[the phantom]

Group A, round 1

League games, friendly games, and even neighborhood games had a fairly consistent schedule in the Blessed Realm. The mighty Pelori blocked the rays of the sun until close to noon, so football matches all generally started right at high noon. Those that lived west of the mountains loved the light- the sun-rays gleaming off the many golden roofs of Valimar and off the huge bells ringing the top tier of the arena, as well as the light reflected by the jewel-studded marble stone used to build the arena itself.

The noon match would pit Armenelos against The Havens- solid squads with solid connections to one another. After all, Earendil was the forefather of the entire Armenelos squad, and their fellow Numenoreans, Amandil and Ar Zimrathan, were playing defense for The Havens. The Elves from nearby Alqualonde and Tol Eressea were there to support The Havens, as was a shipload of Gondorians (following Falastur and Imrazor). But what could only be called an armada had sailed in from Numenor- far too many for the stadium to hold, in fact. This didn't bother those without tickets- if they couldn't see any of the games at all, they were content to be near the stadium and party and enjoy the sights and feel of the Blessed Realm. It wasn't often mortals were allowed in after all.

The late match, scheduled to kick off at 3:30, was Valimar versus The Barrow-Downs. This match was widely expected to be lopsided, as the Downs hadn't made much noise in recent years, and Valimar looked to be quite good- they had Manwe, Mandos, and Arien after all. Plus they knew they'd have close to 100,000 supporters behind them, whereas only a couple hundred Barrow-Wights showed up to support The Barrow-Downs.

Most all security concerns revolved around these Wights, as they were known to be a bit irrational, and enjoyed making trouble just for the sake of it. Judging from whispers caught here and there and anonymous message-board comments, it seemed quite a few Wights were keen to throw a wrench into things- particularly since The Blessed Realm was fresh off of a hosting ban.

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Crowds of Elves and Ainu and Numenoreans streamed through the portals of the stadium, some more slowly than others. These were the first-timers, trying to absorb the look of one of the oldest and finest arenas in Middle-Earth. Even after thousands of years it looked as if it was built the day before- joints were perfect and lines were straight, and there was no chipping or weathering. And the flowers and trees that seemed to grow right out of the marble were flawless as well- not a single wilted leaf or fallen petal.

Visitors wondered if all of this was due to immaculate care (which was either admirable or frighteningly obsessive), or if it was down to some magic or power that permeated the land of Aman (which some found wonderful and entrancing while other found it unnatural and creepily sterile). But whatever the reason, it was certainly different than what any visitor was used to, and there's a certain satisfaction to be found in experiencing new things.

Some of the crowds were still wondering the halls beneath the seats when already the game started, but after hearing the rise and fall of voices the lollygaggers soon found their way in to fill the arena to capacity. The crowd provided a good-natured and educated audience to the battle that unfolded on the pitch, which proved to be a delightful display of intelligent play, teamwork and athleticism.

Perhaps due to their long association, it was the Numenoreans that had the slight edge in the early going. They held possession just a bit better, and the ball flowed nicely back and forward again when The Havens would successfully close a side off, and at the moment Armenelos wasn't willing to take a flyer on risky offensive passes. They preferred to establish their will in the contest rather than give opportunities to the attack of The Havens. Even before the match it was obvious to most that Armenelos would play it this way, as Elros himself said: "The fewer chances Earendil gets the happier I'll be. We believe in our skill and discipline on defense, but he is who he is- and sometimes you'll have things defended correctly and he'll beat you anyway. And he has Cirdan and Falastur to work with. In short- we're not keen to play with fire."

But as it is said, the best laid schemes of wights and men go often awry, and when it looked as if Armenelos was at last tiring and frustrating The Havens, their hard work was flushed away in a moment. The Numenoreans with a series of fantastic passes got their best look yet, and Ar Adunakhor fired a blast from the corner of the box. Amandil saw the slot open on his goal and leaped, and his guess and timing were true, and the shot rebounded off his hands. There was a momentary free-for-all in front of the goal in which three or four players all touched but could not control, and then Olwe emerged with it, and fired it downfield.

Tar Palantir looked in position to receive it, but a dashing Earendil put on a burst of speed and managed to touch it past, and to the dismay of the Numenorean audience with a couple lightning-quick moves he rounded Telperien and Calmacil and booted in in to put The Havens ahead!

