I watched Jonny Clayton become Glasgow's golden oldie live: Here's my Premier League Darts verdict from OVO Hydro

The spotlight was back on the OVO Hydro last night as the BetMGM Premier League Darts roadshow rolled into Glasgow - and the action on the Oche certainly didn’t disappoint.

Another star-studded line-up had been assembled - Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price. While there is no Scotsman taking part this year, eight of the elite players in the darting world were still out in force on another action-packed night of drama.

Well, in truth, there were only seven in attendance after early leader and seven-time Premier League champion Van Gerwen was forced to pull out on Thursday morning due to illness.

MVG’s withdrawal meant his quarter-final opponent Littler - the winner in Glasgow 12 months ago - received a bye into the semi-finals and was gifted two points under tournament rules, while the Dutchman watched on from afar as his rivals looked to make inroads on his three-point lead at the summit.

The stage was set. It was vintage Van Gerwen on Night One in Newcastle and glistening Gerwyn Price on Night Two in Antwerp last week. What drama could Night Three serve up in Glasgow?

As I rocked up to the 15,000-capacity venue around 90 minutes before the opening quarter-final tie between Bunting and Van Veen, it would’ve been remiss of me not to engage with some revellers draped from head to toe in eye-catching attire and leading chants to some of their favourite players’ walk-on songs.

Whether you’re a seasoned darts goer or soaking up you’re first experience, it’s a night you simply won’t forget for a long, long time. Only here could you walk past a large group dressed as orange traffic cones or a couple sporting blue and white striped Bananas in Pyjamas outfits and think nothing else of it...

The perfect blend of high-intensity, world-class sporting action combined with a high- energy party-like atmosphere. What’s not to love?

Heading along the corridor backstage, I bump into Josh Rock on route to the practice room. The laidback Northern Irishman - yet to register his first points in this year’s Premier League as one of two debutants in the field - appears in confident mood.

As for the type of reception he expects from the Glasgow crowd given his strong allegiance to Rangers and with Celtic involved in the Europa League across the city, Roky grins: “Who knows, but I can’t wait for it,” before rubbing his hands in anticipation.

With a sold-out crowd flooding into the arena, it was almost time for the action to get underway but not before 15-year-old Scottish sensation and reigning Lakeside World Youth champion Mitchell Lawrie - described as the ‘future of darts’ - was invited up on the stage to parade his JDC World Championship title.

Bunting’s spine-tingling walk-on ‘Titanium’ set the tone among the thousands in attendance. However, the ‘Bullet’ proved no match for his opponent Van Veen in the opening quarter-final of the night.

The reigning European champion and current Dutch number one broke the Bunting throw in the opening game by taking out an impressive 114 checkout before motoring to a 6-3 victory - sealing the win with a sensational 11-darter. It was an explosive performance.

Next up saw reigning champion Humphries go head-to-head with 2025 World Cup winner Rock, who unsurprisingly received a mixture of cheers and jeers as he made his way on to the stage after taunting those of a green and white persuasion inside the venue by making a 3-1 hand gesture in reference to last month’s Old Firm result.

Rock knew he going to get some stick from sections of the crowd after talking openly about his beloved Light Blues and due to his walk-on song ‘Welcome to the Party’ by DJ Krissy - a tune adopted by Rangers fans during Steven Gerrard’s spell in charge. A wry smile was etched across his face as fans grasped their opportunity to hound him, prompting the World No.9 to flash up the scoreline of the previous derby.

However, any lingering sign of nerves were quickly banished as Rock produced a spectacular 140 checkout in the opening game before clenching his fist and letting out a roar of celebration. All of a sudden, his name was being chanted and accompanied by shouts of ‘Danny, Danny Rohl’ to the same tune.

However, it was relatively one-way traffic from there on as ‘Cool Hand Luke’ began to flex his muscles on route to securing a dominant 6-2 win - averaging 106 and taking out 60% of his attempts at the doubles.

The next match was a nip-and-tuck affair between the two Welshmen. Clayton’s ‘Go Johnny Go’ went down a storm with the crowd but Price would prove a tough nut to crack. Clayton - back in the tournament after a two-year hiatus - raced into a two-leg lead, taking out his trademark 121 finish on the bullseye in doing so.

The ‘Iceman’ rarely goes down without a fight, though, and he battled his way back into the contest, but Clayton was not to be denied with a dazzling display of darts to end a run of ten straight defeats against his compatriot stretching almost three years with a 6-3 triumph.

A pause in play allowed the crowd a chance to stock up on further refreshments before the first semi-final showdown. Van Veen returned to the oche with a vengeance to take on an imperious Humphries, fresh off winning the Players Championship 4 title in Wigan earlier this week.

What a tasty encounter this turned out to be. The Englishman looked unstoppable as he eased into a 3-1 lead but Van Veen came roaring back having looked a bit out of sorts in the early exchanges. From 4-2 down, he rattled off three legs in a row to take advantage for the first time but Humphries pinned a nervy double four to force a deciding leg.

Humphries hit a sensational SEVEN 180s during the contest, but his efforts were in vain after missing two match darts to open the door for Van Veen - an opportunity he wasn’t about to pass up, nailing double eight to reach his second nightly final in the space of three weeks.

There was little such drama in the second last-four clash of the evening as the crowd were denied some Luke Littler magic as the relentless Clayton bulldozed ‘The Nuke’ in what turned into a demolition job.

Littler had been forced to wait a long time to step out in front of the galleries, but he simply had no answer to his opponent as Clayton produced a ruthless display of doubling to cruise through 6-1 - equalling his worst-ever Premier League losing margin. Perhaps the lack of a last-eight game cost Littler, who seemed to lack his usual match sharpness on the doubles.

So there you had it, Van Veen vs Clayton. This was not the final many would’ve had on their betting slip. When the ‘Ferret’ gets himself into a rhythm, he can be a hard man to stop and so it proved. Just as he did in his semi-final, the Welsh dragon flew out of the traps to take an early two-leg advantage, but Van Veen rarely knows when he’s beaten. A sublime double-double finish to take out 97 hauled him back into the contest.

But Night Three belonged to classy Clayton as he capped off three stellar showings with two breaks of throw and an excellent 156 checkout to brush aside the ‘Giant’ 6-2 and move top of the standings on nine points, continuing his bright start to the year.

He might be the oldest player in the line-up at 51, but this was a swashbuckling performance from Clayton as he showed the youngsters the way to claim glory.

Discussing the love he felt from the raucous Glasgow crowd, the 2021 Premier League champion told GlasgowWorld post-event: “I love it here, I really do. It’s probably the best venue. When you’re on that stage and your looking out it’s just fantastic.

“The crowd was brilliant tonight. Obviously, they wanted me to do pretty well and it happened for myself, so yeah, I love coming up to Glasgow. It’s one of the best, in my opinion. Their support is really appreciated.

“I felt good up there, I’m enjoying myself and when you enjoy what you’re doing things seem to happen in you. I’ve got a bit of experience in this tournament, it’s my favourite, and I know what I have to do to get to finals night.

“There won’t be much celebrating because I’ve got to fly to Poland tomorrow and hopefully I can win out there as well.”

And with that, another riveting night at the darts came to an end. A year on from hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, the Glasgow crowd had made up for attracting plenty of criticism due to the inappropriate behaviour directed at certain players. On this occasion, there was no such issue with those in attendance proving largely well-mannered and showing the type of respect these top professionals deserve.