Fina extend lead over Aercomms

Union Capital suffered an 8-0 defeat at the hands of eighth-placed PharmaVet in week eight of the Middlesea Valletta Life National League, currently being played at the Eden SuperBowl.

Division One leaders and defending champions Fina First claimed a full-point win against HSBC to increase their lead over second-placed Aercomms to six points. Aercomms dropped two points in their match against FireBalls.

Ramis also took six against Redwell Heating, while Royal Shock defeated Sammy's Embroideries by the same margin in the other matches.

PharmaVet stopped the recently impressive Union Capital Group in their tracks with an 8-0 victory. They were already 130 pins ahead after game one which they won 669-799 before another emphatic 807-690 win made it 4-0 for PharmaVet.

Union Capital could only hope to salvage two points from the encounter as the last game of the set commenced but PharmaVet finished off their opponents with a great 789-828 finale.

Fina First were the only other side to gain maximum points from their week eight match at the expense of fifth-placed HSBC. The winners produced the highest team series of the week - 2,498.

Fina First were never troubled in the first two games, winning 839-741 and 839-780. Game three was closer but the champions were still 27 better than HSBC, 820-793. The match produced the two bowlers of the week in Sue Abela (657) and youngster Justin Caruana Scicluna (638), both for Fina First.

Aercomms stayed second but lost ground on Fina after squandering two points in their confrontation with struggling FireBalls. Aercomms opened with a sound 792-715 win but FireBalls levelled the match with a 720-767 result.

Aercomms held a slight series advantage going into game three, but made sure of match victory with a good 815-729 winner.

Standings: Fina First 50; Aercomms 44; Union Capital Group 38, Ramis 38; HSBC 30, Royal Shock 30; PharmaVet 28, Redwell Heating 28; FireBalls 20; Sammy's Embroideries 14.

Bowlers of the week: Justin Caruana Scicluna (Fina First, 638); Sue Abela (Fina First, 657).