It was a highly anticipated fixture that Royal Shock entertained on Week 8. Given league standings, this was a direct clash between Royal Shock and league leaders okmalta. With an 8-point win, Royal Shock would practically close the gap between them and the 3 top teams. A defeat would however strengthen okmalta’s chances for topping the league table. After beating okmalta twice last year, Royal Shock came to the Alley in high spirits, well aware that they have to play at their best to win but confident that they can repeat last year’s feat and strengthen their claim for a top 3 position. The line-up featured a last minute replacement of Peter who got stuck at work. It was Joe who replaced him despite his just returning to Malta from a trans-Atlantic flight. It was evident that okmalta were very aware of the threat posed by Royal Shock. Proceedings into game 1 saw both teams bowling consistently but not really at tehir best. The tenasion and fear of making a mistake seemed to be dominating the approach and throws ensuring consistent but not spectacular bowling from both teams. Royal Shock initially took a 20 point lead which was soon lost for the tables to be turned and see okmalta take a 20 point lead. It was neck and neck all the way to the tenth frame with each team practically matching the other teams’ bowling. Tensions rose high as the game entered the final showdown in the 10th and last frame. Royal Shock were still some 25 pins down but still a challenge. Royal Shock knew that okmalta was entering this fixture after having just lost 8 points to Turu’s Knights last week. A win in game one would dent okmalta’s confidence and significantly increase Royal Shock’s chances of winning this fixture. Okmalta’s first and second bowlers both bowled open frames leaving the door wide open for a Royal Shock comeback! Malcolm as first bowler bowled solidly. Strike and spare!! Royal Shock gained one frame and leaving Royal Shock with only 10 or so pins down with 3 of their bowlers left to bowl. Second Royal Shock bowler bowls and the rtesult saw Royal Shock suffer an open frame. It was all back on track again for okmalta. They strike and split. Clive bowls a super turkey!! Now it was again within grass for Royal Shock to take a last minute win. If their last bowler bowls a strike on his first throw it would be a double and practically secure the points. A good throw saw them unluckily not get the much desired strike. Okmalta replied with a double of their own to secure the points! Final score, 737-751. Close but not good enough for Royal Shock. Royal Shock fans were now hoping that their favourite team would take spirit form this narrow score line and strengthen their confidence that they can secure points and maybe even a win tonight. Somewhat surprisingly and disappointingly, Royal Shock seemed to lose concentration and confidence. This saw their performance significantly drop in game 2 handing okmalta the points without much of a struggle from their part. Game two ended with a 799-663 scoreline in favour of okmalta who with the win margin practically also secured the two points for game series and a minimum 6-2 win. Royal Shock bowling improved in the third and final game but okmlata had by now shed their cloak of ‘fear and tension’. They were now brimming with confidence and bowling to their full potential. Final score was 726-834 for a 2126-2384 game series and an 8-0 win for okmalta. All in all and with the exception of Clive who played consistently well, it seemed that Royal Shock were having an off day. Possibly, the inevitable inclusion of Joe after such a long flight may have also impinged on the teams’ overall performance. However, our view is that the principal fault remains in poor first throws leaving difficult spares. This was further compounded by some easy spare misses. However, it is also important to note that okmalta played the highest team scratch and handicap series for the week which meant that any team would have found it very difficult to bag points against okmalta this week. Well done to their performance. As a result of this week’s results, Royal Shock now jointly occupy fourth place with Turu’s Knights on 36 points. This places them 12 points away from third place, which is still 4 points better than 2 games back. This means that despite what may be considered a poor result this week, the overall picture still sees Royal Shock capable and actually clawing back their way closer to their ambition for a third place position this year. On their part, okmalta now go 2 points clear in first place. Royal Shock now needs to look forward and focus on their next match against MIA. Royal Shock need to win well so that they consolidate their 4th place position and hopefully inch closer to third place. We need to ensure we win next week and cement our 4th place as Turu’s have caught up. Third place is currently occupied by Ramis who seem to be unusually stuttering at the moment so all is possible as Ramis may quite well continue to drop points. Come on ROYAL SHOCK – YOU CAN DO IT!!! :)
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 10:07:00 +0000
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