Appleby Arrows - 870* vs Pride of Portree - 230
Arrows
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Prides
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Keeper
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Delaney
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Merriweather
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Chasers
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Fladbury (C)
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McNewton
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Comstock
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Pilliwickle
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Applebee
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Mordaunt (C)
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Beaters
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Flitley
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Moriattis
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Belcher
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Van Hoorn
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Seeker
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Mustaq
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McBride
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The Appleby Arrows entered their Round 2 contest as solid favourites to overcome the Pride of Portree. This may seem somewhat counter-intuitive however, as it was the Prides who scored a devastating first-up thrashing. Appleby meanwhile were ultra unconvincing in falling to the Falcons. This win was no sure thing. Clearly a few raucous and inebriated Arrows fans came to a similar realisation in the hours up to the game. The Prides long-standing 'individual strength' based tradition of allowing their players to arrive alone at the stadium by their own means must come under extreme scrutiny by the Ministry now after tonight's disgusting display.
Two of the Prides' key stars, captain Terrence Stroulger and Keeper Jericho McCormack were ruled out of the game after what are presumed to be petty fan attacks in the hours preceding. Stroulger appeared ready to take to the pitch but was babbling and incoherent, clearly suffering the after effects of a particularly powerful Confundus charm. Concerns for McCormack are graver as he is yet to surface, missing for almost 36 hours at the time of writing.
The Department of Magical Games of Sports, as well as the Department of Magical Law Enforcement request any details be sent to the Auror Office by priority owl.
As for the game?
Well there was an understandable sense of darkness and despair within the Prides camp. Not only were their thoughts with the legendary McCormack Quidditch family, but the two players effected are truly the beating heart of the team and so Portree appeared tactically lost. Last minute replacements Craggus Merriweather and Justin Moriattis performed adequately, but the shoes of McCormack and Stroulger were far too big for their gallant feet.
The Arrows fans, in the truest spirit of their much-vaunted tactlessness, cheered and screamed with intent to at least provide some atmosphere to the night.
Although their opponents were clearly hamstrung by the exceptional circumstances, there was clear improvement on the part of the Arrows. Manager Bran Mulpepper stayed true to six of his starting seven, showing faith after what was clearly an unacceptably below-par performance against the Falcons.
The notable exception was Seeker Millie Sapworthy, sensationally dumped after just a single performance in which she did little wrong, save for narrowly losing the final chase for the snitch to Falmouth Seeker Oakden Mostafa. So it was left to the experienced but rather out of practice Ava Mustaq, of former Kestrel fame, to take up the Seeker reigns. Tellingly Sapworthy was not to be seen anywhere in the Arrows dugout, suggesting that it is not just the fans who are causing off-field dramas for the Arrows.
On the field is a different story however. Ragmar Flitley and Gifford Belcher reminded everyone again why they are the class of the field when it comes to Beaters, while the Chaser unit gelled far more cohesively than last week.
It took Mustaq the best part of four hours to really play himself into the game and make his presence felt, so the match dragged on slightly past its optimum use-by-date, with the Arrows well clear of the critical 150 point buffer. After five and a half hours and with the margin having stabilized around 500, Mustaq finally snapped up the catch that, although not relevant to the result of this match, will be key to building his confidence for tougher assignments in the future.
Appleby Arrows - 870: Fladbury 33, Comstock 22, Applebee 17, Mustaq Capture
Pride Of Portree - 230: Pilliwickle 15, McNewton 6, Mordaunt 2
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: GIFFORD BELCHER (ARROWS)
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