JOE Cullen is off on holiday to Barbados this week, and he admits his wife is grateful the darts are staying back in Wyke.

He was still in England on Tuesday night though, and after watching his beloved Manchester United beat Bournemouth 3-0 in the Premier League, the Bradfordian switched over to see his last-16 conqueror Michael Smith beat Michael van Gerwen 7-4 to win his first-ever PDC World Darts Championship crown.

Smith came back from 3-1 behind to beat Martin Schindler 4-3 in the last-32, and was imperious after that, including against Cullen.

The Wyke thrower told the T&A: "It was one of those tournaments where it felt like it was meant to be for Michael.

"Even with his nine-darter, which came straight after MVG had missed his own attempt at one.

"It wasn't even like MVG's level dipped that much from the rest of tournament (where he had averaged over 100 in every match), but he did make a few unforced errors.

"It was an unbelievable win for Michael though and I'm pleased for him."

The 7-4 triumph marked Smith's second major final win in a row, after eight successive showpiece defeats.

Cullen said: "Having seen Michael in finals before he won the Grand Slam in November, you always felt if he was going to win them, he'd end up stumbling over the line.

"But he beat Nathan Aspinall so emphatically (16-5) to win the Grand Slam that I think you'll see him take his chances more in finals now."

Smith's Grand Slam success has clearly elevated him to greater heights, as did Cullen's Masters triumph last January, with the Bradfordian going on to reach the Premier League final last June on his debut in the competition.

Asked if winning that first big TV title can be career-changing, Cullen said: "It was a bit different, because Michael had been reaching finals all year before these last two anyway.

"I went into that Masters tournament in bitty form, so it was probably a bit more unexpected when I won.

"I've done well since then definitely, because I think every other big tournament this year, apart from two, I've been knocked out by the eventual winner.

"Even those other two defeats were against Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright, who were world number one and two.

"It means that I've only really been losing to big players, or someone who's played near perfectly to beat me."

Smith was not far off perfection when he beat Cullen 4-1 last Friday at the Worlds, winning one set, the third, with a ridiculous average of 125.25.

The Wyke star reflected: "That third set I just had to take on the chin.

"But in the first set that I lost 3-2, I misses so many shots at double, especially at double 10, and even Michael said to me afterwards that that was what killed me.

"In the fourth set I checked out 153 to level it at 1-1, but then blew four doubles on my own throw to let him break back.

"I was stuffing up legs at the wrong time against Michael, whereas in the previous round against Damon Heta, I was pulling them out of the bag when I needed to."

As for his well-earned break in the Caribbean, Cullen said: "I've not had a proper holiday for a while.

"My wife jokes that I had one for three weeks in Australia and New Zealand in August for the World Series, but obviously the darts took priority then.

"I'm not even taking my darts abroad this time, as normally when we go away as a family, I've got a tournament as soon as I get back, so I might practice for an hour a day at the local pub.

"But we get back on January 16 from Barbados, so I've got two weeks to prepare for the Masters."