Tornados fail to rise to Appleby challenge

Appleby Arrows - 710* vs Tutshill Tornados - 340

	Arrows	Tornados
Keeper	Delaney	Stainwright (C)
Chasers	Fladbury (C)	Culberry
	Cauldwell	Birch
	Comstock	Entwistle
Beaters	Flitley	Jenkins
	Belcher	Fitzpatrick
Seeker	Sapworthy	Muntz

The Arrows and Tornados seasons were of similar high (but not cloud-busting) quality. But such was the tightness of the competition in the middle of the top eight, they ended up separated by three places.

The Tornados have not reached the heights of their championship year. Led by the devastating Blodwen Birch, they have been efficient and reliable, winning everywhere they should rightly be expected to. But the problem was quite clearly the lack of ability to beat the good teams. All five teams above Tutshill on the ladder bested them during the season.

Naturally this included the Arrows, who overcame a shaky start to show some vintage form, reminiscent of their 2006 and 2009 title years. As the only team to have defeated the table-topping Wasps this year, there is a certain aura about the 2012 Arrows. But first they had to overcome a team who were very close behind them, a match in every department on paper.

Both teams made a rather interesting and similar change, returning struggling veterans into the side on the value of their proven finals experience, over form.

For the Arrows’ Cuthbert Croaker it was particularly bad luck. He had done little wrong yet found himself on the outer to make way for Rosalind Comstock. Meanwhile Tornados manager Jolyun Ancrum returned Alaricus Jenkins, on the back of a dominating performance for Wales last week against Transylvania, over Andros White.

Maeve Halcyeone is a smart woman. From the outset her faith was rewarded, as Comstock gelled perfectly with Katherine Cauldwell and captain Violetta Fladbury.

It was all Appleby as they utterly dominated in every facet of the game, in particular in the Bludging department. Neither Jenkins nor Cepheus Fitzpatric were unduly incompetent, but their combination was clearly rusty after so many weeks apart. Only perfection will do when you’re up against Ragmar Flitley and Gifford Belcher.

Blodwen Birch was predictably the Tornados’ best, but so unfailingly targeted was she by Belcher in particular, that she was powerless to halt the Arrows charge.

It was Calliope Entwistle though, on the back of a disappointing season compared to her heroics in 2011, who once again rose to the finals occasion as she so often does.

Entwistle, less focused on by the Arrows defence, was able to sneak the Tornados temporarily back into the contest in the third hour.

But the Arrows’ lead dipped under 150 only briefly. Belcher made doubly sore of Appleby victory when he viciously took down Tornado captain Lucian Stainwright as he attempted to save a Cauldwell shot. The goals leaked in at will once again and left Mille Sapworthy the small task of snapping up the snitch to embellish a highly polished performance.

Tutshill must now hope and prey that neither the Catapults nor Kestrels will pull an astonishing upset and end their title defence unexpectedly early.

Appleby Arrows - 710: Cauldwell 24, Fladbury 21, Comstock 11, Sapworthy Capture

Tutshill Tornados - 340: Entwistle 13, Birch 12, Culberry 9

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: GIFFORD BELCHER (ARROWS)