And the bells rang beautiful and clear, mixing with the jubilation of the Havens supporters. The Numenorean fans were impressed with Earendil and started applauding the effort, but stopped in some annoyance when the bells sounded. The great bells of the stadium were always reserved for the home team, which in Group A was certainly Valimar- but then why would they sound now? The Numenoreans felt a bit slighted, as if they were on the outside looking in.

To be fair some pointed out that Olwe and Earendil played for Valinorean club teams in the fall and resided in the Blessed Realm, but still it could not be denied that Havens was not the home team, so it really was not proper to sound the bells for them. The players on the field looked annoyed as well, and they looked determined to even the score, but The Havens was riding high on the energy and emotion in the arena and Armenelos was lucky to make it into the break only one goal down.

When the second half started it was more of the same, with The Havens looking a bit sharper, but 12 minutes in it was a repeat of the first half, and the squad with the back against the wall struck a blow. Falastur struck a solid drive on goal, but Tar Palantir deflected it and Ar Gimilzor alertly sent it to the left side and forward where Tar Ancalimon was on the move. He touched it down nicely, cut inside of his mark and sent it across and forward to Elros. As the retreating defenders whirled to meet the new source of the threat, Ar Adunakhor somehow was lost to the defense, and Elros fired a perfect pass between defenders, releasing Adunakhor onside. In a moment of indecision Amandil was uncertain if he could hope to beat Adunakhor to the ball, and when he did go for it he was too late. Adunakhor nudged the ball sideways and dashed straight around the sliding keeper and nudged the ball across the line to level the game!

The Numenoreans celebrated this turn of events, and hoped it would energize their team the way it did The Havens in the first half. A minute or so after the goal the noise of celebration grew even louder, as the news had spread to the streets and squares surrounding the stadium where thousands of Numenoreans were encamped, having been unable to secure tickets but wishing to be in proximity to the game anyway.

But only one minute later the Armenelos fans were biting their nails again, as a brilliant long cross from Cirdan found a flying Olwe, and his header was only barely tipped away. The ensuing corner led to a scary moment as well, as the ball skipped across to Earwen and she sent an accurate snipe up and over to the opposite corner, but Tar Telperien had been guarding that post on the corner-kick and she managed to recover to it just in time to rise up and bump it over the goal.

As time approached 70 minutes Armenelos finally seemed to work out a way to stymie Havens. To that point Earwen and Mithrellas had been sitting somewhat deep but far too unharrassed, and were simply too easily flipping the field, getting the ball to either Cirdan or Olwe who were spear-heading attacks on opposite sides. And Armenelos had often been overly concerned about denying Earendil and Falastur in the center.

But no more- Armenelos spread their defense a bit, encouraging their midfielders to pressure the ladies in the rear center. Now pressured to send it away within a second of receiving it, quality targets were less easy to find, and so giving the ball to Havens resulted in it going back to Armenelos rather quickly. But even then The Havens would not crack at their end, and the fans grew restless. The Numenorean supporters felt that it was important to get a win here, seeing as apparently Havens had been adopted as a second home team, thus there was a danger of Valimar being content to draw them in the final game if Valimar claimed victory over Armenelos first.

The clock went past 80 minutes and a thread of panic began sweeping some of the more worrisome sorts, but they didn't need to wait long for relief...

Havens had the ball again and sent it up to Cirdan, but Armenelos closed on him and he, as he had so many times, sent it back to Mithrellas. She found Olwe covered on the other sideline, while Tar Miriel was on Earwen like glue, and so with Tar Telemmaite bearing down she tried to send it back to Imrazor- a fatal mistake that Ar Adunakhor had been hoping for. He knew she didn't have the power to deliver a ball like that without leaving him time to intercept, thus he had waited some distance away baiting such a pass, and when it came he was off in an instant.

Adunakhor came from Imrazor's left and slightly behind him, flashing in front of him and taking the ball with his chest. On the ball's first bounce he turned goalward with it, and when Ar Zimrathan came to meet him he slid it sideways to Tar Ancalimon whom he had spotted during his turn, and with a full view in front of him Ancalimon approached the ball and sent it to the left side of the goal area where Ar Pharazon was marked by Annael. Keeping the elf on his back the larger Numenorean received it, faked a turn left then turned right and fired, sending it within inches of both his mark and the keeper to the near post, but so hard that nothing could be done about it!

