NEIL DENT

The penultimate week of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League saw leaders Fina First pick up a majority win against QF Ltd, while chasers Aercomms took all eight from Union Capital Group to go within five points of the lead. Team NINE made a last ditch strike for survival with an 8-0 win over the now relegated Redwell Heating, while elsewhere there were 6-2 wins for Ramis against Pharmavet, and also Royal Shock over HSBC.

Aercomms’ all important week 18 clash with Union Capital Group ended in an 8-0 victory for the defending champions, which meant that Union Capital will do no better, and no worse, than third place. Aercomms opened with a 760-734 game one win, and then stunned their opponents in game two with the biggest game of the season, winning it 918-779 to make it 4-0. Game three finished 800-782 to complete the whitewash. Paul Baldacchino (Aercomms), 715, Bowler of the Week. Neil Sullivan (Union Capital Group), 645.

Fina First’s lead was narrowed to five points as they dropped two points against QF Ltd this week. Fina opened the scoring with a 658-782 win in game one, but QF Ltd came back with a tight 828-821 equalizer in game two. The leaders were clearly the better, more consistent side, taking the decisive third game 714-820 to claim victory. The league title will now be settled by a final Fina First-Aercomms clash in the final ‘Position Round’. Mark Spiteri (Fina First), 657. Peter Mallia (QF Ltd), 565.

Team NINE are still struggling in the penultimate spot of the classification, but their survival hopes were given an eleventh hour boost in the form of an 8-0 victory over bottom side Redwell Heating. NINE took the early lead with a 760-646 opening win, and then doubled their advantage with a 777-711 win in game two. They rounded off with a 683-662 win in game three, condemning their opponents to certain relegation. Karl Galea Pace (NINE), 533.

Royal Shock claimed a 2-6 win over HSBC (8th) in week 18, meaning the latter must wait until their final match in week nineteen to know whether they’ll be bowling in the top flight next season. HSBC got off to a positive start by taking game one 798-716, but Royal Shock then made it 2-2 thanks to their 759-800 game two win. HSBC shot a low 667 in game three, no match for Royal Shock’s 808 game winner, which handed them the series points by a straight 100 pins (2224-2324). Pierre Yves Galea (Royal Shock), 591. Marco Porsella Flores (HSBC), 557.

Ramis claimed a majority victory in their clash with Pharmavet, 2-6 the final score in their favour. Pharmavet drew first blood with a 766-724 game one win, but it was all square after game two which fell 680-747 in Ramis’ favour. Game three was the closest of the set, going to Ramis by just ten pins (709-719) to give them the match victory. John Balani (Ramis), 532. Danial Swift and Colin Attard (Pharmavet), both on 564.

Bowlers of the Week

Paul Baldacchino (Aercomms) 715; Tiziana Carannante(QF Ltd) 503

Div I Standings, Week 18

FIna First-108, Aercomms-103, Union Capital Group-89, Royal Shock-71, Pharmavet-70, QF Ltd-60, Ramis-60, Ramis-60, HSBC-60, NINE-56, Redwell Heating-43