Wayne Mardle had seen enough. Luke Littler was 5-0 down to Gerwyn Price, being outscored, outfinished, and apparently outclassed in what was threatening to become one of the most lopsided finals of the 2026 Premier League season — and the Sky Sports presenter let the world number one know exactly what he thought of the situation. Then Littler went and won it anyway.
The extraordinary Dublin comeback at the 3Arena on Night Seven will be talked about for years. Littler battled back from the brink of defeat, reeling off six legs on the spin in the final to edge out Gerwyn Price in a last-leg thriller and claim Premier League Darts Night Seven in Dublin. But before the turnaround came the capitulation — and during those grim early stages, Mardle was characteristically direct about what he was witnessing.
Littler later confirmed he had discussed his plight with the Sky Sports man during the match itself. “I know as much as them — I have no idea how I have done that. I said to Wayne [Mardle] there, I was gone,” Littler said afterwards, acknowledging that the assessment shared with Mardle in the moment was as bleak as it looked from the outside. The “told off” element from Mardle was entirely in keeping with the pundit’s well-established style — frank, critical in the moment, yet always in service of pushing the player to do better.
The Final That Looked Lost
Price had been in stunning form all evening. The final began with Price in complete control, the Welshman racing into an early lead as he punished missed opportunities from Littler. A break of throw in the second leg moved him 2-0 ahead, and with Littler unable to find a response, the former world champion surged into a commanding 5-0 lead, roaring to the crowd as he closed in on victory.
The numbers bore out just how dominant Price had been. Price averaged over 103.66 and hit 47 per cent of his doubles, limiting his opponent to just four darts at double. Littler, meanwhile, had barely been given a sight of the board on his throws. Mardle’s withering assessment in the moment was entirely justified — this looked, for all the world, like a player reeling in entirely the wrong direction.
“Obviously, first leg I had a bit of fun, hit a 180 and waved them goodbye because when Gerwyn Price is usually on tops, he doesn’t miss,” Littler said. “I was so gone. I may as well have been off the stage.”
That celebratory wave to the crowd after finally taking a leg at 5-1 down was itself a moment of dark comedy — a man in the midst of a shellacking pausing to mock the very audience that had been enjoying his discomfort. But it was also, as it turned out, the hinge point of the entire night.
Six Legs on the Spin — and Mardle Eats His Words
What followed defied logic. Price failed to take out 72 on double top for the win, before missing further darts at tops in the following leg, allowing Littler to punish with a 76 checkout and suddenly shift the momentum of the contest. With the crowd now fully engaged, Littler continued his charge, reeling off leg after leg to reduce the deficit before levelling at 5-5 after Price again missed.
The contest went to a deciding leg, and Littler completed the turnaround in style, taking out 81 with a precise combination of treble 17 and double 15 to seal a stunning 6-5 victory.
In total, the back-to-back world champion survived eight match-darts — three for Van Gerwen in the semi-final and five for Price in the final. It was not a performance of clinical brilliance. It was a performance of stubborn, impossible refusal to accept defeat.
Mardle, interviewing Littler on stage alongside Emma Paton post-match, offered a fitting verdict. “It is so volatile, it is such a volatile little format and you can see it was fun for Luke to win that. It is not always about the 105 averages, it is about nicking one that you shouldn’t win. He shouldn’t have won that. Gerwyn Price missed chance after chance,” Mardle said.
An Earlier Thriller Against Van Gerwen
The Dublin final was not even Littler’s most dramatic match of the evening. Earlier in the night, the semi-final between Littler and Van Gerwen produced one of the matches of the Premier League season so far, with both players trading big moments throughout, including a 170 checkout from Van Gerwen who went 5-3 up.
Van Gerwen then agonisingly wired a dart for the match off a 104 finish, allowing Littler to complete the comeback at the end of an extraordinary contest — with Littler taking it on a deciding leg in what had become an evening-long theme of escaping from impossible positions.
By the time the final came around, Littler had already survived three match darts. “I have no idea how I have done that,” Littler told Sky Sports. “I may as well have been off the stage. This is darts — things happen.”
The Table Tightens
The result had significant implications in the race for the play-offs. Littler cemented his spot behind league leader Jonny Clayton after seeing off Stephen Bunting and then defeating Michael van Gerwen before fighting his way back from 5-0 down to beat Price.
Clayton’s lead was cut to three points after the Welshman suffered a rare quarter-final defeat to Luke Humphries, who ended the Ferret’s perfect record at that stage of the competition with a 6-3 victory and a striking 120 ‘Shanghai’ finish. Behind the first two places, the race for the play-offs remained wide open with only five points separating third and seventh spot.
The Nuke — once told off, apparently written off, and 5-0 down in the final — ended the night closing the gap on the summit with his second nightly win of the season. Mardle may have had every reason to be critical in the moment. Littler had every reason to prove him wrong.
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