Quidditch Recap Week 2

In the second week of the 2017-2018 British and Irish Quidditch League, the Falmouth Falcons crushed the Caerphilly Catapults and Puddlemere United lost in the last moments from Ballycastle Bats.

Falmouth Falcons – Caerphilly Catapults

The start of the Catapults season is anything but great. After losing last weeks game with 130 points, they lost again this week with a score of 310 – 10. After just 10 minutes, the score was 90-10 and when Terry Edwards started the chase for the snitch. After 30 minutes the score was 160-0, only moments before Edwards caught the snitch, it was Hayden Roach who scored the only goal for the Catapults during this game.

During the press-conference, the Catapults coach Jesse Clayton got a lot of heat from the press. When questioned what he was going to do next week he answered: “Avery Lindsey isn’t performing as she should be. She is stopping to little goals for the team to be optimistic during the match, we might need to sub her for Addison Vance“. Meanwhile, the Falcons celebrated their second win this season. “It was a great team effort this week,” said captain Thompson, “We were lucky Lindsey is a terrible Keeper”.

Next week, the Falmouth Falcons go against the Chudley Cannons, while the Caerphilly Catapults hope to get their first win this season against the Pride of Portree.

Holyhead Harpies – Appleby Arrows

The Ilkley Moor Quidditch Stadium was home to the thrilling match between the Holyhead Harpies and the Appleby Arrows. During the two hour game, it was quite clear that the Arrows were the stronger team in this matchup. This changed when the Harpies Seeker, Mandy Bradley, performed a Wronski Feint which tricked Drew White, who on his turn, crashed in to the ground. Without a seeker, the Arrows had little choice but to gain a lead of 160 points. At that time, the Arrows had a lead of 30 points (50 – 80).

During the 2nd hour of the game, the Harpies had found their strength again, and after 84 minutes they took over the lead, with a score of 120-110. The final score after little over 2 hours was 290 – 120 in favor for the Holyhead Harpies.

Chudley Cannons – Tutshill Tornados

With both the Cannons and the Tornados without a win, it was a chance for both teams to get that first win. When they players kicked of at the Bodmin Moor Millenium Stadium, it was clear who was the stronger team. The Chudley Cannons took the lead after just two minutes and never let go of it in this hour long game. After twenty minutes of playing Chris Schwartz, the captain and beater for the Tornados, took a bludger to the face and fell of his broom leaving him unconscious. Forcing the Tornados to play with just 6 players.

Not much happened in the game after Schwartz was taken to the hospital. When Ash Lewis, Seeker for the Cannons, started her chase for the snitch, the score was 230 – 100. With this big of a lead, Aaren McDonald, knew he had not much time to go after the snitch as well. It was a close call but in the end Lewis caught the snitch. Making the final score 380 – 110 for the Cannons.

Pride of Portree – Montrose Magpies

For their first game of the season, the Pride of Portree face off against the Montrose Magpies. Playing at the English National Quidditch Stadium, the teams kicked off from the ground in a fury, with the Magpies’ chaser, Shay Burton, being first in contact with the quaffle and scoring the first points of the game. With Oliver Wood off the field this week, rookie keeper Jody Walsh took her position on the pitch to show us what she can really do!

Both teams scored back and forth. Audience members were able to see some new tricks by Walsh, but not all were successful. As the first hour was winding down, the two teams were 50 points apart, Portree in the lead. Soon after Portree scored their next goal, Magpies seeker, Dane Shaw, seemed to have spotted the snitch. Shaw rushed towards the opposing posts, not truly have seen the snitch, with Portree seeker, Aaren Ryan on his tail. Making odd maneuvers, Shaw flew around the posts, and luckily caught a glimpse of the snitch. He zoomed forward, grasping the snitch and ending the game. The game ended at 180 – 270 for the Montrose Magpies.

Puddlemere United – Ballycastle Bats

This week at the Yorkshire Moors Quidditch Stadium, Puddlemere United and the Ballycastle Bats have been improving, from their last game, and last season. United fans were upset from how the last game ended, and wanted to see them play better. Man, what an interesting game this was. Right from the start, all three United chasers, Emerson Andrews, Lesley Campbell, and Aiden Richards, made many skillful and fast plays. Weaving in and out out stands, circles around the other team member, and making perfect passes, were able to make a series of goals. The Bats could barely keep hold of the ball, and looked like they could have had billywig sting slime on their hands! This allowed the United to pull ahead with a score of 130 to 20. As the United kept scoring goals in their dazzling navy blue robes, the Bats seemed to have gotten their heads into the game. Bats chasers, Jess Johnston, Alex Lawrence, and Glenn Long started scoring left and right, above and below, and close and far! After just a short time, the Bats had gained a significant amount of points, tying the game at 190 to 190.

The Bats seeker, Rene Kelly, however, knew of the snitch’s location, and was waiting for the right time to catch it. Kelly decided to go for the snitch, which was just meters away from the United Keeper. Kelly swooped in, with the United keeper ducking out of the way, thinking Kelly was going for her, and caught the snitch. The game ended at 190 – 340 for the Bats.

Kenmare Kestrels – Wimbourne Wasps

The two big scoring teams face off this week. The Kenmare Kestrels and Wimbourne Wasps played at the Exmoor Quidditch Stadium, and after their last games, everyone was excited for this match! Although the two teams started off slow, with the Kestrels only scoring two goals, and the Wasps three, 45 minutes into the game, the Wasps started scoring quite a few goals. The game went on for 3 hours when the Kestrels beater, Skye Howell, hit a bludger in the direction of the Wasps chaser, Dane Pearce, and hit him in the shoulder, yet Pearce was able to stay on his broom quite well! He ended up with a temporary large bruise and fracture to his shoulder and couldn’t play the rest of the game.

The game continued, both teams scoring here and there. Eventually, the Wasps were able to score multiple goals, as both teams were getting exhausted on this oddly warm day, bringing the score to 150 to 300. It took seekers on both teams an additional two hours to finally spot the snitch. Kestrels seeker, Morgan Patel, tried keeping the Wasps seeker, Cameron Hawkins, away from the snitch until her team could score another goal. Which they eventually did. Patel dove straight down, catching the snitch before Hawkins could catch up. The final score was 310 – 300 for the Kestrels.

[table id=3 /]

The Quibbler