Tutshill Tornadoes vs. Montrose Magpies

K: Ian Cuddyer B: Eason Ripley C: Marmaduke Amherst C: James Forrester K: Augustus Snark B: William Pennyapple C: Jax Woolfolk C: Juno Grimalken S: Laney Irving

---

The stadium erupted in excited shouts and hollers as the teams took the field.  The much-anticipated match had been preceded by rumors that the Montrose line-up had been shaken up.  Not to mention the new acquisitions by Tuthsill and the news that second-stringer James Forrester would be on the pitch to start.  There was no telling what to expect.

With the teams in position, hovering in formation on some seriously fast brooms, the referree, Samir Banda, stood in the center circle.  In one hand, he held the golden snitch, tight between his finger and thumb.  In the other, the red leather quaffle.  At his feet, two ravenous bludgers rankled against their chains.  And in his lips a shrill whistle.

With a flick of his wrist, he released the snitch.  Zoom! The golden ball buzzed the Seekers in turn, and disappeared.  Then, in a single motion, Referee Banda kicked the bludgers loose, and threw the quaffle into the air.

Fweeeet! His whistle sounded.  The match had begun!

James silently thanked his stars that they would not be playing Montrose in the winter.  As much fun as he had at Durmstrang, he did not fancy playing a winter match in Scotland.  Not that Tutshill was much better, being right on the River Dee, but it seemed warmer to him at least.  Still, James was happy to have this game out of the road relatively early in the season.  As he formed up with his teammates, he briefly surveyed the other team.  For a minute, he thought he saw Woolfolk in formation as a chaser.  ‘Well, the keeper has a need for speed?  Let’s see if he can actually move more than thirty meters in a match’ James thought to himself with a slight grin on his face.  

After the referee blew the whistle, James went after the quaffle .  Since he seemed to be the first one to act, he had an easier time than he usually did chasing after loose balls.  After grabbing the quaffle , James looked up. He had thought that Woolfolk was supposed to be guarding the hoops, but he guessed this was as good an excuse as any to get a feel for Snark.  While there were a couple of chasers and a keeper between him and the goal posts, but he figured he would see how the other team responded before doing too much strategy.  He originally wanted to pass it to someone more open, but Amherst was no more open than he was at the moment.  James took a solid shot on goal.  While the quaffle was zooming towards the hoops, James wondered what Woolfolk had done to start playing chaser.  He decided that it was not his business, and then refocused on the game.    

(((OOC: AP Finish 95: 1pt to Grab, 5 pts to shoot)))
(You do not need to spend any points to grab a loose Quaffle. - Sarah)

Juno Grimalken idled on her broom with the coil and tension of a kneazle waiting to pounce.  Banda released the balls, and she had to wait the excruciating millisecond before he released the broomriders.

She was off like a shot, but in a stupid mistake, she collided with another rider.  Not even looking to see who it was, she contained herself and leaned in harder to make up the lost time.  A Tornado's Chaser (Forrester) already had the quaffle and was heading for the rings. 

"Shot! Shot!" she shouted as Forrester sent the Quaffle flying in.  Coming up from below the shot, she managed to tip the Quaffle (2 action points: 2 points taken off the original shot, but still heading for the rings).  She'd missed the interception! She swung around and flew higher to get into a good position for the next play.

"On your toes, Snark! On your toes!"


Remaining Action Points: 98

Of course Forrester was already shooting for goals. Not even a warm up? Though all William really wanted to do was nap, he was alert and watching the chaser like a hawk. William just really wanted to bash his face in, but William had to remain sophisticated. No matter how vulgar and barbaric he really is.

Then Juno, that lovely lady, attempted to intercept the quaffle. But... That was hardly an interception at all. William twirled his bat around before swooping towards a bludger that was halfheartedly flying around and made a solid bash (7) towards Forrester. Perhaps this could help, perhaps not. At least, if the bludger actually hits the man, he'll learn not to mess with the Magpies.

So early in the game, at least. Then again, might as well use his energy while he still had it. But William had no regrets. The corners of his mouth twitched and he eyed the other chasers, still twirling his bat around.

