[Boromir88]

Angband vs Doriath

Nothing against the two teams who played earlier, but this wa the premier match of the semi finals. Angband vs Doriath, a game that could very easily have been the final.

In the pre-game press conferences Morgoth was trying to downplay the famed Girdle of Melian. The colloquial name for Doriath's defenses as it was anchored by their queen. "No one can score against the will of Melian, you say? Maybe I've got a plan to go after someone else and in doing so, make Melian a non-factor." smirked Morgoth to a MESPN reporter. "Besides if you think a bunch of cursed attackers will score against this defense, think again."

In the other press conference that was the talk of it all, the curse of Hurin and how would it effect Turin? Turin has longed for an Arda Cup trophy but has a history of falling short. He can certainly rack up all the goals to his name, but in the biggest situations, he will uncharacterically fire missed shots, turnover possession, or just flat disappear. Leaving people to always question are their curses in sports, because if so, Turin is the most unlucky man in Arda.

It's always a comfort when his trusted friend Beleg continues to follow Turin, but an even greater comfort came when his steadfast father signed with Doriath. "I've seen Morgoth face-to-face, I'm not intimidated by his tricks and curses. And that keeper of Angband, thrives off fear, but its his pet spider. We won't be intimidated."

"The destined ones? The Dream Team, they're called? Ha!" the cruel laugh of Morgoth caused most reporters to jump out of their seats and believe that would be the very last thing they heard in this life. "The keep dreaming team, destined to be crushed under my power. That sounds more like it."

The time for talk was over, the teams' warm-ups were complete as all the players came back onto the field. Everyone in Amon Hen and who were watching elsewhere, poised for this colossal showdown of the giants of the Arda footballing world.

Angband went right to work on their normal style of game, possessing, pressuring and desiring to build a lead that they could hold onto. But Doriath's defenses were as stingy as ever. Everyone was wondering what Morgoth's plan that he hinted at was, and if this was the plan, it appeared Angband needed to go to Plan B already. Whatever the plan was, it wasn't working.

We've held off on saying it, but there's no way to escape the truth now. Not after seeing the totality of this match. Tilion has had breakout performances under Morgoth's leadership, but he simply wasn't getting the job done this year. Expected to anchor the mid-field, Tilion was simply being outshined by Hurin and Eol. There's no other way around it. In the brief time it took for Angband to regather and try plan B, that was all the break Doriath's defense needed to steal away possession and begin their own attacks.

Much was made in the pre-game about the battle between Hurin and Turin against Morgoth and Ungoliant. However, one of the darkhorses, who always seems to be disregarded because he doesn't have a personality that attracts attention. Many fans of a team when they hear Eol is on it, actually get more nervous than joyful. Eol never does press conferences at any time, and because of that he is viewed as not having friendly relations with the media, and is possibly a team "cancer." The truth is, if you pardon my poor vocabulary, Eol is a baller. He puts his head down and straight up works hard for the full 90 minutes.

In the 27th minute, Doriath fans stood up waiting to burst out in applause as Hurin's shot looked dead on target, but Ungoliant reached out one of her legs and poked it away. The ball was rolling towards the out of bounds line where it looked like Angband was planning to concede a corner. However, there would be no corner, as Eol raced to it just before going over the endline. The Dark Elf passed it between the legs of the 2nd Balrog and to the left boot of Beleg. It was a perfect pass capped off by a perfect drive. Beleg got it up over Ungoliant's reach, but kept it down just enough to scrape under the top cross bar. Morgoth was irate at the defensive lapse, but in truth he was the one setting the defense up to defend a corner, and not paying attention to the fact the ball was still in play.

No one wanted to be near Morgoth after the goal and the Angband team came forward in full fury that hadn't been seen before since the Dagor Bragollach. And quickly Angband got their equalizer simply by overwhelming the Girdle of Melian. One of Angband's deepest defenders came forward, Balrog #1, sent a cross into Doriath's box. With how many bodies were scrapping and fighting for position, the ball was bound to hit someone, and it did. Thuringwethil swooped in, just above the great leap of Carcharoth. Huan went high, but Thuringwethil batted the ball low, straight down into the ground and Angband was level only 8 minutes after Doriath had grabbed the lead.

The game slowed down after it was 1-1, but that doesn't mean fans were disappointed or wavered in any sort of excitement. They were witnessing a truly great battle of precision, skill, and might. Doriath looked like the better team in the 1st, but Angband was even, which meant it was anyone's game to win in the 2nd. And no one wanted to miss a second of it. Although, a neutral fan did have to wonder if it took the entire Angband team in full force to score against Doriath, how would they fair in the 2nd? They'd certainly need to come up with a better attack strategy, because Tilion and Ancalagon had all but pulled a disappearing act like they were Bombadil or something. They were non-factors to say the least.

