whose now ranked third.

Next week sees the competition return to Great Britain after a two-week European excursion, with night nine seeing the Jonny, Gezzy and co. head to Manchester’s AO Arena.

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