Premier League Darts results: Gary Anderson beats Michael van Gerwen in an Aberdeen thriller

Scroll down below the match-by-match reports for statistics and updated table

Anderson stuns MVG to take third place

Gary Anderson claimed a thrilling 7-5 victory over Premier League table-topper Michael van Gerwen in the final match of the regular season to take third spot ahead of next week's Play-Offs at the O2.

That means he'll avoid meeting MVG in the semi-finals and will instead take on second-placed Michael Smith, who is also his best mate and protege, while Rob Cross will face the world number one in the other last-four showdown.

The two winners, of course, will meet later in the night for the title.

Anderson went into this match knowing his place in the play-offs was secure after Daryl Gurney failed to beat Peter Wright by the 7-2 margin he needed (the match ended 6-6) to give the Flying Scotsman something to think about.

Such a scoreline would have meant needing to avoid a 7-0 thrashing but without that on his mind, he played with the freedom needed to trouble van Gerwen in a superb showdown that got the Aberdeen crowd rocking.

Anderson averaged 98 compared to MVG's 100.41, with both players letting themselves down a little on their doubling, although the home favourite produced two superb checkouts of 121 to go 3-2 up and 112 which sent him 6-4 ahead.

The latter finish was particularly impressive as MVG had just nailed his first 180 of the match to leave 24 - but that clearly didn't faze the fired up Scotsman.

MVG almost gave himself a shot at a double from 160 to secure what would have been an unprecedented fourth draw of the night but he missed his second dart at the treble 20.

Anderson held his nerve to take out tops at the second attempt to end a run of four successive defeats to the Dutchman.

Bully Boy & Barney entertain the Granite City

Michael Smith sealed second spot in the Premier League Darts table after a 6-6 draw with Raymond van Barneveld on the final night of the regular season in Aberdeen.

Bully Boy was an 80/1 outsider for Premier League glory at the start of the season - and third favourite for Judgement Night relegation - but he's continued to silence his doubters throughout an impressive campaign.

Smith will now face his mentor Gary Anderson in his semi-final at the Play-Offs next Thursday night at the O2. The winner of that clash will meet Michael van Gerwen or Rob Cross for the title.

With very little on the line and Smith suffering from illness, few would have expected a classic but that's what the crowd were treated to, with four ton + checkouts in the opening six legs.

Barney contributed three of those with finishes from 121, 122 and 126 while Smith had managed a 124 to go 3-2 up.

Both players managed three 180s apiece as they went leg for leg before Smith guaranteed himself a share of the spoils with a 107 checkout to seal a 15-darter.

Back came the Dutchman with a two-dart finish from 91 to ensure an entertaining battled ended in a deserving draw.

Gurney misses out on play-offs

Daryl Gurney failed to get the victory he needed to keep his very slim hopes of reaching the play-offs alive as he drew 6-6 with Peter Wright.

The Northern Irishman had to beat Snakebite by a scoreline of 7-2 or better to stand a chance of overturning a leg difference deficit of 12 over fourth-placed Gary Anderson, who plays Michael van Gerwen in the final match of the regular season.

But despite leading 3-1 and 5-2 - thanks largely to Wright's woeful finishing - Gurney struggled to produce his best and in the end couldn't see out any kind of win.

Gurney ended the match with an average of 88.05 compared to Wright's 97.47 as the crowd favourite finally kicked into gear to take four of the last five legs as he ended his season by climbing off the foot of the table.

SuperChin will take consolation from the fact he only lost four matches during his debut Premier League campaign, in which he finishes fifth, and will no doubt be back next year.

Voltage scraps for a point

Rob Cross and Simon Whitlock drew 6-6 in a scrappy match that won't have filled Voltage supporters with much hope ahead of next week's play-offs.

The world champion averaged just 89.31 and missed 13 darts at doubles against the lowly Wizard, who only averaged 88.38 himself.

There were plenty of 180s to get the crowd's voices going, with Cross hitting five of the nine while he also managed the high finish of 112 in the very first leg and ended it with the second highest of 94 to earn a point.

Cross looked likely to face Michael Smith in next week's semi-finals but then Gary Anderson beat MVG later in the night which means Voltage will renew his growing rivalry with the world number one.

Premier League results, table & statistics

• Michael Smith 6-6 Raymond van Barneveld
• Simon Whitlock 6-6 Rob Cross
• Peter Wright 6-6 Daryl Gurney
• Michael van Gerwen 5-7 Gary Anderson

Play-Off Night Fixtures - May 17
The O2, London
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
• Michael Smith v Gary Anderson

Followed by the final

CLICK HERE FOR PREMIER LEAGUE DATES, FIXTURES, RESULTS & TABLE

Premier League Darts Table

1. MVG P 16 W 11 D 1 L 4 LegD +43 Pts 23
2. Smith P 16 W 9 D 2 L 5 LegD +24 Pts 20
3. Anderson P 16 W 8 D 3 L 5 LegD +15 Pts 19
4. Cross P 16 W 8 D 3 L 5 LegD +5 Pts 19
5. Gurney P 16 W 4 D 8 L 4 LegD +1 Pts 16
6. Barney P 16 W 6 D 4 L 6 LegD -8 Pts 16
7. Wright P 16 W 4 D 6 L 6 LegD -20 Pts 14
8. Whitlock P 16 W 5 D 3 L 8 LegD -18 Pts 13
9. Suljovic P 9 W 2 D 0 L 7 LegD -13 Pts 4
10. Price P 9 W 0 D 2 L 7 LegD -29 Pts 2

Suljovic and Price were eliminated after Judgement Night

HIGHEST AVERAGES

• MVG 100.41
• Anderson 98.28
• Wright 97.47
• Barney 97.28
• Wright 97.47
• Smith 93.45
• Cross 89.31
• Whitlock 88.38
• Gurney 88.05

MOST 180s

• Cross 5
• Anderson 4
• Whitlock 4
• Wright 4
• Gurney 4
• Barney 3
• Smith 3
• MVG 1

HIGHEST CHECKOUTS

• Barney 126
• Smith 124
• Anderson 121
• Cross 112
• Whitlock 50
• Wright 82
• Gurney 81
• MVG 104

CHECKOUT PERCENTAGES

• Smith 46.15%
• Whitlock 40%
• Gurney 37.5%
• Wright 35.29%
• MVG 33.33%
• Anderson 33.33%
• Barney 33.33%
• Cross 27.78%

Related darts links

• Sporting Life Darts Podcast: Episode 14
• 2018 Premier League darts fixtures
• 2018 PDC event calendar & results
• Sky Bet's darts odds
• 2017 PDC season results