When the 2nd kicked off it was Doriath this time who wanted to control the action and pace. It was actually becoming a problem, as Doriath looked ready to take the lead again and it was causing Morgoth fits. He had Turin, Beleg, and Hurin marked fairly well, but there was no answer for Eol who was a master of the mid-field today. It appeared Morgoth decided they better try to disrupt and slow down Doriath's attack by giving up a free kick. As a few meters outside Angband's penalty, Thuringwethil suddenly latched onto Eol's waste and brought him down. It was a clear yellow, and free kick to Doriath.

Turin was walking up to take it, which meant there was no debate about it, Doriath was planning to take the lead right now on this kick. Morgoth thought, come up with a stop here and they would have weathered Doriath's attack. Turin was an expert at free kicks, but in these pressure situations before, many said the ugly curse of Morgoth on Hurin would rear it's head. Hurin grabbed his son's shoulder firmly and what was spoken would never be known. Turin just nodded and kept his eyes down. Ungoliant had the defense lined the way she wanted, believing all possible scoring angles were cut off. It would take the greatest of strikes to score. That's exactly what the Amon Hen crowd witnessed, the greatest of strikes! Well, to call it 'greatest,' might be called being a prisoner of the moment, but it was certainly a spectacle to behold. The ball was lined low, and at the last moment curved away from Ungoliant's reach. 2-1 DORIATH!

Everyone on Doriath mobbed Turin who looked both relieved and over joyed. Morgoth was barking furiously at Ungoliant and Ungoliant was responding in like. The unlight and poison was spewing out from her monstrous form (after there was a permanent ugly black mark on the pitch where Ungoliant had stood). The Balrogs had to separate the two players before anything else happened. Meanwhile, Melian was kindly reminding her team to remember what happened, Angband would be thundering forward, so be prepared.

And indeed Melian was right, Angband was on them again in full force, and Angband was still skilled enough to not turn the ball over to allow Doriath to counter. Hurin seeing though that Melkor was on the verge of becoming a loose cannon, and Doriath needing a stop before Angband became equal again, gave as hard of a flying shoulder to Morgoth's stomach that he could muster. It was again a yellow, and again Morgoth was fuming, not so much that he was in anyway hurt or that it was a clear cheap shot, but that a pathetic mortal had actually dared challenge him.

So, Morgoth was ready to take a free kick and maybe trying too much to be the star, and to show that it's his boot that is greater than Turin's, he blasted the kick towards goal. It was certainly well-hit and it probably would have beaten any lesser keeper. But it wasn't as well-placed as Turin's and we're talking about Huan here. The great hound stopped it dead.

Hurin's ploy had worked as Morgoth was blinded by wrath. Too slow to spot where Hurin was, as Hurin was already racing down field with several other Doriath's stars on a counter. The Balrogs burst into a new flame to try to scare Beleg, Eol, and Hurin all rushing in on goal. But as Hurin's words rang true "We would not be intimidated," it was no surprise to see Eol and Hurin in the action yet again. This time it was Hurin's turn to get on the sheet as he split between the two Balrogs and led by Eol, Hurin pounded it passed the spider who conceded her 3rd goal of the match.

With the 2 goal lead, Melian was confident with a united team effort they could hold with 11 minutes to go. Morgoth was determined not to go down in this embarassing fashion, as this time it looked like the Nirnaeth Arnoediad on the pitch. It was a battle, but Morgoth could do nothing to narrow the defecit. Doriath would hold onto a hard fought, but convincing 3-1 victory.

Many Angband supporters after were just waiting for what Morgoth had to say about this match. For the 2nd straight year he came up 1 game short of the championship. But this time, there was no beating around the bushes, Ancalagon and Tilion had disappeared completely. What would Morgoth do about them and what would he do about Ungoliant? As the two were looking like they could murder eachother after the game and Ungoliant did not return to the locker rooms with the rest of the Angband team.

The Doriath fans mocked she scurried back to whatever dark hole she spawned out of in shame. They were merry and the true celebration would begin. Behind their great leaders Elwe and Melian. Joined with their greater heroes Beren and Luthien, Huan and Carcharoth. Their captain Mablung, and Beleg, Hurin, and Turin. Even the withdrawn Eol was seen in the mass of Doriath fans on the field, receiving handshakes, hugs, and praises. These great ones in the history of Arda were onto the championship and their fans had no doubts they would dispatch the odd wolves with ease. How could they not? This team was destined for the greatest of glories.


Angband 1-3 Doriath
tot shots 14-13
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*27, 0-1 Beleg (Eol)
*35, 1-1 Thuringwethil (Balrog #1)
*68, 1-2 Turin
*79, 1-3 Hurin (Eol)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Balrog #3, Thuringwethil
*Doriath- Luthien, Hurin, Carcharoth