Week 17 of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League, being played at the Eden SuperBowl, saw one of shock results of the season as Aercomms were beaten 0-8 by La Spigola, a team currently struggling with the threat of relegation.
The disastrous result for Aercomms allowed Fina First to take advantage, their 6-2 win against Right Deal being enough to put them in the top spot, replacing the defending champions and going four points clear.
Sagio Investments stay third with another 8-0 win against bottom side Faces, and Ramis are now fourth thanks to their 100 per cent win against Royal Shock.
Redwell Heating’s survival challenge continues with a 6-2 win over Vintage this week, while the match between HSBC and Sammy’s Embroideries finished in a four-all draw.
Title favourites Aercomms must have expected an easy win against La Spigola, to maybe improve on what was a nominal two point lead at the top of Division I.
They surely could not have foreseen what was to come however, as La Spigola took all eight points largely thanks to Aercomms’ substandard overall display. They lost game one with a low 692 against La Spigola’s 735, and showed no improvement as they also lost game two 698-746.
La Spigola were 91 pins ahead with one game to go, and they won that 734-780 to complete their giant-killing feat. Bernadette Carannante (La Spigola), 557. Kenneth Arpa (Aercomms), 585.
Fina First capitalised on Aercomms’ misfortunes, taking the top spot from them with a 6-2 beating of Right Deal. Fina drew first blood with a 797-725 opening win, but Right Deal responded well with a tight 763-770 win two to level the match after two games. Fina First held a 64 pin advantage as the deciding game got underway, but they won it 764-705 to make sure of the majority victory, and a four point lead of Div I. Brian Farrugia (Fina First), 616. Colin Attard (Right Deal), 557.
Sagio Investments (third) shot their second consecutive 8-point victory this week, Faces being on the receiving end of the drubbing this time round.
Faces were never a threat to Sagio, who took game one 719-647, before rolling a huge 829 against Faces’ 718 in game two to double their lead.
The rout was completed with a 739-674 Sagio win in game three. Simon Burke (Sagio Investments), 569. Frans Vella (Faces), 502.
Ramis have gone fourth after their 0-8 hammering of Royal Shock, bowling the highest team series of the week for the win (2448). They made the win look all to easy as they scooped game one 714-843, going on to win game two 691-769 and then finishing off with a 669-836 to blow their opponents away. Leli Baldacchino (Ramis), 639-Bowler of the Week. Joe Cassar (Royal Shock), 505.
Redwell Heating remain in the drop-zone, but managed a 6-2 victory at the expense of Vintage who are also flirting with relegation. Redwell secured game one with a good 774 effort against Vintage’s 693, but it was all square after game two which went to the latter 723-733.
The decider was also close, going to Redwell Heating 769-756, handing them the series points with a 44 pin advantage (2,266-2,182). Amanda Cini (Redwell Heating), 596-Bowler of the Week. Joe Borg (Vintage), 538.
The final match of week 17 saw HSBC and Sammy’s Embroideries share the points in a four-all draw. Sammy’s looked set to take the match as they won the first two games 796-814 and 738-758 respectively.
It was not to be, however, as they let themselves down with a low 661 in game three against HSBC’s 771 winner. That was enough to hand the series to HSBC (2,305-2,233) and so force the draw. Tony Paris (Sammy’s Embroideries), 592. Helenio Grech (HSBC), 569.
Standings:
Division I, week 17
Fina First-96, Aercomms-92, Sagio Investments-78, Ramis-72, HSBC-70, Right Deal-69, Sammy’s Embroideries-68, La Spigola-64, Royal Shock-60, Redwell Heating-57, Vintage-54, Faces-36
Bowlers of the week
Leli Baldacchino (Ramis) 639; Amanda Cini (Redwell Heating) 596