Flying Scotman hits the Jackpot to win Premier League

Gary Anderson was competing in the Premier League for the first time

Gary Anderson was crowned dart's Premier League champion last night after beating world champion Adrian Lewis and this should be the first of many major titles for him.

'The Flying Scotsman' has failed to live up to his talent on stage in the past but over the last few months he has began to prove what all the hype has been about.

Reaching the UK Open final at Bolton last year was a breakthrough for him, and since then he has finished runner-up in the World Championships and now won the Premier League, surely the only tournament behind the World Championships in stature.

At 40, it has taken him some time to finally come good but he is more than making up for lost time with extremely impressive displays.

Once his first dart lands in the treble 20, it's odds-on two more will follow and this natural talent is unmatched in the world game.

He still gets very nervous before taking to the stage, often drinking mug after mug of coffee to calm his nerves, but he needn't be so nervous as he is so talented he could beat most players with his eyes shut.

No-one scores as heavily as him, not even the great Phil Taylor, and on finals night at Wembley Arena he took his tally of 180s for the tournament to 79.

He often has troubles with his doubles and if he can rectify this he could become a multiple world champion.

Adrian Lewis, known as 'Jackpot', will be disappointed with his performance in the final though.

Adrian Lewis beat Gary Anderson in the World Championship final in January

He demolished 15-time world champion and former mentor Phil Taylor 8-3 earlier in the night in the semi-final and it appeared he used too much energy in that game and treated that as his final.

You cannot afford to do that against someone of Gary Anderson's quality.

Lewis may have beaten Anderson in the World Championship final in January but the Scotsman is not someone you can just turn up and expect to beat. You have to be on the top of your game to beat him.

Lewis' three-dart average against Taylor was over 104 but this plummeted to just 86 against Anderson, and such fluctuations in form are not acceptable at this level.

He is still learning and is only 26 so will have plenty of chances to win more majors in the future.

As for Taylor, his defeat to Lewis will have really hurt him.

Phil Taylor couldn't find his form as Lewis swept him aside

He mentored Lewis and acted as a father figure to him but in recent months he has seen his protege beginning to turn into the master.

'The Power' missed out on a place in the final of the World Championships after losing in the quarter-final to Mark Webster and he had to watch as Lewis picked up the title.

Lewis then thrashed Taylor 8-2 on the opening night of this year's Premier League and now he has handed out another beating.

Lewis will be Taylor's motivation now as he knows if he puts the work in he can return to his irrepressible best and beat Lewis.

Taylor is nowhere near finished yet so any player who thinks he is will be in for a nasty shock, probably at next month's UK Open at Bolton.

As for Anderson's semi-final, he launched a great comeback to deny five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld a first Premier League final.

Barneveld was in good form early on and raced into a three-leg lead, before Anderson pegged him back to triumph 8-6.

Raymond van Barneveld has never reached the Premier League final

Barney has not been in the right frame of mind for around three years now and he needs to sort his head out if he is again to be the force he once was.

He seems to have a real mental block, particularly with the Premier League, and just needs to enjoy himself more on stage and not think too much about defeats.

Watching Taylor against van Barneveld in the third-place play-off was surreal as you always expect these two to be playing in blockbusting finals.

Barneveld hasn't beaten Taylor on television for around three years so this was the perfect chance to register a win against him, but he just wasn't interested and lost 8-6.

Neither player played well but Taylor seemed to have the desire to win while Barney couldn't wait to get off the stage.

Fans would love to see Barney back at his best but unless he sorts out his mental issues, the swashbuckling Barney of old will never be seen again.

Taylor is sure to be back at his best in the near future but he shouldn't make excuses when he loses.

He claimed here that Lewis didn't beat him, he beat himself, and comments like that are unnecessary from someone who has won so often.

He also blamed a promotional visit to Austria for his defeat but he just needs to accept that he wasn't good enough on the night and move on.

He was well below the standards he usually reaches but credit must be given to Lewis as Taylor is never easy to beat as his 'second game', even his 'third game', is better than most peoples' first.

Lewis did not do himself justice in the final but credit must go to Anderson for winning his first major tournament with the PDC.

Now he has one, more will surely follow as it is often said the first one is the hardest to win.

Gary Anderson finished third in the regular league standings

It is an exciting era for darts now as there are a number of players capable of winning titles. Lewis, Taylor, Barneveld, Anderson, James Wade, Simon Whitlock and others are world class players and the years of Phil Taylor sweeping all aside seem to have gone.

But this night was all about Anderson.

He has been threatening this for some time but now he has finally delivered and is truly the man to beat.

This Flying Scotsman is ready to soar.