Remaining action points: 93

James heard the bludger before he was it.  James took a wild dive (1AP) in an attempt to avoid it, but he was too late.  James fell off his broom.  As he was falling, he thought that he should have been more aware of his surroundings, but could not figure out why the beater had aimed at him.  If he still had the quaffle, he would have dropped it but the shot had already been taken.  

James decided that he would make a note if the beater had it out for him in particular, and maybe try to bait him a bit.  Especially if he could pass it off to Amherst or take another shot before he got bashed.  It had been a while since he had fully concentrated on dodging bludgers...he wondered if he needed more practice with the seekers.


(AP points 93 94)

As the game got under way, the players respectively started their missions. Eason watched as one of his best mates and fellow riders grabbed the quaffle and headed out towards the Magpies' goal. Smiling to himself, he had faith in James, but saw that it was going to be a difficult time as Grimalken, trying to intercept. But just as he was about to send a bludger her way, Pennyapple landed a shot at James, hitting him straight on.

Getting particularly mad, he flew past Grimalken, shouting at her, "Foul, little gremlin!" Taking his bat in his left hand, being a lefty, he took aim for their keeper, Augustus Snark, and hit the bludger with a powerful and accurate bash (10) towards Snark. "Take that, leachers."

Remaining A.P. = 90

As soon as the whistle sounded and the balls were in the air, Augustus was on his toes. Well, not literally since he was in mid-air...though his toes were resting on the foot plates of his broom, so really he was on his toes. I digress. He watched as the quaffle was immediately in Tornadoes posession and the chaser made his way quickly and expertly towards the Magpies goal.

Grimalken was quick thinking and immediately headed towards the goals, attempted a spectacular interception of the quaffle, though it brushed the tips of her fingers and carried on towards the goals though at a different trajectory to the one before.

The quaffle headed for the right hand ring, and Augustus flew as hard as he could towards it, outstretching his fingers as far as they would go. His fingers curved around the ball [3 pts] and he managed to pull it close to his body. He had just saved the first attack on their goals and was feeling rather proud of himself, though his attention was quickly diverted from the cheers as a high whistle rang through the air as though the air itself was parting.

Augustus looked to his left and saw a bludger mere feet away from him. His eyes widened as the bludger thwacked into his left arm. Augustus loosened his grip on the quaffle as he grabbed for his left arm with his free hand in agony [5 pts]. At least he had managed to stay on his broom, but the quaffle was now falling at a considerable speed through the air towards the ground.

[AP: 92]

Save! Juno shot Ripley a dirty look, and streaked down to the loose quaffle.  She snatched it up and made a line low and fast down the pitch. She was flying so low, her broom twigs were whipping the tops off the seeding grass.

She looked desperately for Jax Woolfolk, her counterpart for this match.  Where the hell was he? She couldn't hold the quaffle too long or she'd be bludgered into the sod for sure.  Where was Ajax?!  Then she saw him.

"Lynch! Eddie!"  Edward Lynch was up above, suited up as a Chaser.  What was going on here?

"Eddie!"  She broke hard and threw the quaffle straight into the air, attempting a classic vertical pass to Lynch.  (7)  Having let the the quaffle go, she made a beeline to the rings.  Pass and fly, pass and fly.  Trust your team.  That's what Coach Snark was always telling them.

Remaining Action Points: 91

It had taken James a little awhile to recover from the bludger hit.  The bludger still stung, and he wondered if he should have made a move to avoid it instead.  Deciding that standing in one spot wincing in pain would not help his team or his professional ambitions, he kicked off a bit too hard.  He had originally wanted to Challenge Grimalken for the quaffle, but his time spent recovering had blown that plan, so James went to his typical second choice.  Ignoring Grimalken for the time being he jetted between the two Magpie chasers in an attempt to intercept the quaffle .

Idly, he noted that there was another substitution in the Magpie roster.  He wondered if their coach had decided to play musical brooms last night, or if it involved politics.  He would have to look into it later, in order to see if he couldn’t get a starting position from them.  ‘If they are playing beaters as chasers, they probably have openings’ he thought to himself.  While Tutshill had finally started him, it annoyed him that it took the franchise so long to do so.  And he still had yet to start for their seeker, which was the position he wanted to play. 

