Week seven of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League has now been played at the Eden SuperBowl. While leaders Aercomms’ match against Alley Catz was postponed, the talk of Division I was Globalair Travel’s sensational 0-8 win against the once unbeatable Fina First, who fall to seventh place with the loss.
Fina Excel stay second despite a 6-2 beating by the Blues Brothers, while Ramis replace Fina First in third place after a high scoring 8-0 win against bottom side The Rascals. Right Deal were also winners (6-2) against Royal Shock (9th), while the final match of the week ended in a four-all draw between Veltins (4th) and Storm (8th).
Globalair Travel tore into Fina First from the very beginning of their confrontation with Fina First, using that element of surprise to win game one 684-753.
Fina fielded a weakened outfit due to regulars Matthew Caruana and Leli Baldacchino being abroad for the Commonwealth Games in Cyprus, and the cracks were definitely showing as game two was also a one-sided win for Globalair (725-787).
Fina First seemed resigned to their big defeat as they bowled a 618 in game three, a pitiful effort against Globalair’s 770 closing game. Steve Cassar put in a 573 series for the losing side, and Raymond Farrugia shot a 576 for Globalair Travel.
The only other full point victory of the week was that of Ramis who actually bowled the series of the week (2,319) against this season’s pushover team, The Rascals. Game one was the closest of the set, finishing 737-711 in Ramis’ favour. The match changed from then on with the second featuring Ramis’ highest of the night; 829-720, before they put the cherry on their own cake with a 753-681 win in the third. Team captain John Balani was their man of the match with his 594 tally, and the best The Rascals could produce was a 528 from Lawrence Bonnici.
Fina Excel look set to finally outshine their sister team this season, hanging on to second place despite their 6-2 beating at the hands of the Blues Brothers.
Only three pins separated the teams in game one which provided Excel with their quarter share of the points as they won it 729-732. Blues Brothers drew level in game two with a 732-704 equalizer before claiming the match with a big 840 in game three against Fina Excel’s 762.
The winners won the series points by 103 pins (2,301-2,198), and their top man was Emmanuel Scerri with a 606.
In a copy-cat result, Right Deal were 6-2 victors against Royal Shock (9th), and stay in sixth place. The eventual losers took the first game 701-728, but Right Deal fought right back with a 716-694 win in game two.
There was nothing separating the two sides going into game three, but it was Right Deal who had the edge, winning it by 40 pins (718-678) and so claiming the series points by just 35 pins (2,135-2,100). Ramon Stafrace shot a 532 for Right Deal, and there was an excellent 650 for Ray Cossai of Royal Shock.
Veltins took two from their three game series against Storm, but had to settle for a 4-4 tie in their clash with Storm largely thanks to a poor third game.
Veltins must have been confident of victory after they took the first game 725-711 and then the second 726-704. But these were both close results and Veltins were a little too cocky, as only 36 pins divided the two sides going into game three. Sure enough they started to back paddle, allowing Storm to bounce back with a 651-710 win in the final game, the 59 pin difference meaning Storm took the series points by 23 pins (2102-2126). Mark Muscat took a 545 series for Veltins, and Storm’s Paul Gray managed a 553.
Standings - Division I, Week 7
Aercomms-43 (match in hand), Fina Excel-36, Ramis-36, Veltins-32, Globalair Travel-32, Right Deal-32, Fina First-30, Storm-26, Royal Shock-17, Blues Brothers-16, Alley Catz-16 (match in hand), The Rascals-12
Bowlers of the Week
Ray Cossai (Royal Shock) 650; Jenny Swift (Storm) 538.