After only two weeks of the new Middlesea Valletta Life National League at the Eden SuperBowl, only leaders Fina First can boast a 100% win record making them clear leaders of Div I. They thrashed Vodafone 0-8 this week, bowling the highest team series of the week (2,512 pins).
Both Ramis and Right Deal claimed their first points of the season in style, the two teams taking full point victories from Storm and Alley Catz respectively. Elsewhere there was a 6-2 win for Aercomms over Veltins to take them second, and a similar result for The Rascals against Royal Shock. Three teams ; Storm, Vodafone and Alley Catz are yet to earn a point in the new season.
Fina First seem to have regained the form which earned them an amazing 13 consecutive league titles prior to two seasons ago, and are now two points clear at the top of division one after another impressive steamrolling win over Vodafone. They were 40 pins better in game one which they won 749-789, before producing a mammoth 930 in game two, 132 pins better than Vodafone’s 798, which would normally be a game winning score. A 760-793 result in game three secured all eight points for Fina First, for whom Dennis Mercieca bowled consistently over 200 for a 674 series. Vodafone’s top player was Giancarlo Tolu with 590 pins.
Aercomms are currently in second place after dropping two points in this week’s clash with fourth placed Veltins. They started strongly with a 800-736 win in the opener, backing that up with an 818-796 result in the second to take an advantage of 86 pins into the final game. They were like a different team in the third however, losing 700-761 to hand a two point share of the spoils to Veltins. Mark Bugeja registered a 630 series for the winners, while there was a 612 for Veltins’ Sue Abela (female bowler of the week).
Ramis made short work of Storm (10th) to easily take all eight points, largely thanks to a fantastic 710 series from Harold Caruana (male bowler of the week). Ramis (7th) were 95 pins better in the first game which finished 842-747, before producing their best of the night to clinch game two 854-756. A match win was surely in the bag, but Ramis didn’t become complacent in game three which finished 791-769 to complete the whitewash. Jenny Swift gave Storm’s best individual performance with her 621 set.
Right Deal improved on the poor showing they gave in week one by scooping all eight in their confrontation with Alley Catz.Game one was the closest of the series, Right Deal taking it by just nine pins (636-645) before pulling out all the stops for a big 709-824 win in the second. Alley Catz had given up on gleaning anything from the match and bowled a poor 654 in game three, 111 pins down on Right Deal’s 765 tally. A 567 from Ramon Stafrace was Right Deal’s best, and Rankin Camilleri’s 514 was the best of a bad bunch from the losers.
The Rascals took a majority victory against Royal Shock (6-2), opening with a high 820 against their opponents’ 764 game. The shoe was on the other foot in game two when Royal Shock won 725-801 to draw level on points and take a nominal 20-pin advantage into game three, in which Royal Shock’s game suffered badly. They floundered to a one-sided 778-650 defeat, losing out on the series points by 108 pins (2,323-2,215). A 612 series made Philippe Vancell man of the match for The Rascals, and Royal Shock’s Joe Cassar was just one pin behind with a 611.
The final fixture of the evening between Globalair Travel ended in a four-all tie. It was a bizarre set for Excel who secured an equal share of the points thanks to a huge score in game three, after low scores in the first two. Globalair looked set to swipe all eight points after winning games one and two with little resistance from their opponents (736-659, 710-674). It was then that Excel produced their match saver, winning game three 701-917 to claim the series points by 103 pins (2,147-2,250), and so force the draw. Mark Spiteri shot a 581 for the Fina side, and there was a 578 for Gobalair’s Raymond Farrugia.
Standings - Div. I, Week 2
Fina First-16, Aercomms-14, Fina Excel-12, Veltins-10, Royal Shock-10, Globalair Travel-10, Ramis-8, The Rascals-8, Right Deal-8, Storm-0, Vodafone-0, Alley Catz-0
Bowlers of the Week
Harold Caruana (Ramis) 710; Sue Abela (Veltins) 612.