Michael van Gerwen wins his fifth PDC Premier League title, as Robin van Persie watches on

Some sporting moments are destined to be, and this Premier League campaign was only ever going to culminate with Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross settling their differences in a first-to-11 tie at the O2.

The semi-finals held some good fights from Daryl Gurney and James Wade, both holding their own and producing some stunning finishes.

But in the middle of both games the cream rose to the top, with the world champion and his predecessor both running riot to push on to the final.

And then came the match all darts fans had been waiting three months for.

Unlike the other two matches on the night, there was no dropping off from the underdog here, and undeterred by falling behind Cross crawled back to keep the game going until the end.

Both player averaged above a ton for the whole encounter, an affirmation of the calibre that has been shown through the entire season.

But in the end, the supreme Dutchman proved his value and lifted the Sid Waddell trophy for the fourth successive time with an 11-5 victory, cheered on by his compatriot Robin van Persie.

Playing against the home-crowd favourite, Van Gerwen answered every question  asked of him, and posed one to his peers. That being: without Phil Taylor, can anyone come close to his dominance of the sport?

Here is the run-through of the night, as it happened:

MvG defeats nervous Gurney

Van Gerwen was far and away the better player at the beginning of this match, his confidence and swagger reflected by his 104 average.

However Gurney, trailing with just 92, was keeping pace on the scoresheet and never let MvG break him to go two legs in front.

Gurney even had the chance to go ahead in the ninth leg but spurned the bullseye and two more at double eight which would have made it 5-4.

The next few throws brought a couple of breaks but the game remained deadlocked.

Then came the changing point as Gurney, riddled with nerves, missed six clear darts at double. Van Gerwen didn't need to be asked twice and took the leg before going on to win 10-7.

Wade struggles against Cross's quality

After losing the first leg, Wade won his next three on the spin, taking out his favoured double-10 twice in that run.

Both playing on 100 averages, Cross then bounced back to win the next three legs and keep the fight interesting.

Wade struggled to hit the trebles during his collapse but soon found form with five perfect darts and snatched a leg to keep on Cross's tail.

But much like MvG in the earlier tie, Cross's quality started to show; he turned the screw hitting maximums in every leg to widen the gap on Wade and go 8-4 up.

Cross lost a leg on Wade's throw to an impressive double-double (D19, D20 to take out 78) but didn't lose face by easing to victory with his own showstopper - treble-20, treble-20, double-four to take out 128.

MvG lifts Sid Waddell trophy for the fourth time in a row

Rob Cross made a very nervous start to the final; big scores evaded him and so did the doubles - giving Michael van Gerwen an early lead.

Cross gained a leg and seemed to compose his nervous energy, but MvG showed what composure really meant when he bounced a double-18 shot off the wire, smiled a wry grin, then fired his final arrow right into the red.

But the London crowd roared on every Cross maximum, and the Englishman, uncharacteristically, let out a MvG-like scream himself when he reduced his own arrears and came back to 5-4 from 5-1 down.

Soon the yips creeped back in though, Cross missing three darts from double-18 which would have levelled the match and Van Gerwen took advantage.

The Dutchman teased the crowd with six perfect darts when he was 7-4 up but couldn't complete the ultimate nine-dart throw, however he still regained his four-leg lead with a 12-dart leg.

The world champion motored on from here, keeping his berth from Cross until the end and proving himself as the ruthless competitor he has been for the last four years in the premier league.

The final leg showcased a moment of magic; with Cross throwing arrows left, right and rarely center, Michael van  Gerwen made light work of a 130 checkout to become the champion for the fourth successive time.