Week six from 18 in the current Middlesea Valletta Life National league, saw okmalta.com bag the week’s only full point victory from their match against PharmaVet, meaning they close to within two points of the top two. Ramis stay 10 points clear having beaten reigning champs Globalair 2-6, as chasers Fina also claimed six points from their clash with Turu’s Knights. In remaining encounters there were also six-point wins for HSBC over Royal Shock, and Salitos over Calamatta Cuschieri Co. Ltd.
Okmalta.com started their week six match in fourth place, one spot below their opponents PharmaVet, but ended up leapfrogging them to go third after claiming the only 100 per cent victory of the week in Div I. They took early control of the clash, winning the first of the series 690-753, and then going four points ahead with a good 745-835 game two result.
The whitewash ended with a third and final 663-769 win for okmalta.com, who are now third on 28 points, just two behind Fina in second. Ray Falzon Reale (okmalta.com), 681, Bowler of the Week. Colin Attard (PharmaVet), 543.
Leaders Ramis drew first blood in their week six showdown with defending champions Globalair, winning the opener with relative ease, 710-798. Globalair were unperturbed however, and challenged well in the second, clinching it by the narrowest possible margin, 805-804, to make it two-all. There was more extreme pressure on both sides in the thrilling third game, which was also painfully close, falling to Ramis by just two pins to secure the match, 806-808 (2321-2410). Kenneth Arpa (Ramis), 645. Neil Sullivan (Globalair), 668.
Second placed Fina went down in a close opening game against Turu’s Knights (eighth) who claimed an early lead with their 747-756 victory. Fina came right back to take game two very convincingly, the 840-679 score line giving them a good 152 pin advantage leading into the crucial third game.
Fina slowed their pace somewhat, but won it 714-683 for a 6-2 match win. Sue Abela (Fina), 626, Bowler of the Week. Ryan Grech (Turu’s Knights), 548.
HSBC beat ninth team Royal Shock 6-2 this week, bettering their Div I status by two places to fourth in doing so. It was the eventual losers who opened the evening’s scoring however, as Royal Shock won game one by just six pins, 775-781 the score line.
Their lead was short-lived though, as game two fell to the bankers in a 760-738 equaliser, and HSBC clinched the match by taking the last of the series 820-766. Helenio Grech (HSBC), 585. Clive Farrugia (Royal Shock), 597.
The season’s misery continues for bottom side Calamatta Cuschieri Co. Ltd, who look set for a fast return to the second division after yet another defeat this week, at the hands of Salitos (fifth). They were very unlucky indeed in game one, which could easily have gone either way, but fell narrowly to Salitos (773-775), but game two saw a heavy defeat for them, the 690-791 win putting Salitos four ahead on the set.
Game three was again quite close, wherein Calamatta Cuschieri managed to pull off a 778-764 win, for a 2-6 final result for their opponents. Martin Deguara (Salitos), 570. Pam Demanuele (Calamatta Cuschieri Co. Ltd), 583.
Bowlers of the Week
Ray Falzon Reale (okmalta.com), 681; Sue Abela (Fina), 626
Standings – Div. I Week 6
Ramis-40, Fina-30, okmalta.com-28, HSBC-26, Salitos-24, PharmaVet-24, Globalair-22, Turu’s Knights-18, Royal Shock-16, Calamatta Cuschieri Co Ltd-12
Standings – Div. II Week 6
Klikk-38, Blitzkrieg-34, Gladiators-32, The Clan-30, 4-Play-26, Bank of Valletta-21, Supreme-18, Vintage-12, Highlanders-11, Atlas Insurance-10, X S-8