Ramis thrash Fina

Week nine of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League was a hugely important one for those contesting the top spot, particularly for defending champions Ramis. They dealt a massive blow to former leaders Fina, beating them 0-8 to go ten clear at the top, while Globalair also took all eight against HSBC, taking second and so pushing Fina down to third place.

Okmalta.com are still challenging for a trophy with their majority win against PharmaVet this week, as fifth placed Royal Shock took all eight against Turu’s Knights. Further down the table, the clash between The Clan and Gladiators ended in a six point win for the latter.

After seven weeks of tussling with Fina for the Division I lead, Ramis have managed to go ten points clear at the top in just two short weeks. Fina were in fact their week nine opponents, and came to the match on the back of an 8-0 drubbing at the hands of Globalair in the previous fixture.

Their nightmare continued as Ramis opened the scoring with scrappy 677-728 game one win, and then took a four point advantage with a much better 769-855 win in game two. It was only Sue Abela who put together anything like a title-winning performance for the Fina four, but her 635 series did little to help the cause as they crashed out to a 736-791 final defeat. Rankin Camilleri (Ramis), 683, male bowler of the week. Sue Abela (Fina), female bowler of the week.

Globalair leapfrogged Fina to occupy the second spot this week, thanks to their 100% victory against bottom side HSBC.

The first game of the series went right down to the wire, falling to Globalair by just five pins (765-760), but game two was nowhere near as close, 819-660 the one sided score line. They rounded off with a 713-635 game three win to make sure of all eight, leaving them ten pins adrift of the top spot. Neil Sillivan (Globalair), 609. Bertram Vella (HSBC), 529.

PharmaVet (eighth) had the more positive start in their confrontation with fourth placed okmalta.com, winning game one 794-721 for the early points. Okmalta.com were quick to respond however, although they did make hard work of their 747-754 game two equaliser, leaving their opponents with the series wood advantage heading into the deciding third.

That proved to be okmalta.com’s best game of the set, their 731-812 win handing them the match points by just 15 pins (2,272-2,287). Ray Falzon Reale (okmalta.com), 636. Steve Cassar (PharmaVet), 622.

Royal Shock advanced to fifth place at the expense of week nine rivals Turu’s Knights, snatching all eight points from the encounter. It was far from a high scoring match, Royal Shock’s full point win being mainly down to a very poor performance from the Knights, as the series progressed: 682-637, 765-660, 784-670. Joe Cassar (Royal Shock), 622. Tizinana Carannante (Turu’s Kinghts), 510.

From looking like dead certs for a quick return to the second division during the early part of the season, Gladiators have now risen above the relegation zone, to the heady heights of seventh place no less, having beaten The Clan 2-6 in week nine.

Bowlers of the Week

Rankin Camilleri (Ramis), 683; Sue Abela (Fina), 635

Standings Div. I, Week 9

Ramis-62, Globalair-62, Fina-48, okmalta.com-46, Royal Shock-36, Turu’s Knights-34, Gladiators-26, PharmaVet-24, The Clan-22, HSBC-10

Standings Div. II, Week 8

Salitos-46, Spare Me Plz-42, Middlesea-40, Malta Int. Airport-38, Blitzkrieg-32, Bank of Valetta-30, Supreme-28, J Grima & Co-26, 4 Play-20, Atlas Insurance-18