Cornish Crawlers looking to crawl back a win after match rescheduled with the Phillys following a Fireball firebomb!
Last week’s mid-season clash between the Philadelphia Phoenixes and the Cornish Crawlers descended into chaos after one of the Fireballs exploded into flame at a crucial match-point moment. Questioning is still taking place as to how the tournament-regulation balls had been tampered with, with players, officials, coaches, and spectators all being held until way after midnight to get to the bottom of the firework display.
With only Lukawitz left standing in the Crawlers’ half, and many cheering that the Phillys had the match in the bag, the fireball thrown at him by the Phoenixes’ Sally McLaughlin exploded mid-flight right over the centre line. The crowd descended into raucous shouting as Lukawitz dived to their left and then proceeded to stand up and start yelling at a laughing McLaughlin. Confrontation between the two players and the rest of their active and Spirit Guardian team-mates was narrowly avoided by the swift interjection by Umpire Leopold Kavanaugh, best known for his controversial call in last season’s playoffs that gave the Haringey Harpies the narrow win over season-favourites, the Berlin Birdmen.
It is still unclear how the fireball tampering occurred, and further investigations are underway before this weekend’s, hopefully less explosive, meeting between the London Lions and the Lucerne Locusts. The mass questioning post-game has appeared to have yielded no concrete results, and therefore the rematch between the Phoenixes and Crawlers will be replayed this coming Sunday, starting from 0-0, regardless of the Phillys’ lead of 35-10 before the fiery commotion halting the game.
Live coverage of the game starts at 17:00 CET, available to stream via Portal Pathways, or on catch-up on Air Sports News.