[Nogrod]

The great city of Gondolin showed it’s shining and smiling face to both the visitors and the residents alike on day 2 of the tournament. Of all the groups it felt that it was here everyone was gathering under the banners of friendship and fair competition. There had been no street fights or other serious incidents of violence but elves, people and dwarves dwelt the busy streets carrying their flags, singing their chants and maybe exchanging a few playful rants with the supporters of other teams. This was the sunshine group.

But the setting was the same as in so many groups before this one. The losers of the first matches were meeting first fighting for not to lose and the winners of round one were contesting each other to secure their place in the play-offs.

The Eldar of Tuna had taken a beating from the home team and were not amused. Even if their main goal was now Erebor they had to win the Gondor team first. It would be unheard of and a real shame if they couldn’t make it to the play-offs. But the Gondor supporters were not at all ready to accept the setting of the match widely echoed by the media. Gondor hadn’t fallen, but the host city had. And they should be more alive and accustomed to these eastern shores than the western snobs they were facing.

But even if the Gondorians played well and made no cardinal mistakes it was clear which was the better team in the game. The Tuna offence was just too good for the Gondorian defence, especially Miriel, Finwe and Nerdanel were only too fast and tricky.

After the initial offence, that lead first to Mahtan scoring 1-0 from almost 40 meters with a terrifying blast and then Miriel heading in a corner for 2-0, the game got a little more even as the Tuna team seemed to draw some breath for the rest of the first half.

The Gondorians came bravely to the second period and at 52nd minute they narrowed the lead deservedly. And the goal was a beautiful one. Five meters from the box Valacar was clearly going to pass the ball rightwards to lord Imrahil who was making a run behind the Tuna defence. Elenwe and Guile rushed in to cut the line of the pass when Valacar suddenly stopped and chipped the ball left past Ingwe and straight to the boot of Faramir who made a beautiful one-touch shot to the opposite upper corner leaving Orodreth totally immobilised.

But the Tuna team was not easily shaken and only seven minutes after the Gondorian goal they went further away with a nice run-through by Nerdanel and Finwe. Finally Nerdanel unselfishly passed the ball to Finwe even if she could have put the ball in herself over Beregond trying to make a flying catch too late. It was an easy task for Finwe to just pass the ball in.

Tuna had cleared the obstacle and Gondor supporters were understandably disappointed, but after an hour had passed there was no sense of bitterness left as the good spirit of the host-city had eased the pain. “The next time we’ll do it!” answered a Gondor-supporter to the Arda Kicker –magazine’s journalist with a wineglass in his hand.

Gondor 1-3 Tuna
shots 10-17
on target 4-9
GOALS:
*Tuna, 14 (Mahal- Finwe)
*Tuna, 21 (Miriel- Finarfin)
*Gondor, 52 (Faramir- Valacar)
*Tuna, 59 (Finwe- Nerdanel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Valacar
*Tuna- Egalmoth



Once again there was no question, which was the main game this evening. Both the Erebor team and its fans had gathered a lot of self-confidence after beating Gondor but that was not the whole story. For underneath the amiable surface it had all through the days been clear that the Ereborians were the odd-one’s out in the great city bursting with elves and men. They felt they were the strangers and even the Lake Town fans had met a wall of indifference in pubs and other public venues after it had been revealed they were fans of Erebor. But in a way that made them feel even greater togetherness and fighting spirit. But the home crowd was really beating it’s drums.

The game was a good one and the teams seemed to be quite even in all other areas but in between the poles of the goal – and Turgon outshone all the other defenders in stamina and alertness in defence. Both teams had a magnificient attack and that resulted in lots of shots and causes for both anxiety and joy to the supporters of both teams.

Gondolin started the scoring at 34th minute as the beautiful combination of the fast and furious Eol and Maeglin passed through the little rigid Erebor defence. It had been clear from the very beginning that the Erebor team had Maeglin under a special guard as he was so intimidating when he got the ball, and it seemed that once he got it there were results on the scoreboard.

But before the half time Erebor managed to score an equalizer. It was a nice pass from Dain that reached Smaug who had rushed to the Gondolin post and just squashed the ball in. Tuor, who had played a fabulous game before that, had no chance.

But even if the game went on in a balanced way the goalie-play of Tuor and specifically Turgon’s great performances gave the home team the momentum they needed. On 68th minute the crowd burst out with much anticipated joy as Maeglin finally got the ball unharassed – after a nice dribbling by Idril drawing the defenders to her – and hammered the ball in from the bottom of his heart. One could see the relief that shone from the face of the great forward who had been pinned down for most of the match by a staunch guarding.

It was a night of endless singing and cheering as the home team had secured their place in the play-offs. But both the Erebor and Tuna fans were having a sleepless night as all would depend on the match between the two sides on the last round.

Erebor 1-2 Gondolin
shots 15-14
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*Gondolin, 34 (Eol- Maeglin)
*Erebor, 40 (Smaug- Dain)
*Gondolin, 68 (Maeglin- Idril)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Erebor- Nain, Smaug
*Gondolin- Galdor, Idril


------
E GONDOLIN

Erebor – Gondor 2-1
Gondolin – Tuna 3-2

Gondor – Tuna 1-3
Erebor – Gondolin 1-2

1. Gondolin 5-3 6
2. Tuna 5-4 3
3. Erebor 3-3 3
4. Gondor 2-5 0

Last matches:
Tuna – Erebor
Gondolin – Gondor