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.

"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."

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."