Winless Wigtown open account over disunited Puddlemere

Wigtown Wanderers - 530* vs Puddlemere United - 310

	United	Wanderers
Keeper	Wood (C)	Warburton
Chasers	Dingle	Shimpling
	Lochrin	Melvina
	Blijk	Anstice
Beaters	Blenkinsop	A.Parkin (C)
	Ellesmere	Thruston
Seeker	Kiddell	B.Parkin

Based on early season form, this would be a one-sided and overall rather predictable encounter. But just as the winless Wanderers have begun to slowly recover and show glimpses of class, so have Puddlemere began a concerning spiral towards the exit of the Top 8.

Puddlemere manager Philantha Beamish reverted to her season-starting inclinations, preferring the more promising but unproven Druella Dingle and Dougal Blenkinsop to the more experienced but uninspiring Alexei Ramley and Bastian Burrows.

Ralph Bobbin made no changes to the slowly-gelling and experienced Wanderers line-up, and their improvement continued again in the early stages. Veterans Saundra Melvina and Aileen Anstice hit the front early, catching Puddlemere on the back foot. But United had the class to fight back and lead for the majority of the opening two hours, mainly through Oliver Wood’s unfaltering Keeping and the Quaffle skills of Alcmene Blijk.

Puddlemere and Wigtown are two very contrasting teams. The Wanderers are an experienced and long serving line-up, making up for what they lack in star power with a collective steadfastness. But the youthful United couldn’t be further from this model, other than the ebullient Wood and Blijk, and their model is proving an increasingly frail one this year. Ailing veterans Nephele Lochrin and Donaghan Kiddell contrast the young and petulant Dingle, Blenkinsop and Ellesmere. Neither extreme has proven particularly useful this year, but this was their worst performance yet and the Wanderers soon hit the front. Dingle and Lochrin were awful, lacking cohesion and proving themselves unable to communicate effectively with the frustrated and abandoned Blijk.

The only reason Puddlemere stayed in the contest as all was due to the lack of killer instinct in their distinctly friendly opponents. The Wanderers had the run of play and clear control on the scoreboard, but Blijk’s single-handed goal-scoring efforts ensured it all came down to the snitch catch.

Begonia Parkin may be an old-timer who has struggled for rhythm this year, but Kiddell is even older and has fallen even further by the wayside. United’s performance, in being 70 points behind the bottom of the table Wanderers, was unacceptable even if they got away with victory. But the wrath of their notoriously tough manager will most certainly be felt now, as Parkin caught the snitch and wrapped up a long-awaited maiden victory in 2012 for the Wanderers. 

Wigtown Wanderers - 530: Anstice 22, Shimpling 8, Melvina 8, B.Parkin Capture
Puddlemere United - 310: Blijk 27, Lochrin 4

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: ALCMENE BLIJK (UNITED)