[the phantom]

Anduin 1-3 Wilderland
tot shots 10-14
on target 5-8
GOALS:
*22, 0-1 Khamul (Sauron)
*35, 0-2 Scatha (Sauron)
*68, 0-3 Smaug (Bolg)
*81, 1-3 Earnil II (Leod)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Orophin, Beorn
*Wilderland- Great Warg, Bolg, Scatha

In the first friendly Sauron was strictly an observer and coach, but he actually got into the action a bit in this contest. He didn't go full speed, do any long runs, or shoot even, but he distributed beautifully and controlled the offense which really performed well. On the other end Anduin gained some decent chances, as Wilderland’s defense was caught unorganized and slow a couple times, but most of the chances were wiped away nicely by Grimbeorn.
After the match there could have been an incident with Scatha calling out Fram and rubbing it in that he'd scored against him, but Fram took it in stride saying, "Yes, I need to find my top form quickly, though I think that goal would've been tough for anyone to stop. You were too free and too close."

Barad-Dur 2-2 The Downer
tot shots 10-13
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*16, 1-0 Cirdan (Shagrat)
*34, 1-1 Saucepan Man (Hookbill)
*60, 2-1 Mouth (Gil-galad)
*76, 2-2 Alien
YELLOW CARDS:
*Barad-Dur- Shagrat, Gothmog II, Fellbeast #1
*Downer- Alien, Morsul, Peter Hampton, John Fillis

Gil-galad and Barad-Dur definitely approached this match as a friendly and consequently were quite turned off by the unsteady style and underhanded play from The Downer. The rough play got The Downer into trouble early however, as Morsul was caught grabbing Isildur by the hair to slow down his run, and the resulting free-kick led to a jumbled pinballing that ended with the ball in the net. The Downer equalized though, as his teammates cleared a space for Saucepan Man to boom one in from distance.
In the second half Barad Dur came out harder, but they shut it down a bit once they got their goal, which allowed The Downer to exert some pressure. The equalizer from Alien came on a penalty kick, which may not have been fair as Fellbeast's foul against Alien was only a reaction to Alien vomiting acid onto his tail when the refs weren't looking.

Beleriand 1-0 Tol Eressea
tot shots 9-12
on target 3-7
GOALS:
*33, 1-0 Aegnor (Telchar)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Beleriand- Aegnor
*Tol Eressea- Osse

Both teams tried whipping the ball around the field and running a bit more than usual just to improve passing and stamina, but it wasn’t really their thing and play was generally sloppy. It was in fact a botched attempt at a one-touch pass that led to Beleriand's goal, as Telchar was first to it and Aegnor, seeing his man would have it, timed his sprint perfectly and came free behind the defense and put it in.
Between the posts at the other end was Halmir, and he had an outstanding game, stopping all seven shots that came his way- some of them not particularly easy ones.

Eriador 2-2 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 11-12
on target 6-5
GOALS:
*36, 1-0 Aragorn (Halbarad)
*53, 1-1 NerWolf (SallyWolf)
*58, 1-2 GwathWolf (InzilWolf)
*82, 2-2 Barrow-Wight (Araphor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Eriador- Bert, Aranarth, Barrow-Wight, Araphor
*TIG- SkipWolf, InzilWolf

This time it wasn’t just PhantomWolf that disappeared for a friendly. The entire first half the wolves all played tentatively and unorganized, constantly distracted by Eriador's Barrow-Wight. Believe it or not the Werewolves actually looked intimidated!
And so even playing a more relaxed friendly style Eriador found openings to score it and capitalized 36 minutes in.
For the second half the Wolves came out and did their best to ignore the Wight and played at a rather frenzied pace. Surprised, plus not willing to up their speed and effort, Eriador quickly conceded two goals to the forwards of Tol In Gaurhoth. But directly after GwathWolf put it in, Barrow-Wight harshly tackled the Werewolf and the ref said nothing of it. Fearful that the ref was in BW's pocket and worried about wounding, many of the Wolves lost their swagger. With GwathWolf hobbled, PhantomWolf chatting with fans (as usual), and everyone else disorganized, Eriador managed some good pressure and at the last BW himself put it past ShastaWolf for the tie.

Himring 1-1 Nargothrond
tot shots 11-10
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*30, 1-0 Maedhros (Fingon)
*61, 1-1 Glaurung (Gildor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Himring- Ulfast, Ulwarth
*Nargothrond- Baran, Guilen

Much of this game was quite a snooze. Himring was somewhat exciting to watch at first, but once they managed a joint goal by the two captains they shut down the offense. Nargothrond tried to equalize from then on, but Himring’s defense just made a muddy mess of things. Finally a booming strike from Glaurung made it square and after that both teams just kicked it around. Some of the spectators booed them afterwards, feeling that the teams should've at least looked like they were trying to win it near the end.

Misty Mts 0-1 Pelori
tot shots 9-10
on target 5-4
GOALS:
*74, 0-1 Varda (Irmo)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Misty Mts- Meneldor, Azog, Watcher
*Pelori- Nahar, Orome

This match started off surprisingly cordial, with Saruman and Durin's Bane chatting with some of their old friends from the blessed realm and the eagles from opposite sides soaring together for a bit. Namo was particularly interested in the work Saruman had done to put Caradhras in goal.
As the second half wore on however Caradhras stirred things up with a bit of trash talk, whispering in the wind that he was a superior peak to Taniquetil, and soon they were arguing over which mountain range was better based upon height, expanse, varied topography, rock formations, canyons, etc. Soon the pair of squads was trying to gain the lead vigorously. DBane and Azog both made some great efforts, but Manwe was locked in and stopped them. The lone goal was scored by Varda, who did most of the work herself, though it's debatable as to whether or not her counter-spell against Caradhras was legal.
"I'm going to lodge a complaint immediately," said Saruman after the match. "Of course we don't care about this result much, but we can't have that happening in the tournament! Our keeper's only means of stopping players from scoring is blowing wind, snow, and lightning, and thus using a powerful spell to clear and quiet the atmosphere temporarily is entirely unfair!"