Leaders Aercomms took a night off in week 11 of the current Middlesea Valletta Life National League being played at the Eden SuperBowl, their match against Fina Excel having been postponed.

Right Deal were the only team from the 10 who did play their fixture to claim all eight points and move up to fifth place, with a very poor Storm side on the losing end. The other four matches all ended in six-point wins, the glory going to the Blues Brothers against The Rascals, Globalair Travel against Royal Shock, Ramis against Alley Catz and finally second placed Fina First who beat Veltins.

Right Deal were in seventh place going into their week eleven clash with Storm, the result of a recent rough patch which followed a good start to the season. They didn’t have a lot to do to open the scoring, as Storm offered very little defence in game one which finished 681-713 in Right Deal’s favour.

The match was almost levelled in the second, which Right Deal just managed to hang on to by the skin of their teeth, 682-683 the game score. Storm had totally given up the ghost by the time game three came along, and they struggled to make 631 pins against a 714 from their opponents which secured all eight, propelling Right Deal up the two spots to fifth place. Melissa Camenzuli bowled a 528 series for the winners, but none of the losers could top 500 pins.

Fina First stay second after their 2-6 win against Veltins (seventh), and will be anxious to see the eventual result of Fina Excel vs Aercomms, the latter now 11 points ahead with this week’s match in hand. Fina First drew first blood by taking the opener 665-719, but Veltins squared the match in style by easily winning game two 768-759.

Only 28 pins separated the teams after two games, so the match was up for grabs in the third. It was level pegging for much of the game, but then Veltins came apart in the final frames, losing it 759-802, and Fina winning the match points by a mere 25 pins (2,192-2,207). Steve Cassar shot a 613 for the victors, while Veltins’ Sue Abela managed a 588.

Globalair Travel claim third place for now, winning 2-6 against tenth placed Royal Shock in week 11. Royal Shock were struggling in game one which they lost to Globalair 642-707. They improved in game two to even the scoreline with a 705-685 win, but Globalair then came back to win game three by 20 pins, 740-760, and so claim the series with a 65 pin advantage (2,087-2,152). Clive Saliba rolled a 547 set for Globalair Teavel, and it was another Clive (Farrugia) who topped the charts for Royal Shock with his 539 tally.

Youngsters Alley Catz fell foul of a far more experienced Ramis side, but managed to save themselves from a whitewashing by bowling the game of the week (854) to claim two points.

Ramis were 98 pins ahead after their big 691-789 win in game one, and then capitalised on that lead by also winning the next game with ease, 645-735. It was then that the Alley Catz turned on the style for their big 854-769 result in game three, but Ramis’ huge prior advantage meant they would still hold onto the major share of the points as they finished 103 pins better than their adversaries (2190-2293). Evergreen Ramis man Roy Swift shot a good 596 series, and Alley Catz’ Nicky Sammut and Lorraine Casha marked a pair of 535’s.

The Blues Brothers started well with a heavy 758-661 initial win in their match against The Rascals. Their play dropped in the second game but they still took it by just 16 pins, 668-652 the result, and then The Rascals finally got onto the scoreboard in the third which they bounced back to win 685-694.

Sammy Borg was the best Blues Brother with a 528 series, and Anthony Paris was the only Rascal to break the 500 mark with his 509 effort.

Standings - Div. I, Week 11

Aercomms-67 (match in hand), Fina First-56, Globalair Travel-54, Ramis-52, Right Deal-50, Fina Excel-48 (match in hand), Veltins-46, Alley Catz-42, Storm-34, Royal Shock-25, The Rascals-24, Blues Brothers-22

Bowlers of the week:

Steve Cassar (Fina First) 613; Sue Abela (Veltins) 588