FALMOUTH PLAYOFF HOPES DASHED
Pallas Athena, Sports Reporter
The atmosphere at Sunday's Kenmare-Falmouth quidditch match was one of anticipation. The match decided who would move onto the League semifinals against the Wigtown Wanderers. With the marked improvement Falmouth's chasers have shown this season, they were favoured to win, but it seems fate had a different outcome in mind. The Falcons got off to their expected start, taking a quick 70-30 lead, but Falmouth Chaser and rising star Marcus Flint's performance dropped markedly after the first hour of playing; he appeared dazed and confused, and his flying became erratic at best. Two hours and twenty-three minutes into the match, while executing the Keller's Kickback, Flint suddenly slowed to a halt and then toppled from his broom from seven metres up. The game was halted as mediwizards swarmed the field, and while he was able to walk off of the pitch, it was ruled that he was in no condition to fly. Chaser Bruno Rawlins, who was moved from his starting position to the reserve team mid-season, took to the pitch, but it was clear almost immediately that the streamlined Chaser unit this reporter's grown accustomed to seeing suffered a heavy blow with the loss of Flint. Rawlins consistently failed to execute formations, choosing rather to make a dash for the goalposts anytime the quaffle was passed to him. The Kestrels Chasers were quick to use this to their advantage, working as a cohesive team to push the score to 140-130 in favour of Falmouth. Kenmare's Seeker then sealed Falmouth's fate, managing to catch the Snitch with a spectacular triple-forward roll, at 2:57 game time. Falmouth's season was ended in that manoeuvre, and Kenmare advances to the semifinals.
Semifinal Schedule:
Saturday, July 3, 12:30 PM: Caerphilly Catapults vs. Holyhead Harpies @ Holyhead
Sunday, July 4, 11:00 AM: Kenmare Kestrels vs. Wigtown Wanderers @ Wigtown
Full semifinal coverage will be available in Monday, July 5th's Sports Section.
The atmosphere at Sunday's Kenmare-Falmouth quidditch match was one of anticipation. The match decided who would move onto the League semifinals against the Wigtown Wanderers. With the marked improvement Falmouth's chasers have shown this season, they were favoured to win, but it seems fate had a different outcome in mind. The Falcons got off to their expected start, taking a quick 70-30 lead, but Falmouth Chaser and rising star Marcus Flint's performance dropped markedly after the first hour of playing; he appeared dazed and confused, and his flying became erratic at best. Two hours and twenty-three minutes into the match, while executing the Keller's Kickback, Flint suddenly slowed to a halt and then toppled from his broom from seven metres up. The game was halted as mediwizards swarmed the field, and while he was able to walk off of the pitch, it was ruled that he was in no condition to fly. Chaser Bruno Rawlins, who was moved from his starting position to the reserve team mid-season, took to the pitch, but it was clear almost immediately that the streamlined Chaser unit this reporter's grown accustomed to seeing suffered a heavy blow with the loss of Flint. Rawlins consistently failed to execute formations, choosing rather to make a dash for the goalposts anytime the quaffle was passed to him. The Kestrels Chasers were quick to use this to their advantage, working as a cohesive team to push the score to 140-130 in favour of Falmouth. Kenmare's Seeker then sealed Falmouth's fate, managing to catch the Snitch with a spectacular triple-forward roll, at 2:57 game time. Falmouth's season was ended in that manoeuvre, and Kenmare advances to the semifinals.
Semifinal Schedule:
Saturday, July 3, 12:30 PM: Caerphilly Catapults vs. Holyhead Harpies @ Holyhead
Sunday, July 4, 11:00 AM: Kenmare Kestrels vs. Wigtown Wanderers @ Wigtown
Full semifinal coverage will be available in Monday, July 5th's Sports Section.