Luke Littler secured his first nightly victory of the 2026 Premier League Darts season on Thursday, beating Jonny Clayton 6-4 in the Night 5 final at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena. The world champion sealed the win with two 170 checkouts, the highest possible finish in darts.
Littler had entered the evening without a win from the opening four weeks of the campaign. That changed with a run through three opponents, each posing a different challenge.
In the quarter-finals, he dispatched Josh Rock 6-4, extending Rock’s difficult start to the season. Rock is the only player in the eight-man field yet to win a match in 2026. Littler then faced home favourite Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals and handled the hostile Cardiff crowd, winning 6-3 to set up a final against the league leader.
Clayton beat Gian van Veen 6-4 in the quarters and Luke Humphries 6-4 in the semis to reach the final. Clayton had no answer for Littler’s finishing in the decider, as the 19-year-old produced two maximum 170 checkouts to close out the match.
Despite the defeat, Clayton remains top of the overall Premier League table. He won Night 3 in Glasgow and has been the most consistent performer across the opening weeks.
Season so far
Five different players have now won across the first five nights of the season:
- Night 1 (Newcastle): Michael van Gerwen beat Gian van Veen 6-4
- Night 2 (Antwerp): Gerwyn Price beat Michael van Gerwen 6-3
- Night 3 (Glasgow): Jonny Clayton beat Gian van Veen 6-2
- Night 4 (Belfast): Stephen Bunting beat Gian van Veen 6-2
- Night 5 (Cardiff): Luke Littler beat Jonny Clayton 6-4
Van Veen has reached the final on three of the five nights but has yet to win. Rock has yet to win a match in any of the five weeks.
Other Night 5 results
The biggest margin of the evening came in the opening quarter-final, where Luke Humphries dismantled seven-time Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen 6-1. Price, meanwhile, needed to survive a tight 6-5 battle against Stephen Bunting to reach the last four.
The Premier League continues with Night 6 in Nottingham on March 12, followed by stops in Dublin and Berlin later in the month. The season runs for 16 weeks before the play-offs at London’s O2 Arena on May 28.
Players head to Minehead
For the 2026 UK Darts Open sponsored by Ladbrokes at Butlin’s Minehead. Luke Littler is the sponsors 5/2 favourite, but I personally feel Johnny Clayton at 25/1 and Beau Greaves at 125/1 with some bookmakers are real each way betting value.
