Only two matches were of any consequence during the Position Night of the MTBA National Leagues which marked the end of the season. Those matches were at the top of Division I, where one-point leaders Fina First clashed with Aercomms to decide who would finally clinch the league title, and Fina Excel took on New Blood in the hope of improving on their third place.

At the end of a nail-biting evening, Fina First walked off with the top prize, after a majority win over Aercomms.

Fina First only needed a draw to make sure of re-claiming the MTBA League title, after a three-season period of playing second fiddle to Aercomms, then Veltins, and Aercomms again in the season ended in summer 2005.

This latest season took Fina First on quite a bizarre course, the team having claimed the top spot in week three and then stayed there, apparently unshakable, and boasting a 20-point lead by mid- season.T hey were enjoying a dream season and seemed unstoppable, their winning the championship widely accepted as a foregone conclusion.

Then the tide started to turn slowly, as the wind was taken out of their sails by a shocking 8-0 beating in week 13 at the hands of lowly Sammy’s Embroideries, and an equally surprising 6-2 beating by Fireballs in week 16 – both teams have now been relegated to Div II. Fina retained the top spot but results like these were naturally of serious detriment to their point advantage as the latter part of the season approached.

While the leaders continued to drop careless points in other matches, a serious threat was emerging in the form of outgoing champions Aercomms, who continued to close in on the top spot with a string of mighty performances, as did Fina Excel who were always there, until by the end of round two, Fina First were just a single point ahead of Aercomms (129, 128), while Fina Excel were in third on 121. This meant that going into the ultimate position round, none of the three top spots had been firmly decided.

The opening game of Fina First vs Aercomms was a Fina classic, with star player Sue Abela inspiring her side on to a big 844-676 win with her stunning 280 individual effort.

Aercomms looked shaky and out of sorts, not helped by the vociferous support between the Fina team mates. Word quickly spread through the ten teams also playing that the title was surely in Fina First’s bag, but then Aercomms went on to produce their own ‘classic’ in the second game, in which they regained 74 of the lost pins by winning 767-841 to level the match. They had to win the match to snatch the title and were still adrift by a 94-pin deficit, but with just a little more effort both sides knew that Aercomms could, maybe, pull it off against all odds.

The nervous third and final game got underway and it was a much more evenly matched affair that the previous two, and as it progressed it became apparent that Aercomms were fighting a losing battle. Fina First oozed confidence in the final frames, already celebrating and congratulating each other for a job well done.

Fina Excel’s hope of stealing second place was kept alive with a good 831-747 game one victory, but they then lost game two to New Blood by just three pins (770-773) which meant that they could do no better than third, although no worse either.

The new National League, to be sponsored by Middlesea Valletta Life, will commence after just a short break over the festive season. Anyone interested in joining or forming a team can get all information and entry forms from the Eden SuperBowl on 21387398, or by emailing [email protected], [email protected].

Division I, final standings

Fina First-135, Aercomms-130, Fina Excel-127, New Blood-108, Ramis-102, Globalair Travel-101, Interwetten Alley Catz-86, Right Deal-80, Storm II-76, Fireballs-59, Sammy’s Embroideries-58, O’Caseys-42

Bowlers of the week

Mark Spiteri (Fina Excel) 634; Sue Abela (Fina First) 710.