>>>>>>> HUNGARY 170 : 430* AUSTRALIA
<<<<<<<

Duration: 3h 57mins

Venue: South Downs,
Sussex, England

  The Final of the 415^th
World Cup was a festival in every sense of the word. Over ten thousand
excitable (and in most cases drunk) Australian fans pitched up at the venue
some three hours after the end of their Semi-Final with England. Two weeks
later, nearly a quarter of a million Quidditch fans had joined them at the
campsite in readiness for the Grand Finale the next morning. Opinions were
split down the middle as to who would win, but the congregation on the whole
was somewhat more partisan in their support.

  Slightly edging the bookmakers’ odds
were the Hungarians. They had unsurprisingly muscled their way to a second
successive Final and it looked like they didn’t want to give back the trophy
without a fight. The nation’s Quidditch fans were not used to losing and in
drinking establishments all over the country fans were settling down to listen
to their team batter yet another opponent into submission.

  The Kangaroos on the other hand had
surprised many to make it to this stage but their fans ecstatic mood at just
being here had fermented into a deep yearning to make the most of this
opportunity after never making a Final of a World Cup in their history. Even Thunderer
& Warrior fans were united (for once) in their support their countrymen
& women.

  Both sides lined up the same as they
had in their respective Semi-Finals. Hungary were, as usual, captained by Vidor
Bozsér who would partner star Beater Krisztán Váczi. Zoltán Szilveszter would
be hoping to add to his two knockout round Snitch catches. In the Quaffling
department, the country’s record goalscorer Anasztázia Kovács lined up
alongside defensive-minded Nóra Gyurcsó and enforcer Zsolt Sándor. Virtual brick wall György Haraszti
would mind the hoops having conceded 38 goals in the knockout stage, 10 more
than leading up to the final four years previously. The side had a record
number of caps for a Hungarian international line-up and had almost twice the
experience of their opponents.

  Royston
Idlewind was the Aussie’s hard-line captain and would fly alongside the Warrior
pair Beverley Lyons and Rodney Woodbridge and be backed up by the athletic,
half-Scottish Keeper, Murray Maxwell. Norma Cowan & Alf Halloran were the
Thunderer’s first-choice Beater pair who would need to be on top of their game
going up against the Hungarians. Seeker Ashleigh Echunga had an unbeaten 100% Snitch
snatch record in the knockout stages, catching three from three.

  The match was played in glorious
English sunshine, which pleased the Australians no-end with conditions more to
their liking than they could have hoped for. Despite this, it was the
Hungarians who started the stronger, stealing a couple of goals quickly. The
Aussies appeared nervous and made a number of handling errors over the course
of the first few minutes but the typically vocal Idlewind would motivate his
teammates firstly with words and then with a brilliant solo goal, evading three
tackles and a well played Bludger to put his team on the scoreboard.

  The Australians were resurgent and
increased the pace and erased the errors. The Hungarians seemingly hadn’t
learnt their lesson from the previous rounds and had no answer to the skill and
were being out-thought all over the pitch. The team in emerald green & gold
were stringing together brilliant passing moves, out-manoeuvring the team built
for strength which had dominated the international scene for half a decade and
more.

  By the time Lyons had scored her
seventh and her team’s 28^th goal the Aussies led by 100 points and
the Hungarians were looking disconsolate. Szilveszter was the only hope for the
reds now but Echunga was making his life extremely difficult, distracting him
at every turn. It was the Hungarian who did spot the glint of gold first but
Echunga was tailing him so closely that it made next to no difference.
Szilveszter’s desperation and the pressure on him forced him to rush his
attempt and after a fumbled grab he fell off the pace, leaving his opponent in
the hot-seat. The 21 year-old, golden-haired Aussie took the Snitch at first
attempt.

  The stadium erupted into scenes of
celebration as the six other green-robes enveloped their young heroine in the
sky whilst the crowd took to the pitch, setting off fireworks and waving
banners, scarves & flags. The dejected Hungarians quickly departed to their
changing rooms not to be seen at the venue again.

  The trophy ceremony was an historic
affair with British Minister for Magic Nobby Leach becoming the first
muggle-born to award the World Cup trophy. All that was left was for Idlewind
to hoist it high above his head whilst ducking an incoming jinx from an
anonymous, grey-moustached witch. The party and celebrations are said to still
be continuing to this day in a small bar in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.