After 16 weeks of the current Middlesea Valletta Life National League being played at the Eden SuperBowl, Aercomms have further stretched their gap at the top of Div I to a vast 27 points, this thanks to a 6-2 victory over their closest challengers Fina First. It would now take nothing less than a disaster to stop the leaders from taking the championship, perhaps with several fixtures to spare.
There was also a good win for Veltins who beat third placed Ramis 6-2 to go fourth, while Fina Excel took all eight from pushovers Royal Shock to move into the sixth spot.
The big game in week 16 was that between top two Aercomms and Fina First, the former looking to put more space between themselves and the pack, the latter hoping to narrow the gap between the two. Fina’s intentions seemed to be the order of the day in the opening game which they clinched in style, 789-841 the score including a great 237 for Mauro Anastasi, paired with a 234 for Dennis Mercieca.
Their celebrations were short lived however, as Aercomms bounced back in the second, levelling the match with a 786-728 win. Fina were reeling and Aercomms snatched the advantage to also take the third game with a 781-722 scoreline, taking the two series points with a 65 pin advantage over the series (2356-2291). Mercieca rounded off a 608 series for Fina First, while high man for the victors was Mark Bugeja with a great 644.
In another important positional clash, Veltins faced third placed Ramis who are threatening to displace Fina First in second. Veltins started the match by playing the biggest game of the week to win 877-710, but Ramis replied by winning the very close second game (746-759) to go even, but still well down on pinfall.
Veltins made sure of the majority win in game three which they took with 764 pins to Ramis’ 700, 6-2 the final result and a rise of one place to fourth for the winning side. Mark Muscat was their best on 606 pins, and Charles Farrugia managed a 537 for the losers who stay third.
Fina Excel took the only 100% win of the week as they faced league losers Royal Shock who are planted firmly at the bottom of the classification. To be fair to Royal Shock, it was a very tight match and they could have easily taken a share of the points, or even won it if just a few more shots went their way.
The games progressed 769-757, 754-736, 749-744 meaning only 35 pins separated the teams over the series. Excel improve to fifth place and their best performance came from Brian Farrugia who was the key to his team’s victory with his 652 tally (bowler of the week). Tops for Royal Shock was David Camilleri with a 592.
Fight Deal stay eighth in spite of their 6-2 beating of the Blues Brothers (11th) in a very scrappy performance from both sides. Right Deal were two points down after game one which they lost 702-732, before coming back to win the second with 727 pins against the Blues Brothers’ low 679. They then took the third by 26 pins (706-680) to clinch victory. Right Deal were nothing without Colin Attard, without whose 596 they would have suffered a beating. Giancarlo Tolu was high for the losing side with a 533.
The Rascals came out on the better end of a 2-6 score line in their confrontation with Storm, the result meaning a positional switch which Storm in the drop-zone (10th). Storm couldn’t breach the 700 mark in the first two games which they lost 697-716, 692-753 respectively. Thus they had to wait till game three for their quarter share of the points, winning it 745-712, but missing out on the draw by 47 pins (2,134-2,181). George Ferris put in a 561 for The Rascals, while Jenny Swift managed a 544 for Storm.
The mid-table match between the Alley Cats (7th) and Globalair Travel (6th) finished in an uneventful four-all draw. After losing game one 713-754, the Catz claimed their four points by winning the second 741-719 and then game three 708-703. That wasn’t enough to force the draw as Globalair were 14 pins better overall (2162-2176), with Malcolm Pace shooting a 555 set. His opposite number was Rankin Camilleri on 578 pins.
Standings- Div. I, Week 16
Aercomms-105, Fina First-78, Ramis-74, Veltins-72, Fina Excel-72, Globalair Travel-72, Alley Catz-68, Right Deal-66, The Rascals-48, Storm-48, Blues Brothers-34, Royal Shock-31
Bowlers of the week
Brian Farrugia (Fina Excel) 652; Joanna Attard (Veltins) 603.