[Shastanis Althreduin]

Having lost previously to the Men (and Horses) of Rohan, Imladris came into this game knowing they needed a win in order to have any hope of advancing. With that in mind, they planned a high-pressure, high-possession game. However, Misty Mountains was just as desperate, and more used to getting close to the ball, using their physicality. This game promised to be an exciting watch.

And exciting it was! Both teams came out of the gate with blazing speed and energy - Imladris gained possession of the ball first and drove it down the center into the Misty Mountains area. The ball bounced like a pinball between Arwen and the sons of Elrond; Tom dove into Elrohir seconds after he had chipped it left, towards Elladan, and received a yellow card for his trouble. The Misty Mountains card march had begun.

Play resumed in the Misty Mountains area, and Elladan wasted no time in blasting in a header from Figwit, at the seventeen-minute mark. Bert and William were not best pleased by this, and earned yellow cards for themselves as well through a bit of rather intense blocking, to prevent Varda from nabbing the ball away from Orophin.

The ball was given back to Imladris, but a crafty steal by Orophin (who really, really wanted the ball) resulted in a line drive down the right side of the field, where Durin's Bane was waiting for the easy chip into the goal. Misty Mountains had tied it up by the half.

A tie wasn't going to be good enough for either team, though, and Imladris came back in the second half with energy to spare. Misty Mountains, on the other hand, was flagging a bit, and it showed. They kept possession for a while, but didn't have the speed required to break through Imladris's defense, and around the hour-mark things took a turn for the worse. A blocked shot by Durin's Bane resulted in Imladris possession, and Arwen kneed the ball at an awkward angle, sending it flying down the field, spinning wildly. As it landed, it bounced randomly - but Erestor read the wacky bounces perfectly and swooped in, sending the ball into the high right corner of the Misty Mountains goal.

Poor Tom was so worked up over this, he kicked Elrohir rather than the ball, earning himself a second yellow and ejection from the game.

Now a man down, Misty Mountains seemed to lose their spirit. Elrohir booted in another goal late in the match easily enough, with help from Varda, and the match ended in Imladris's favor, 3 - 1.




Imladris 3-1 Misty Mts
on target 7-6
tot shots 16-14
GOALS:
*17, 1-0 Elladan (Figwit)
*28, 1-1 Durin’s Bane (Orophin)
*63, 2-1 Erestor (Arwen)
*78, 3-1 Elrohir (Varda)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Imladris- Figwit, Elrohir
*MMts- DBane, Bert, Tom, Watcher, William
RED CARDS:
*MMts- Tom (66, second yellow)


The sun was still high in the sky as Rohan and Isengard prepared to battle - there would be no devious tricks by Saruman this time. However, that didn't mean the Rohan defenders weren't particularly on the alert for anything devious. Saruman, however, had decided to spend his time more wisely, in practice with his team, and had prepared a (relatively) clean game this time. The match began with Rohan taking possession and sending the ball down field, but Gandalf's shot from way back was easily caught by a gust of wind from Caradhras and Isengard returned fire.

Wormtongue and Wulf were pressuring the Rohan defense, but the ball slipped away from them and Radagast managed to nab it. He sent it flying upfield toward Gandalf, and his fellow wizard continued the ball's flight with a sturdy kick.

Saruman dove for the ball, but missed (rather badly, in fact - a couple people in the crowd tittered about it, but only a couple), and the first person to get to it was Rohan's Helm Hammerhand. Helm slid into the ball, and it bounced several times - first, off the back of Saruman's head; second, off the right goal post; and finally off a mis-timed lunge from Ugluk and into the back of the net.

One goal was enough for Rohan; they went completely into lockdown mode for the rest of the match, giving their defense more practice. Even the midfielders got into the act, rarely venturing across the center line into Isengard territory. The match ended rather anticlimacticly, but Rohan was happy enough; with two wins, they were virtually shoe-ins to move on to the next round. Isengard was less happy, knowing they'd have to have a stellar performance against Imladris in order to have a hope of continuing in the tournament.



Isengard 0-1 Rohan
on target 3-3
tot shots 8-9
GOALS:
*80, 0-1 Helm (Gandalf)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Isengard- Wulf, Wormtongue, Freca
*Rohan- Helm, Eomer, Radagast