Unfortunately, James’s musings had taken him away from the present for the moment, and he was unable to catch the quaffle due to his sloppy angle and having his head in the clouds.  He only managed to divert the quaffle (4AP) out of its trajectory.  As he saw the quaffle moving away from him, he grimaced slightly.  ‘I should have intercepted that’ he thought to himself.

Remaining AP (90).

"Shit!"

Juno watched in agony as her pass was nearly deflected by a Tornado and when Ed Lynch failed to follow it.  She didn't know what he was doing, but she swore, gritted her teeth and sped to the open quaffle as fast as she could.

"Fine! Looks like I've got to do it myself! Let's move, Magpies!"

Grimalken rushed savagely towards the quaffle, alive with aggression.  It was common for the Magpies to holler at one another.  It was all part of their absurd warrior's culture.

She caught it! And without pausing at all, she streaked as fast as she could towards the Tornadoes' rings.  "Yaaaah!"

With a mighty yell, she used the momentum of her flight to propel the quaffle to the far ring with amazing speed. (10pts) 

Action Points Remaining: 81

Most of the action so far had been in Magpie territory, which often meant that a Keeper (not unlike a Hockey goaltender) could become complacent. But not Ian. The usually shy guy actually came alive during Quidditch matches, yelling out for his teammates to keep a heads up for plays where appropriate. His position on the field was ideal for seeing all aspects of the game.

The Keeper watched with intense eyes, following the movements of the quaffle and when it was free, he immediately became more anxious. It was the part of him that wanted action but it was conflicted with the other part of him that knew that if his teammates had it, it meant they were doing well. So of course he wanted them to get to it before the Magpie players.

But the former part of him was appeased when Grimalken snagged the quaffle up and headed in his direction.

This is it!

Even as the words moved through the back of his mind, it seemed that Cuddyer only had a split second to react to her shot that went sailing towards the far ring. Ian sent himself diving in its direction and at first he thought he would be too late. But he realized he had overcompensated and he felt his hands close around the quaffle for a successful catch. (10pts)

Realizing that he now had left the other two rings wide open, Ian sought out his closest teammate and made a solid pass to him (6pts), breathing a sigh of relief for the time being.

Action Points Remaining: 84

(((OOC:  Since there is currently no official color for fouls, I’m using orange.)))

After deflecting the quaffle, James stuck with Lynch to prevent him from just taking an easy shot.  Unfortunately for James, Grimalken wanted to take the game over for herself.  He watched her go at a brisk clip towards the goals he was supposed to be defending.  James wondered why his teammate was not covering her, but shrugged it off.  He could not be all over the field at the same time, and leaving Lynch unmarked was not an option.  Though Juno got off an impressive shot, Cuddyer made a fairly impressive save.

James saw Cuddyer pass it to his teammate and flew into a more defensive position, in case one of the opposing chasers could get a fast break.  James figured Amherst could handle it himself for a little while, and he could pass back if things really got iffy.  James then saw an opportunity he could not pass up.  Irving was slightly out of his flight path.  Making a few mental calculations, James figured that if he could check Irving successfully, then their seeker could get a few moments alone to search for the snitch unobstructed.  If it was unsuccessful, then James would still be in a decent position, assuming Amherst kept control of the quaffle.  So thinking, he sprinted on his broom toward an area where it looked like he would be open for a pass, and angled it so that he would body check Irving if she did not dodge.  Internally, James debated for a fraction of a second if it would be worth it to make it a blatant foul but decided not to.  Amherst seemed slightly off today, and it would not be productive to serve a penalty at this point in the match.  Mind made up, he attempted to body check  Irving (5AP), trying to make it look like an accident.

AP Remaining: 85

Everything really seemed to be going fine. Sort of. The game could have been going worst, and William had successfully hit someone earlier. Which was totally great. But, that someone had just bumped into Laney, purposely. William felt enraged, which wasn't that surprising, and immediately raced for the closest bludger. If Forrester wished to play foul, William would give him the taste of his own medicine.

Of course, William could have mindlessly attacked anyone else, but Forrester basically made it personal. He gripped his bat tight and watched for the correct timing. With a quick swing of his bat, William made a solid bash (10) towards Forrester, a vicious smirk forming on his face. Served the man right, after all. Attacking a man's woman was always a good reason to fight.



Remaining action points: 83