October 13, 2008

In a startling and messy display, Ravenclaw defeated Gryffindor 160-10 Friday afternoon with a capture by Peyton Wentworth who was brought in to replace the suspended Sasha Schlagenweit.

Needing to come up with a 100 point victory to overtake Ravenclaw in the House Cup standings, you would think the veteran Gryffindor would have played a bit more, well, Gryffindorly.  Facing a younger, less experienced Ravenclaw team one would have expected a team with 3 seventh year players to fly smart and efficient.  But instead, the story of the game was the Gryffindor team stooping to Ravenclaw’s level of play.

Both teams were in their own way early in the game.  In the opening minutes, Gryffindor’s Emily Lou Carter, in a dangerous act of arrogance, playfully tipped a typical shot by Ravenclaw Blake Knight.  It took a considerable effort by Gryffindor Captain George Carter to make the save.  And in an even more reckless play, Ravenclaw Beatrix Dark smashed a bludger at her fellow beater, injuring herself and sending teammate Klint to the pitch.  And to top it all off, the Ravenclaw keeper was too busy watching his teammates nearly kill each other to stop an easy shot from Jonathan Silversmith.  With what turned out to be Silversmith’s only smart play of the match, Gryffindor now led 10-0.

In the ensuing possession, Ravenclaw Adrienna Hayes sped straight through the Gryffindor defense.  Silversmith, in an obvious attempt at setting up another cheap goal, hovered around in the open field instead of hustling back.  With nothing in her way but the keeper, Hayes rocketed in the equalizer, and went straight to Silversmith whose position was given away by his shouting for the ball.  As Carter chucked the quaffle toward Silversmtih, Gryffindor beater Joshua Harcroft smashed a well-aimed bludger at Hayes to stop her interception.

It would be difficult to describe the next few moments of the match, because some way, somehow, in a mix of stupidity and misplaced heroism, 5 players ended up in a pile on the pitch.  There are 14 players on the field at once, and the fact that almost half of them ended up on the ground at some point speaks to just how sloppy and disappointing this match was. 

Shortly after the five players untangled themselves and got back on their brooms, the snitch was mercifully caught by Ravenclaw’s Peyton Wentworth, ending the game at 160-10.

A win is a win, and Ravenclaw clawed and scraped to get this one.  It’s difficult to tell if they purposely lulled Gryffindor into playing like first years, or if they just got lucky.  But Ravenclaw got a victory they can build on, especially after the impressive arrival of the Wentworth, who may challenge Schlagenweit for the position. 
There are a hundred reasons why a team wins a match, and there are a thousand questions after a team loses.  Ravenclaw won because of their grit.  Gryffindor will be asking why they allowed themselves to be play as inexperienced and immature as their second year chaser Silversmith.

Rob Drake is a sixth year Gryffindor at Hogwarts school and occasionally provides recaps of the school Quidditch matches.  Drake considers himself a Quidditch purist and doesn't mince his words.

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Rob Drake is the RL brother of Sarah (Niobe Thursby).  An avid sportsman, he loved reading our Quidditch match, and offered to write a newspaper piece about it, in character.