-Quidditch World Cup Match – Egypt vs. Australia-

A gray, drab sky was the backdrop of this match between Egypt and Australia - and one that represented the eventual mood of the supporters perfectly. The match started out well enough, with a large turnout on both sides of the pitch, and bright splashes of both countries’ colors throughout the stands cheering the players on as each team flew a warmup lap around the pitch before huddling to discuss strategy.

However, from the moment the whistle was blown and the players rose into the air, the game was a sloppy, uninteresting specimen, with extremely avoidable Quaffle drops from both teams Chasers, vehement swings and misses by Beaters, and barely a goal to be seen through the game, which I suppose gives the Keepers some credit for their performance.

It was in fact the Australian Keeper and Captain, Keeper Robertson, who first stirred the game up a bit, noticeably leaving the goal posts with a shouted explanation that “it’s not like they’re going to score, anyway” to shout furiously at his players to improve their performance, saying that “You all can beat these guys easy, just get your buttocks off of those Cushioning Charms and get a move on!”

After this admonishment, it can be noted the Australian did indeed improve their performance somewhat, and Chasers Williams, Taylor, and Wilson scored the first two goals of the game before spectacularly failing in an attempt to perform Parkins Pincer and dropping the Quaffle straight into the hands of the Egyptian Chasers, whose shot was quickly blocked by Keeper Robertson.

The rest of the game proceeded in a similar manner, and many of the spectators ended up leaving before it ended, bored with the slow movement of the game and lack of action. It was finally completed when Seeker Hajjar noticed the snitch hovering beside her ear and grabbed it before anyone noticed it had been spotted.

Captain Sarkis, who hadn’t done much as Beater throughout the game, said only that: “We could have played better, and we will next time, but at least we won.” when asked to comment after the game.

Keeper Robertson’s comment (with all cursing accordingly edited out) was that:

 “We were _____ better than them. Those ____ better watch out next time because we’ll ____ their stupid___ and that’s all I gotta say.”

The game was boring for spectators, and definitely not the best game of the players involved. Overall, both teams could have played much better and been more sportsmanlike at the end. A notable shift in both teams’ supporters has gone down since the match. Next issue we’ll feature a match between Madagascar and Jamaica.

-Misty Swanson