The Middlesea Valletta Life National League saw an incredible finale at the Eden SuperBowl, where, in the final ‘Position Round’, challengers Aercomms Zabbar pulled off an unbelievable full point victory over Fina First to snatch the league title from under the latter’s noses, equal on season points but Champions by virtue of their superior pinfall.

Fina were forced to settle for second place, while the wide open battle for third place was won by Ramis who were previously down in eighth, thanks to their 8-0 trouncing of HSBC. No less than five teams were vying for the bronze position, all within four points of each other going into this their final fixture for the season.

Aercomms Zabbar pulled off a near impossible feat in this third and final clash of the season against their arch rivals and league leaders Fina First eight points behind, but carrying a better season pinfall, meaning that only anunlikely full point win against the defending champions would hand them the title.

Fina must have been confident of title retention, even after Aercomms Zabbar opened the scoring with an easy 653-778 first game win. Game two was a high scoring classic from both sides, and Fina must have felt a pang of worry when that too went to their adversaries with a close 820-834 score line to make it 0-4 with one game to go.

A tie would have sufficed for Fina First in game three which was also a tight one, ending in a loud celebration for Aercomms Zabbar who took it 781-796, levelling the season points on 114 apiece but clinching the league title with 403 more pins than Fina First over the 19-week long campaign. Dennis Mercieca (Aercomms Zabbar), 639. Mark Spiteri (Fina First), 624.

Amazingly only four points separated the third and seventh positions, any of the five teams involved could claim the bronze position depending in whose favour the match results fell.

PharmaVet were top of the pack on 72 points but went down 2-6 against Royal Shock to drop out of the race, the series progressing: 646-695, 734-708, 684-723. This placed Royal Shock in a strong position, particularly as the match below them between Redwell Heating and Union Capital Group also finished 2-6 (Redwell), the game scores being: 735-728, 730-834, 736-788.

Ramis lay in seventh place but turned out to be the wild card, stunning the other contenders with an 8-0 hammering of HSBC to soar into third place, equal with Royal Shock on 76 points but better on pinfall. Ever conscious of the important matches on the neighbouring lanes, Ramis opened with a solid 803-719 win in game one. Buoyed with the knowledge that PharmaVet had lost their first game, Ramis went on to take their second 726-678.

Realising that Redwell and Union Capital had now lost a game each in their match, Ramis knew that they were now within striking distance of the silverware. They took game three 721-695 to make it 8-0 and knew they’d also won third place thanks to a 424 pin advantage over Royal Shock who finished fourth.

The two relegated teams, Sammy’s Embroideries and FireBalls, met to decide who would be fated to last place at season’s end in a match of little consequence. Sammy’s emerged winners from the 7-2 encounter, the games progressing: 720-720, 815-726, 768-755 to leave FireBalls at the foot of the table.

Bowlers of the Week

Dennis Mercieca (Aercomms Zabbar) 639; Stephanie Said (FireBalls) 586

Final standings

Division I

Aercomms Zabbar - 114, Fina First-114, Ramis-76, Royal Shock-76, Union Capital Group-74, PharmaVet-74, Redwell Heating-72, HSBC-64, Sammy’s Embroideries-51, FireBalls-45

Division II

Swoosh-108, NINE-92, BOV-86, The Clan-80-Vintage-77, Tikams-74, Plaqqq-67, Saddles Malta-66, Gladiators-58, Wasodol-50

Division III

Highlanders-112, Blitzkrieg-109, Atlas Insurance-103, Chameleons-82, Touch of Class-80, Mazini Auto Parts-68, Swingers-68, BOV Vinnies-60, Vegas-44, Born to be Wild-34

Division IV

A Lajf-94, BOV 3-84, Rollino-73, Kinetix-66, Scotsman Pub-52, Melita Pin Masters-15

Note: The story which appeared in The Malta Independent on Sunday was not written by Neil Dent, as erroneously stated in that article.