Rob Cross opened up a one-point lead at the top of the Premier League by overcoming home favourite Daryl Gurney in Belfast.
Having lost to the Northern Irishman in his homeland last year, Cross learnt how to handle the vociferous crowd this time around to secure a dominant 8-4 victory.
The former world champion continued his fine form, averaging 104.71, throwing three maximums and hitting three ton-plus finishes.
Cross leapfrogged Michael Van Gerwen to the summit as a result, with the Dutchman surviving two match darts before securing a 7-7 draw against Gerwyn Price.
Van Gerwen went into the game having beaten the Welshman in all 15 encounters between the pair, but soon found himself 5-1 and then 7-5 down.
However, the 29-year-old showed his champion qualities to reel off the final two legs with checkouts of 82 and 90, the latter after Price failed to take out 49, and claim a point.
Mensur Suljovic surged into third place, clawing his way back from 2-0 down to beat James Wade 8-6.
Michael Smith missed the chance to move off the bottom of the table as, despite averaging 100.78 and hitting two 100-plus checkouts, he had to settle for a 7-7 draw against Peter Wright.
