Week 12 of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League at the Eden SuperBowl saw leaders Aercomms open up a ten point lead with a 100% win over bottom side Fireballs, as second placed Fina Excel dropped two points in their 2-6 beating of Globalair Travel. Fina First were the only other Div I outfit to scoop all eight against New Blood and remain in third place, while in other matches there was a 6-2 win for Royal Shock over Sammy's Embroideries, as the clashes; Right Deal vs Interwetten Alley Catz and Ramis vs Swoosh both ended in four-all draws.

Lowly Fireballs almost managed to cause an upset in the opening game of their clash with relative giants Aercomms, but lost it in the end by just 14 pins (761-775). That was the starter for another dismal drubbing for the side made up largely of up-and-coming youth bowlers, as Aercomms strode on to take game two 702-822, and then completing the whitewash with a 738-763 win in game three to consolidate their place at the top of Div I.

Outgoing champions Fina First, currently third, picked up the only other eight-pointer of the week in their confrontation with New Blood (8th).

Fina didn't have to work too hard for their victory, taking the first game by 56 pins (714-770), before doubling their points and stretching their pin advantage to 110 pins with a 680-734 win in game two. They completed the rout with a 751-827 win in game three to make sure of full points.

Fina Excel scooped a majority win over Globalair Travel (9th), managing to hang on to their second place. Excel looked set to romp home to a 0-8 win as they were 50 pins better than Globalair in the opener (744-794), and then snatched game two by 66 (725-791). Maybe those easy wins made them complacent, as Excel were like a different side in the last of the set which saw Globalair claim their two point share with a 734-680 win which meant Excel took the series points by 62 pins (2,203-2,265).

Neil Sullivan (Fina Excel), 593. David Debono (Globalair Travel), 567.

Sixth placed Royal Shock also took six points from relegation threatened Sammy's Embroideries this week, the latter sitting at the top of the drop zone in tenth place ahead of fellow strugglers Swoosh and Fireballs respectively. Royal Shock opened strongly with an 810-738 winner in game one, but they had to work much harder to make it 4-0 in game two which ended a closer 730-711. Sammy's then played their best of the night to win game three 736-783 to clinch their two points.

The match between Right Deal and Interwetten Alley Catz was the first of two to end in 4-all draws in week twelve, but could have easily swung in the Catz' favour in game three. They won game one 712-727, but then Right Deal levelled the match by taking game two 732-727. IW Alley Catz only had a ten pin advantage as the teams stepped up for game three, which was the tightest of the set falling to Right Deal by a mere 4 pins (752-748), giving the Catz the series points by just six pins (2,196-2,202).

Ramis and Swoosh also shared the points equally, Swoosh having there big third game victory to thank for the series points. Ramis opened the scoring with just a four pin majority in game one (733-729), and they also took game two which was not quite as close (719-697), giving them a marginal 26 pin advantage going into game three. It was then that Swoosh stepped their game up a gear, winning it 695-788 to steal the series by 67 pins (2,147-2,214) to force the draw.

Standings – Division I, Week 12

Aercomms-80, Fina Excel-70, Fina First-66, Ramis-62, Interwetten Alley Catz-56, Royal Shock-48, Right Deal-42, New Blood-38, Globalair Travel-38, Sammy's Embroideries-30, Swoosh-26, Fireballs-20

Bowlers of the week

Nathan Brimmer (Interwetten Alley Catz) 640; Ben Carannante (Swoosh) 585