Cullen after sudden death thriller win over Clayton: "I might have given up in the past but I fancied it"

Joe Cullen ended his 11-year wait for a Last 16 debut at the PDC World Darts Championship with a sudden death thriller win over Jonny Clayton 4-3.

Cullen got off to a two set lead only for Clayton to hit back winning the next two sets and he made it three sets in a row only for the Rockstar to force a decider.

Clayton put himself in prime position with a 120 and 106 checkout to begin the decider but a stunning 100 checkout with two double 20's produced the goods for Cullen.

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"It's the best time to do it as well. The last leg at the World's, you can't ask for much more. I felt like I put myself under a bit of pressure that I shouldn't have done but who cares. The record I've got here, just to get a win. It's really good for my confidence," said Cullen post match.

"Jonny caught me off guard to be honest. Jonny's not one who shows much emotion, I think the most emotion I ever saw him show was at the World Cup with Gezzy but I think he was sort of feeding off Gezzy then. He was giving it large like I've never seen it before."

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He also discussed his mentality shift and admitted that before he probably would have given up but now it is different and it showed.

"To come back from 2-0 down in the last set but I fancied it, normally people may give up. I might have given up in the past but I fancied it. I thought it was one break, it's my darts. If I can get to 2-1, break him and see what he's made of."