Luke Humphries jokes with referee after Kirk Bevins' rare blunder at Premier League Darts night in Belfast

Luke Humphries shared a light-hearted moment with referee Kirk Bevins during a tense quarter-final clash at Premier League Darts in Belfast. The world No 2 was facing Stephen Bunting on night four of the competition.

While the match was competitive, a small scoring error from Bevins stole the spotlight early in the contest and left players and fans amused.Humphries eventually lost the match 6-4 as Bunting advanced to the semi-finals and later won the night. But it was a rare mistake from Bevins, known for his sharp maths skills, that became one of the talking points of the evening. The funny exchange between the player and the referee quickly went viral, with fans enjoying the human side of the high-pressure tournament.

Luke Humphries laughs off rare ‘kirkulator’ error

The incident happened when Luke Humphries was attempting to check out on 36. The 31-year-old missed his shots at double 18 and double nine. That left him in a position where he would go bust with his next throw. He decided to aim for 14 instead.However, Bevins made an unusual mistake. He called out “31” after the throw, which confused Humphries. The player looked at him with a puzzled expression. Realising the slip, Bevins quickly corrected himself and said “no score.”

Humphries then jokingly stared at the referee. Bevins laughed as he brushed off the error. The moment brought smiles all around. Even the official social media account of the PDC highlighted the clip. They captioned it, “Even the Kirkulator gets it wrong sometimes.”Fans quickly reacted online. One supporter wrote that they had to rewind the clip to watch it again and noticed that the person sitting next to Bevins also seemed confused.

Another fan joked that the mistake was serious enough to cost him his job.Bevins, 39, is well known for his maths ability. Before joining darts full-time, he appeared on the BBC show Countdown in 2009. He won all eight of his heats with a record 925 points and then claimed the overall title. He is also the only contestant to achieve a perfect 15-round game on the show.He began working in darts as a voluntary scorer in 2010 and became a full PDC referee in 2013.Meanwhile, Bunting went on to beat Gian van Veen 6-2 in the final. Speaking after his win, Bunting said he had felt doubted before the tournament, with many people claiming he did not deserve his place. He added that he believes in his hard work and said these big nights are what he lives for, praising the crowd for helping him perform at his best.