Harpie hero Bloch shatters Tornado hearts

Holyhead Harpies - 700* vs Tutshill Tornado - 690

	Tornados	Harpies
Keeper	Stainwright (C)	Weatherwax
Chasers	Hastings	Glossop (C)
	Birch	Gladstone
	MacFarlan	Birchgrove
Beaters	White	Tolipan
	Fitzpatrick	Gibberd
Seeker	Muntz	Bloch

This match between the reigning champions and fan favourite Harpies was without doubt the marquee clash of the week. Victory was particularly essential for the Tornados, not quite so much because their Top Four chances were fast slipping away, but just to arrest the momentum of their downward spiral.

Defeat here would be a third consecutive loss for the Tornados, a crisis which the club can ill-afford so close to the finals.

Fifth versus sixth certainly is an accurate representation of the overall successful but subtly lacking seasons of both teams so far. But news filtered through in the minutes before the match, that Portree had upset the Falcons. Coupled with Appleby’s loss on Friday, this meant that either team would vault straight to third on the ladder with victory here.

This stage of the season requires stability and continuity, which the Harpies possess in spades. But the Tornados are not at such ease, with a number of their usually reliable backbone faltering ever so slightly in recent weeks. But manager Jolyon Ancrum’s hands were tied, as wholesale changes would do more harm than good so close to finals time. Ultimately it was the scratchy but slightly unlucky Beater Alaricus Jenkins who suffered, his replacement by Andros White being the only change on either side.

The early exchanges resembled a tug of war, with neither team able to grasp firm hold of the lead. As time passes the pattern of the contest emerged, with Holyhead lacking the peak potential of Tutshill’s at times freakish stars, but combating with their own unity and consistency.

Blodwen Birch was clearly the class of the field. Odette Hastings and Salvatrix MacFarlan were both off colour, leaving Bloch to almost singlehandedly combat the Harpies’ cohesive Chaser trio. But she was well up to the task, inspiring her struggling counterparts to step another level.

The Harpies’ discreet Beaters were doing an admirable job, but even despite their inexperience working together, Andros White and Cepheus Fitzpatrick as individual forces were still overpowering, Fitzpatrick finally returning to his best after a slow few weeks.

Into the third and fourth hours, it was the Tornados in the clear ascendancy. But as the little balls have had a tendency of doing this year, the snitch came into play at a most convenient time, with the Tornados leading by 130.

Blodwen Birch then stepped up, as the two petite Seekers rocketed astonishingly around the grandstand scaffolding.

It was one of the most dramatic finishes you could possibly imagine. A stunning hat-trick from Birch looked to have pulled the Tornados safely clear. Gwenevak Glossop then returned one favour, right as Tornado Seeker Aurora Muntz was taken viciously out of play by a Rohesia Gibberd Bludger.

This left the snitch clear for Zelda Bloch. But she had somehow stayed aware of the game situation amidst her made chase and halted, buying Gweneth Birchgrove the time to score and reduce the Tutshill lead to 140. Bloch subsequently pounced and snapped up the snitch before a heartbroken Birch could respond.

Holyhead Harpies - 700: Birchgrove 25, Gladstone 16, Glossop 14, Bloch Capture

Tutshill Tornados - 690: Birch 51, MacFarlan 11, Hastings 7

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: BLODWEN BIRCH (TORNADOS)