-American State Quidditch Match - Illinois vs. Pennsylvania-

Well this game certainly got everyone involved in Quidditch talking, not because of the excellent play on the part of the Illinois team - who have been struggling to get back on form lately - but because of the rather dramatic pitch invasion in the second half.

The game started off slowly, though the pace picked up pretty early on and soon it became clear that Illinois were definitely the stronger side. With the great teamwork between their Chasers; Madison Steeley, Jace Thornton and Logan Milton, they created some great set ups which led to goals that Pennsylvania Keeper Lucas Sharp couldn't even get near. Their two beaters; Rhea Patel and Isaac Matthews managed some great hits, making the Pennsylvania side dip and dodge around to keep out of injury. A special mention must go out to Patel who, in the last minutes of the game, managed to deflect a beater that was coming straight towards Illinois Seeker Taylor Shaft, enabling Shaft to go on and catch the snitch, ending the game 290 - 40 to Illinois.

Pennsylvania, on the other hand, played a pretty sloppy game for most of the match, and it was only in the last half hour or so that they managed to pick up their game and score some goals. Chasers Sophie Cordell, Quinn Leary and Jacob Cattside tried hard but struggled - there were many occasions of a dropped Quaffle - and they lacked organisation as it seemed all too often an occurrence that one of the three wasn't in the position they were supposed to be in to score. Talking to us after the game, Leary told us;

"We've struggled in training recently as Sophie has been injured for a while and we're just trying to integrate her back into the team. We haven't had much opportunity to practice our set plays and tactics with Sophie being fit, and as a result out play today suffered. We will be working hard in the coming weeks to improve our teamwork and coordination so we can hopefully play a lot better in our next game."

However, the talk of the match all surrounded Illinois fan Darren Whitman who ran top-less onto the pitch in the 143rd minute. Waving his red Quidditch fan shirt around above his head, he not only annoying the crowd but confused the two teams too, which lead to one of the Pennsylvania Beaters, Paige Martin, hurling a bludger in the fan's direction, believing it was a member of her opposition. The bludger hit Whitman right in the head, knocking him to the ground unconscious, meaning that he had to be carried off the pitch by both sides medical teams and transported to the nearest magical hospital.

"Pitch invasions are a rare occurrence these days," Illinois coach Dan Carlson told us after the match, "and there isn't really any way we can stop them without barricading the fans in, which we cannot do as they need to be able to get out of the stands and onto the pitch in the case of any emergency. Luckily, today's pitch invader didn't actually disturb the two teams too much, although he did suffer a nasty looking blow to the head from a bludger. Quidditch is a dangerous game and he asked for it."

And I gather there'll be plenty more quididtch talk in the common room this evening! Return next month for more state quidditch updates.

-Written by Grace Waterson