Broomsticks, bludgers, golden snitches. There’s no sport in the wizarding world as exciting as Quidditch! Little news to bring to you this week, or at least no transfers and unusual hostilities, just the normal sort we see every week. With that, we’ll be launching straight into coverage of the matches!
Holyhead Harpies 580 to 300 Banchory Bangers
The first match of the week played out much as expected with the Holyhead Harpies dominating. Impressively, the team has started this season strong, without a single loss- let’s hope I haven’t jinxed them! The match was impressive with the Bangers fighting hard against the all-witch team they faced. Despite holding their own, Holyhead Harpy Kelsey Galloway put an end to the fight when she managed to successfully capture the snitch.
Wigtown Wanderers 390 to 680 Caerphilly Catapults
After signing international superstar, Darragh Daly, the Wigtown Wanderers have had a hard time of it this season. Many fans are beginning to wonder if perhaps placing Daly as the Captain of the team was a wrong move, while others are concerned that he may lose his spot on the Irish International team. When the team faced the Caerphilly Catapults many expected this to be the match to break their losing streak and while the team had a strong start, unfortunately it was simply not to be. After allowing the Wanderers to score a whopping 39 goals, the Caerphilly team seemed to decide it was time to stop holding back. Between their chasers and the performance of Seeker, Toutorix Tracy, the Catapults put the Wanderers down in surprisingly quick fashion.
Chudley Cannons 0 to 150 Kenmare Kestrels
In the dullest game of the week, fans spent much of the hour this match went on, waiting for a chaser to make a goal. Unfortunately, such a thing never happened. Instead, Kenmare Seeker Hall Mynatt capturing the snitch was the only thing to happen. Not much to say about this one.
Falmouth Falcons 490 to 290 Puddlemere United
Another team refusing to go down, the Falmouth Falcons arrived to the pitch ready to put on a show and put on a show they did. Despite the loss of Darragh Daly, the team hasn’t suffered this season, reminding fans that it was not only the hot-tempered Irishman carrying this team to victory. In fact, when reached out to for comment, team manager Barry Fletcher had this to say,
“Darragh who? HA! Nah, of course we do miss ‘im, and i’s a massive shame ‘e’s struggling to find his fee’ a’ Wigtown, bu’ i’ just goes to show dunni’, a Quidditch team is 7 players. Darragh was a grea’ player, bu’ just one player. Withou’ the other six around ‘im, ‘e’d never do as well, and tha’s always been true of Falmouth. Falmouth play as a team, and they win as a team. I’m proud of ’em, and I know I can expect grea’ things from ’em, with or withou’… Big personali’ies.”
And Falmouth did win as a team, finishing the match off with a surprising 49 goals. While Puddlemere managed to obtain the snitch, it was simply not enough to beat out the top tier team.
Pride of Portree 330 – 360 Tutshill Tornadoes
In a surprising show, the Tutshill Tornadoes faced off against the Pride of Portree, not only holding their own but scoring a victory on the beloved, (previously) top four team. Though rising star, Elliott Reid, and Captain Valentine Weekes scored many goals, the team’s keeper couldn’t keep the Tornadoes back, a fact which spelled doom when Lacey Bolton caught the snitch. The game ended with the Tutshill Tornadoes in the lead by thirty points.
Appleby Arrows 600 – 210 Montrose Magpies
Continuing on the path to redemption after a rocky start this season, the Appleby Arrows are leading fans to wonder if perhaps that first match was, in fact, a fluke. Or an easy way to lower their opponents’ guards. The team came against the Montrose Magpies, brutally, Cass Audley in particularly taking a nasty bludger to the face. Those who were able to get a glimpse of the Magpie Chaser noted their eye itself appeared to be severely damaged and healers worked to tend to the chaser. Unfortunately Audley was not able to return to the match, leaving the Magpies crippled for the majority of the match. Though Beater Adam Fletcher worked hard to return the favour, the fan favourite transfer was not able to put down the entirety of the Arrows on his own and the Euro Cup Champions came out on top once more.
Ballycastle Bats 470 – 450 Wimbourne Wasps
This match was probably the most interesting to watch, with the Wimbourne and Ballycastle Chasers going head to head, matching shot for shot for a majority of the game. Fans were disappointed in Rothenberg’s ability to block out the Wasps’ shots, but the team’s chasers were determined to pick up the slack. The game was hot with the score 320 to 450 in Wimbourne’s favour when Ballycastle seeker, Avery Whittle caught the snitch, ending the back and forth in his team’s favour.
