“Dread Devils Falter in Frustrating Stalemate Against Finn Harps
Week Three Coverage of the Clar Karond Dread Devils
By Tylo Greaves, Junior Correspondent, Naggaroth SportNet

There are ties that feel like victories, and ties that taste like ash. For the Clar Karond Dread Devils, this one was a mouthful of cinders.

Their 0–0 draw against the shuffling remnants of the Finn Harps Football Club should have been three points in the coffin. The opening half saw the Devils weaving shadows around the undead, harassing the ball carrier like vultures to a carcass. Every attempt to regroup by the Harps was met with precise pressure, but despite multiple hits on the lumbering ghoul with the ball, the thing clung to it like a barnacle to a barge. Only as the half drew to a close did the ball finally fall free, but Lirith Bloodwhirl, ever the showstopper, unfortunately fumbled the hand-off. The scoring chance withered on the vine.

In the second half, the tide shifted. The blocks just wouldn't land, and the Harps' zombified mass began to bog down the agile elves. The Devils tried to rally with a push along the flank, but the breakthrough never came. Missing Serith Nightscorn - last seen rising from the dead in the kit of their last opponent - the Devils simply lacked the edge. His absence was keenly felt. And while rumors persist that Coach McCaw is pursuing "replacement options," it's clear that his once-fiery roster is down to glowing embers.

There were bright spots. Line elf Thryia Sableclaw continued to impress, showing flashes of instinct and poise beyond her station. If she stays upright and focused, she may soon shed the title of "just another line elf." McCaw, for his part, offered a press conference filled with the usual gravel: tough lessons, high standards, and the ever-popular refrain of "back to basics."

As the final whistle sounded, the contrast between both teams couldn't have been clearer. The home crowd left the stadium in good spirits, cheering what felt like a hard-earned draw against a faster, more fluid opponent. But on the Finn Harps’ sideline, the mood was far more subdued. The coaching staff looked frustrated, their expressions fixed on the hulking mummy who failed to remove a single elf from the pitch despite repeated efforts.

But while they were already short-handed, missing a second mummy and losing a wight partway through the match, they still managed to hold the Dread Devils scoreless. Most teams would count that as a small victory, but the Harps' bench didn't wear relief. It wore dissatisfaction, as though something had slipped through their fingers despite the scoreboard, and this Dark Elf's clear bias suggesting otherwise.

Meanwhile, the Devils regrouped in silence. There were no celebrations, but there was resolve. Another point earned, another game survived. For the Devils, this wasn't the result they craved. But as the saying goes: in the long grind of a Blood Bowl season, sometimes you have to survive before you can strike.

And strike they will, once the bones are counted, and the right ones stitched together again.

-Tylo Greaves”