Jonny Clayton returned to winning ways on judgement night in the Premier League with an impressive performance as he defeated Michael Van Gerwen to climb up the League table.

Prior to Clayton's victory, the already eliminated Rob Cross and Glen Durrant played out a hard fought match to open the night with Voltage coming out on top 7-5 to end a disappointing campaign with a victory.

Afterwards, Clayton and Van Gerwen's encounter the third game of the night saw Nathan Aspinall keep up his fine form dispatching of former two time Premier League champion Gary Anderson 7-2 with a 102.45 average.

Elsewhere Jose De Sousa and Peter Wright played out an entertaining 6-6 draw before Dimitri Van Den Bergh and James Wade also shared the spoils in the final game of the night and this particular batch of Premier League fixtures.

. Cross bows out with victory

The opening game on night 9 saw the already eliminated Durrant and Cross face off in a game where pride was the only thing at stake, with their fate already being decided.

The duo took to the stage first on judgement night with Cross edging past Duzza to end the pair's miserable campaigns, particularly for the reigning champion Durrant who failed to accumulate a single point in this year's competition.

As for Cross a rare win in 2021 which could give the Hastings born ace a much-needed confidence boost.

Then came Clayton's mightily impressive victory over Van Gerwen, with the newly crowned Masters champion putting in a sumptuous display to dispose of MVG.

Clayton made a lively start to the game in Milton Keynes, racing into a 3-0 lead and while MVG did then win 2 of the next three legs, Clayton once again took control of the game, ultimately defeating Van Gerwen 7-3 on what proved to be a frustrating evening for the Dutchman.

. Aspinall climbs to the top of the table

The third game of the night pitted the inform Lancashire thrower Aspinall up against Anderson, with the Asp taking a magnificent victory to climb to the top of the standings heading into the break.

Aspinall was fully in control against Anderson producing a 102.45 average with a checkout percentage of  63.64% to defeat the Flying Scotsman.

A good night's work for Aspinall who climbed to the top of the standings playing some wonderful darts.

Next up was another entertaining encounter between De Sousa and Wright who also shared the spoils in a hard-fought encounter.

The 2020 World Champion had the better start of the two in the tussle but the never say die attitude of De Sousa saw him take the last two legs of the game to take what could prove to be a valuable point for the Special One.

. Wade fights hard to hold Van Den Bergh

The entertainment continued to deliver on night 9 and the last game of the night was just as eye catching as Wade fought hard to earn a point against the League leader going into the night, Van Den Bergh.

After exchanging blows in the early parts of the game Dimitri Van Den Bergh found a real purple patch in form and at 6-3 ahead a win seemed likely for the Belgian.

But as always Wade fought to the very end and won the last three legs of the game to take a well deserved point off Van Den Bergh and end an impressive week of performances from the Machine.

Night 9 brings to an end an entertaining week of action in Milton Keynes which ends with Aspinall top of the pile and Cross and reigning champion Durrant eliminated. 

The next fix of Premier League action will come in just over a week's time when the eight players left return to Milton Keynes on 5 May.

Unibet Premier League
Night Nine - Thursday April 22

Glen Durrant 5-7 Rob Cross

Jonny Clayton 7-3 Michael Van Gerwen

Nathan Aspinall 7-2 Gary Anderson

Jose De Sousa 6-6 Peter Wright

Dimitri Van Den Bergh 6-6 James Wade

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