-British League Quidditch Match –  Birmingham Bludgers vs Yorkshire County Chiefs*-

This game was over pretty much as soon as it started, with Yorkshire Seeker Ryan Blanes catching the snitch in the 32nd minute, hardly allowing any time for the Chasers to score any goals - the game ended 160-20 to Yorkshire, and many fans were left disappointed at how short the game was. Despite this, Yorkshire supporters were certainly very happy with their win, and their drunken shouts for Blanes could be heard outside the stadium for hours after the game ended. One of the Yorkshire fans told us;

"Ryan Blanes didn't mess around - he got straight to it and won us the game. Yes, it was a short game, but it was an excellent catch, and we won, so who cares? Better for us to win in a short amount of time than let a winning opportnuity go and potentially lose, just for making the game last longer!"

Due to the short length of the game, we were able to see bth teams playing at full energy and speed, and the 32 minutes we had were very exciting ones. Both bludger duos were going mad, whacking bludgers left right and centre, making the pitch a minefield for the Chasers who were constantly ducking and rolling out of the way of oncoming bludgers. Birmingham Beater even Nat Whitford had to be cautioned by the referee for some of his bordering on too violent play.

Chaser Tom Miller scored both of Birmingham's two goals, assisted by each of his fellow chasers, Jacob Warren and Ella Wardell. Both goals were set up perfectly and executed well - obviously something the Birmingham side had been working on since their last game, where their Chasers were simply all over the place. The goal for Yorkshire was scored by Delfie Newman, though there was a very near goal by her fellow Chaser Aiden Fitzgerald, which was only just saved by Ian Bailey; famous Birmingham Keeper who has been in the position for nine seasons now, and still plays as well as ever.

But the man of the match was definitely Ryan Blanes, who was carried off the pitch on the shoulders of his teammates after his spectacular dive that won him the snitch and won Birmingham the game. HE told us after the game;

"People are having a go at me for ending the match too quickly, but my teammates are reassuring me that it's a sign of a good Seeker to be able to catch the snitch early. I'm on really good form at the moment and I hope to keep it up for as long as possible - I feel as though I'm on top of the world!"

We also spoke to Yorkshire Captain Jacob Warren, who gave us this report;

"The benefit of Ryan catching the snitch early was that the game was fast-paced and exciting, and there wasn't time for us to tire out. As I'm sure everyone who watches Quidditch knows, once the game starts going past the hour and a half mark, the teams start to tire out and the game becomes dull. But, of course, there wasn;t time for that to happen, and I honestly think we played one of our best games out there - even though we only scored one goal, the morale was there and everyone had their heads in the game; I could tell everyone wanted it. Great game for all of us, especially Ryan."

Join us next week for another league match!

-Grace Waterson

*Birmingham is a city in the county of the West Midlands - located to the west side of England, relatively near the England-Wales border. Yorkshire is the largest county in the UK, and is located in the north-east of England.