Week 17 of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League at the SuperBowl saw four full point victories from the five Division I matches, with big wins for top two Fina First and Aercomms, as well as a decisive victory for Globalair Travel, one of the three teams still fighting for third place.
PharmaVet also took all eight from their match with Inlusion to further strengthen their survival hopes. The final match between Ramis and already promoted side The Clan, who actually registered their first win of the season with a 2-6 score line.
Fina First hang on to their ten point advantage at the top of Division I thanks to their 0-8 thrashing of Royal Shock this week, with just two weeks of the current season left to play. Fina started strongly with a solid 796-854 win in game one, and then made it 0-4 with a 749-793 win in game two.
Royal Shock gave a fair performance but could do little to halt their slick opponents, who claimed game three 738-755 to complete the whitewash. Brian Farrugia (Fina First), 654. Joe Cassar (Royal Shock), 578.
Aercomms could only mirror their arch rivals ominous performance, scooping their own 0-8 victory against sixth placed Turu’s Knights and rolling the best team series of the night to boot (2,574).
They started with a close 790-808 opening win, and then pulled out all the stops to win the second of the set 758-924. Game three finished 776-842 to Aercomms to make sure of all eight points. Ray Falzon Reale (Aercomms), 726, Bowler of the Week. Matthew Caruana (Turu’s Knights), 614.
Globalair can do no better than third place this season, and staked their claim on that prospect with a sound 0-8 hammering of relegation threatened HSBC. The latter were unlucky not to take points away from the encounter, as they lost game one 793-845, and then game two with a very good 814 effort, overshadowed by a great 855 from Globalair. Game three finished 707-787 to round off the rout. Mark Bugeja (Globalair Travel), 645. Leli Baldacchino (HSBC), 565.
The fourth and final full point victory of week 17 went to PharmaVet, at the expense of Inlusion who are also striving to avoid the end-of-season drop. PharmaVet opened the soring with an easy 683-753 game one win, and then doubled their lead with a 744-779 result in game two. The lower-score third game was the closest of the series, PharmaVet winning it 719-725 to secure the 0-8 win. Franco Ricci (PharmaVet), 575. Anthony Paris (Inlusion), 576.
Having been already confirmed as relegated to Division II, survival pressure is off for bottom side The Clan, which may have been behind their first match win this season. They registered a 2-6 victory over the greatly experienced Ramis outfit, the latter still involved in the struggle for third place.
The Clan drew first blood with a good 787-836 opening win, before Ramis then came back to level the match with their 678-657 win in game two. Ramis then floundered to a low 640 in the deciding third game, which The Clan bagged thanks to their 744 effort, claiming the series points with their 132 pin advantage (2,105-2,237). Stephen Larman (The Clan), 658. John Balani (Ramis), 525.
Bowlers of the Week:
Ray Falzon Reale (Aercomms), 726; Sue Abela (Fina First), 628
Standings - Division I, Week 17
Fina First-112, Aercomms-102, Globalair Travel-76, Royal Shock-70, Ramis-70, Turu's Knights-61, PharmaVet-60, Inlusion-51, HSBC-50, The Clan-28
Standings - Division II, Week 17
NINE-98, Active-94, Wasodol-86, Supreme-84, J Grima & Co Ltd-70, Gladiators-56, Highlanders-52, Blitzkrieg-47, Vintage-46, Atlas Insurance-39.