Armenelos had the lead for the first time with only a handful of minutes remaining! Some of the Ainur in the crowds looked quite let down- they greatly preferred The Havens to the proud Numenoreans, and yet they applauded the effort. It was a well earned goal produced by tactics and execution, and they appreciated good play in Valimar.

In the closing minutes The Havens produced one threat- an impossible solo run by Earendil. But at last he was forced to give it away, and he did find Eriol in stride from about 25 yards, but the ball flew over the goal, even without help from Tar Atanamir who looked like he had a bead on it anyway.

The Armenelos supporters celebrated as the final seconds ticked away. Relief showed on many of their faces, but only for a bit, as it was swiftly replaced with the familiar smug surety- though to give a full report there were quite a few, notably the self-described "Faithful", that showed every bit of grace in their victory, mirroring the bearing and sportsmanship of Elros, the captain on the field. Players like Adunakhor and Pharazon might be guilty of gloating at times, but they had experienced a challenging game and were willing to shake hands with and credit their adversaries, particularly Ar Zimrathan and Earendil.

Armenelos 2-1 Havens
on target 6-6
tot shots 14-14
GOALS:
*28, 0-1 Earendil (Olwe)
*57, 1-1 ArAdunakhor (Elros)
*82, 2-1 ArPharazon (TarAncalimon)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- TarCalmacil, Tar Miriel
*Havens- ArZimrathan

Of the second game there was less to tell afterwards, at least concerning the action on the pitch. The Barrow-Downs was a bit less ornery than the past couple years, perhaps because Alien was now confined to the goalkeeper position, but they seemed to understand that it wasn't wise to bring the righteous wrath of the Valar down upon their heads.

Instead they looked set to play a low-scoring game of keep-away and time-wasting, but only 15 minutes in Valimar interrupted these plans with a perfectly executed header from Irmo, thanks to a nice find from Ilmare. But the Barrow-Downs didn't push back much, but seemed content to allow Valimar to rest on their lead, perhaps hoping to sneak a draw at the end.

And indeed it looked like the strategy would work. Both sides played very conservatively, minimizing risk and even at times looked to be avoiding injury as if it was a friendly. Small sections of Numenoreans and Noldor began voicing their annoyance as the half approached, but they were ignored, so they just grew louder. But Manwe did appear to give a little look their direction as he exited the pitch for the break.

And it seems he had a reason for the look, for as soon as the new half started up Valimar attacked in force, and started spraying crosses in for Arien, and sending longballs forward to Ingwe and Irmo. The Barrow-Downs frankly got a deer-in-headlights look at that point, and it wasn't long before Valimar had another goal- this time Irmo turned distributor, finding Ingwe for an easy finish.

As always the sound of the crowd rose, but... something was missing. The visitors didn't place it immediately, but the locals certainly did, and heads all around the arena swiftly turned around to look at the nearest bell above their section. None of them were ringing in celebration!

Workers soon discovered that all the ropes had been severed, though the populace didn't hear the tale until after the match was concluded. If they had been informed, perhaps they would have rushed the section of Wights in attendance, for nearly all are certain that they are somehow responsible, for they looked far too gleeful following Valimar's goal.

For the remainder of the match all that can be said is that The Barrow-Downs decided they may as well play a couple little dirty tricks on their way out, and Hookbill, Alien, and GwathWight all were carded for various forms of mischief, though thankfully none of it caused permanent harm. And in fact it may have only been their nonsense that made the last half-hour viewable. Most of the crowd found GwathWight's attempts to roast a marshmallow on Arien's skin quite entertaining at least.

Barrow-Downs 0-2 Valimar
on target 3-4
tot shots 10-10
GOALS:
*15, 0-1 Irmo (Ilmare)
*54, 0-2 Ingwe (Irmo)
YELLOW CARDS:
*BDowns- Lumpkin, Hookbill, Alien, GwathWight
*Valimar- Irmo

STANDINGS
Valimar________3 pts_____+2
Armenelos______3 pts_____+1
Havens_________0 pts_____-1
Barrow-Downs___0 pts_____-2