-American State Quidditch Match – Washington D.C. vs. Ohio-

This week's match was a real thriller, with Washington
and Ohio going head-to-head for the top spot in the state leader board. It was
a tense match, with both teams playing their best, however Ohio clinched it in
the second hour, and the final score was 460 - 290.

There was an upset going into the game, as
Washington's top Chaser; Xander Wallis, sustained a bad head injury in training
only the night before. As a result, he wasn't in the running for this week's
match, and was replaced by Washington's reserve Chaser; Anna Barnes. She tried
extremely hard and, although she was all over the place in the first half an
hour, after a pep talk from fellow chasers Charlie Hunter and Gabby Mason, she
managed to up her game, and scored three goals in quick succession soon after.

Ohio's team remained pretty much the same as last
season, with the exception of their new beater, seventeen-year-old Caleb
Barnett. He was fiesty on the pitch - this was his first state match - and kept
his eye on the game at all times. He had a close shave when Washington Beater
Jonathon Sharp hit a nasty bludger straight in his direction, Barnett's quick
reflexes enabled him to duck out of the way just in time. Speaking after the
match, Barnett said;

"That was a close shave, that bludger. It could
have done a great deal of damage - and on my first game, too! But all my
training has pulled off, and I managed to get out of the way just in time. I
had a great first game, and I can't wait for the next!"

Both teams' Seekers stayed pretty much out of sight
for the majority of the game. This was Ohio Seeker - and Captain - Eddie
Martin's fifth season and he managed to shrug off speculation that he's getting
to old for the job. He's as nimble now as he was when he first came into the
position five years ago, and gave Washington Seeker Lizzie Cardell a real run
for her money. Cardell tried hard, but Martin wasn't fooled by her tactics. In
the end Martin was the one to catch the snitch, after a spectacular Wronski
Feint which had the crowd all holding their breath, sealing the win for Ohio
after one hour, fifty two minutes.

Washington captain Ross Kinney said after the match;

"It was a tough game, but I'm proud of how the
team played. Obviously, many players were suffering from a bit of a lack in
morale as Xander was out, and he's our best Chaser. He should be back for our
next game though, and I'm very pleased with how Anna played in his place. We'll
be going over what went wrong, and hopefully we should be able to win the next
one!"

Return next issue for another state match – Wisconsin
vs. Alaska!

-Written by Grace
Waterson