Luke Humphries fires up the Leeds crowd after realizing his dream with Premier League victory

World number one Luke Humphries delighted the home crowd as he battled to victory over Michael van Gerwen to win his 15th Premier League night in Leeds.

Humphries – dressed in a Leeds United themed shirt as he enjoyed the support of the First Direct Arena crowd – produced a series of impressive performances before beating Van Gerwen in a decider.

After breaking in the first leg of the final, Dutchman Van Gerwen – who had previously beaten Premier League leader Luke Littler – opened up a 3-1 lead before Humphries clawed back to level at 3-3.

There was little between the two men with a series of missed throws before a missed shot from 32 handed Humphries his first darts match.

The world number one, however, could not clear the 78 as Van Gerwen leveled at 5-5.

Both men then missed chances to get the win before ‘Cool Hand’ Humphries pulled it off, landing the double top with the last arrow in hand to secure a fourth win of the night overall.

“When I came in here I felt a bit of pressure, I can’t lie,” Humphries said on Sky Sports.

“I knew (the pressure) was on me. This was a dream for me tonight to play in front of a crowd that I don’t get to do very often.

“Tonight was amazing. Going on to win was one of my greatest experiences in darts.”

Humphries, who came out to ‘I Predict A Riot’ by Kaiser Chiefs, added: ‘The crowd were fantastic. What dreams are made of.

“I played really well tonight but that’s how you peaked on night 17 – to be a Premier League champion is something that would mean a lot to me.”

Littler remain five points clear at the top of the table, with Humphries and Van Gerwen also qualifying for the O2, while Nathan Aspinall and Michael Smith look set to battle it out for the fourth play-off spot in Sheffield next week.

In his semi-final victory, Van Gerwen had just missed a nine-dart finish as he took the fourth leg to open up a 3-1 lead to Littler – before claiming the next in the doubles as both men were away from aim.

The Dutchman clinched his lead with a checkout of 74 and then booked his place in the double six final after hitting four highs as Littler’s average of 86.89 proved costly.

Humphries hit four 180s in a 6-1 demolition of play-off hope Michael Smith, averaging nearly 103.

Littler earlier got past former world champion Peter Wright with a 6-1 win in the quarter-finals.

In Thursday night’s opener, Van Gerwen came from behind to make it five straight in a 6-3 win over Gerwyn Price – the Welshman returning to Premier League action after missing last week with a nerves caught in the back.

World number one Humphries beat Rob Cross 6-1, hitting two 180s and finishing with a match average of 109.48, while Smith won 6-3 over play-off rival Nathan Aspinall, who was forced to pay because he didn’t get double.