Harpies powerless as Arrows decisively reach another Grand Final

Appleby Arrows - 650* vs Holyhead Harpies - 310

	Arrows	Harpies
Keeper	Delaney	Weatherwax
Chasers	Fladbury (C)	Glossop (C)
	Cauldwell	Gladstone
	Comstock	Birchgrove
Beaters	Flitley	Tolipan
	Belcher	Gibberd
Seeker	Sapworthy	Bloch

In 2011, there were two teams who beyond all others suffered at the hands of the season’s shocks and surprises. The 2009 champion Appleby Arrows and Preliminary Finalist Holyhead Harpies both fell earlier in the 2010 finals, but were expected to fight back with a vengeance in 2011. Yet despite, or perhaps because of all their experience, both teams fell from grace with a bang, propping up the bottom end of the ladder for the first half of the season.

By June both had recovered enough to be fighting for the Finals, but it was a final round match between the pair which would ultimately decide eighth on the ladder.

The Arrows won on that occasion, as they have more often than not against the Harpies in recent years. The fact that this year this match occurs at the Preliminary Final stage, with the winner earning the honour of a Grand Final berth, shows the depth and class of the two teams, and that amidst the surprise success of young teams like the Catapults and Kestrels, age and experience still counts for something.

In their earlier encounter this year, it was the Harpies who scored a rare win over one of their oldest rivals, triumping 1640 to 1410 in an absolute epic.

If this match could go close to living up to that Round 7 encounter, or even to matching the quality and tension of last week’s Semi Finals, it would be yet another special encounter.

But the early indications were not promising. A form guide was impossible to read before the match, as the Arrows have been traditionally stronger but lost this clash this year. The two team’s seasons have statistically been very even, but while Appleby have been a model of consistency, the Harpies have varied wildly between near unbeatable perfection and astonishing mediocrity.

But this mediocrity has occurred usually against lower quality teams, such as the Cannons and Wanderers who both took upset wins. As their twin recent wins over the Magpies testified, the Harpies can well be expected to rise to the occasion against top quality.

But unfortunately it was Mr Hyde who came to play today. The Harpies were outclassed in every facet of the game in the first two hours. The Arrows, led by the sheer brilliant violence of Ragmar Flitley and Gifford Belcher, shot clear of the snitch margin and looked well on their way to a fourth Grand Final in eight years.

But the Harpies can never be written off so easily. Their Beaters in particular stood up to the plate, with Talulah Tolipan doing a great job of neutralizing Flitley, while Rohesia Gibberd attacked the Arrows Chasers, bringing Captain Violetta Fladbury to ground.

Holyhead rallied in the third hour, sneaking the margin ever so slightly inside 150 a few times. But they could never gain a fundamental ascendency. The Arrows lead was never lower than 130 and as the fourth hour came and went, Fladbury tightened the screws.

The Arrows’ steadfast defence held them in perfect stead as the margin creeped dangerously out beyond 200, as the snitch came into play. For Zelda Bloch, there was nothing she could do but attempt to baulk Millie Sapworthy and hope her Harpies could come back into the contest.

But Bloch was fighting a losing battle. After Belcher floored her with a vicious close range Bludger, Sapworthy was free to take the snitch and seal a majestic victory for the 2012 Grand Finalists, the Appleby Arrows.

Appleby Arrows - 650: Cauldwell 23, Comstock 19, Fladburt 8, Sapworthy Capture

Holyhead Harpies - 310: Birchgrove 12, Gladstone 12, Glossop 7

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: RAGMAR FLITLEY (ARROWS)