Caerphilly Catapults 70 to 240 Holyhead Harpies
No one expected this to be an easy match with the Catapults climbing their way into the top four. The game ended relatively quickly with the teams remaining close in points, 70 to a surprisingly low 90. This lasted for only a short time before Captain Galloway came in for the finish, capturing the snitch and ending the game in her team’s favour.
Kenmare Kestrels 210 to 340 Banchory Bangers
The Bangers surprised everyone with their first victory of the season, beating the Kenmare Kestrels back. While it may not be an impressive victory to many, Montrose Magpie Beater Adam Fletcher was spotted in the crowd, cheering the loudest as Bryson McConnell caught the snitch.
Puddlemere United 580 to 520 Wigtown Wanderers
Wigtown has been having a rough time of it this season, failing to manage a victory thus far, leading to a surprisingly empty stadium on the Wigtown side. Still, it looked as though maybe they might just manage a victory for the first time this season. They’d managed to score 520 points to Puddlemere’s 430 and fans throughout the stadium were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the snitch catch. Evie Proudfoot was actually inches from catching the snitch when Puddlemere beater, Grier Madden caught her with a bludger. Though it was not obvious at the time, healers confirmed Proudfoot suffered internal injury after the match. Ultimately, this cost Wigtown the match as Callum McClarken managed to capture the snitch. We caught up with Darragh Daly to ask him a few questions after the match as well.
“[I don’t regret making the switch to the Wigtown Wanderers…] Not in the slightest. It has been a huge change not only for me but for the Wanderers as a whole but we are learning as a team what we need to change to improve. It’s not as if my skill on the pitch has diminished at all. If anything, I’m adding on to my abilities by forcing change. I’m not sticking with the status quo and staying comfortable with where I’m at. I’m adapting just as the rest of my team. Sometimes adaptations take a moment to settle but just wait. A few early season losses isn’t keeping Wigtown down. No, we’re fighting tooth and nail to the end.”
Fans will note that Daly has been seen on the pub scene less frequently since the transfer and sources close to the Quidditch superstar have revealed that the Irishman has been pushing the team hard with late night practices and new plays. It would seem, he is trying quite hard to pull the team together.
Tutshill Tornadoes 130 to 370 Chudley Cannons
This match served as the surprise of the Tutshill Tornadoes who occupied the fourth place on the leaderboard faced off against the Chudley Cannons. Unfortunately, the Tornadoes couldn’t seem to keep up with Chudley Chasers Utkin and Terrell leading the charge and proving that it is not only Sayaka Satō contributing to the team’s recent success, though her snitch catch at the end of the match certainly helped this time!
Montrose Magpies 20 to 670 Falmouth Falcons
Montrose went into their match against Falmouth expecting a hard match, but perhaps not this hard. Falmouth’s Mack Clifford was clearly having a good day, as he kept all but two of Montrose’s shots out of his hoops. There was no real weakness in Magpies’ play, Falmouth just came out with something to prove, and prove it they did. The match ended with a painful 670-20 scoreline, which keeps Falmouth hot on the heels of the Harpies.
Wimbourne Wasps 640 to 410 Pride of Portree
Facing Pride of Portree was sure to be a big task for the Wimbourne Wasps, the aforementioned team having finished last season in the top four. Or at least that’s what fans thought. While Portree did put up a good fight, Reid and Co weren’t quite enough to put down the Wasps. In fact, the Wasps seemed to dominate, scoring a surprising 64 goals to Portree’s 26 before Seeker Marfa Parma could capture the snitch.
Ballycastle Bats 580 to 200 Appleby Arrows
With their former position as a Top Four team still just out of reach, Ballycastle’s match against Appleby was the perfect place to prove it still belonged to them by right. We saw some terrific performances for Ballycastle, no one player holding the spotlight long before the next took over, and while Appleby put on a brilliant display themselves, which we’ve come to expect, Ballycastle sailed out of reach and took a clean 580-200 victory.
That’s all for this week, but we’re looking forward to another exciting week of Quidditch next week. Remember, it’s still early in the season and anything could happen, yet! We’ll see you soon!
[Editor’s Note: The Department of Magical Games and Sports would like to inform readers that a new calendar will be coming for 2029 at half price, all proceeds going to those in need and struggling from the financial crisis. This year’s calendar will include both Quidditch Players and Duelists.]
