Stadium on the Rock
Inter Beleriand vs Dwarves United
Banners of white, gold, and red, the colours of the royal house of Gondolin, flew upon the walls of the Stadium on the Rock, commemorating the return of the city’s ruler. Despite the fact that Gondolin’s match wouldn’t take place until evening, thousands of locals flocked to the stadium to watch Turgon play for Inter Beleriand. Their king was a wise ruler and a talented player, they said to each other. It’s just that his philosophy didn’t mesh well with the team’s style. They would be glad to support him—if he’s not playing against the home team, of course.
Dwarves United players entered the pitch to much applause. Aulë was still the Vala most beloved of the Noldor, and Galadriel, Celebrimbor, and Azaghâl were respected names. Then the Inter Beleriand players walked out of the tunnel, and the stadium exploded with cheers. And lastly, with the build-up of a returning hero, Turgon’s name was announced over the speakers, and the crowd replied with a roar that reverberated throughout the city.
Turgon was fortunate that Inter dominated possession for the first few minutes of the game, so moved was he by the home crowd’s warm reception that he looked a bit out of it at the beginning. Dwarves United had more midfielders (3 vs Inter’s 2), and their trio of Gimli, Fíli, and Kíli were technically better than Hunthor and Forweg, but they preferred to play on the break, whereas Inter felt the need to take control of tie so that they could get a leg up over their potential qualification rivals Gondolin. Beren moved inside from the left to be a third central midfielder, and Lúthien took up a more advanced position, turning Inter into a 3-4-1-2 when in possession. Luckily, their side of the pitch had the less attacking full-back Durin, meaning the only player of concern was right midfielder Gamil Zirak. On the other wing, Haleth played a more disciplined role, keeping an eye on Celebrimbror’s movement and often leaving right-back Baragund to deal with Telchar’s forward runs.
The first half ended with little incident. Dwarf U’s defence shut down all possible avenues of Inter’s attack, and Inter could not commit to an all-out attack due to fear of Dwarf U’s counterattacks. Legolas clearly received instructions to ignore link-up play—he latched on to passes from the defence and attacked Inter’s defence all alone. For most parts, Gorlim and Haldad limited his chances, but his pace was enough to give them fits. Their best chance of the half came from a sublime Aulë long ball behind Inter’s defence. Legolas outpaced the centre-backs and rounded Turgon. It took Baragund’s impressive goal-line clearance to keep Inter from going into the break a goal behind.
The second half began with another Aulë interception and long pass, another Legolas solo run, and another nervy defensive stop from Inter. Haldad got a leg in Legolas’s on-target shot, sending it out of bounds and giving Dwarf U a corner. Gamil Zirak took the corner kick, and Aulë met it at the near post to with a powerful header towards the top corner. Turgon leapt as high as he could and got a finger in to nudge it towards the crossbar. The crowd applauded their king’s effort wildly.
After the first few minutes, the game settled down and Inter slowly imposed their control on the game. Fingon shuttled between attack and midfield, giving Inter four passing options in the centre of the pitch and providing more creative outlets (Beren had been too easily shut down by the sons of Dís.) In the sixty-fifth minute, Beren, Lúthien, and Fingon formed a triangle down Dwarf U’s left flank, passing their way through Kíli, Gamil Zirak, and Durin. Beren got to the byline and cut the ball back for Maedhros. Aulë had been paying too much attention to the proceedings at the left flank that he failed to track Maedhros’s movement. The eldest son of Fëanor rounded Azaghâl and fired low past Galadriel for the lead.
After a goal Inter Beleriand were a little more relaxed. They could now start playing to their strengths, returning to their preferred counterattacking style, knowing that Dwarves United would be forced to commit more players forward. Barely two minutes after the opener Hunthor cleared a Dwarf U corner and Beren took the ball in stride and outsprinted Fíli. Kíli, Azaghâl, and Durin were all that stood between Beren and Galadriel, but the latter two were occupied by Maedhros and Lúthien’s runs. Beren jinked past Kíli, who fell to the ground trying to keep up with him. He reached out for Beren’s leg to trip him, and the referee rushed towards him, red card in hand, for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Kíli apologised to Beren and shook his hand before leaving the pitch.
Dwarves United player were obviously deflated after Kíli’s sending off. They were a man down and a goal down, and the crowds were firmly behind Inter. In the seventy-sixth minute, Haleth took on Gamil Zirak then surprised Celebrimbor by cutting inside on his weaker left foot. He fired a clumsly looping cross that looked to sail wide, but Fingon, who easily outleapt Azaghâl, managed to nudge it goalward towards the far corner, just out of Galadriel’s reach. The people at the stadium were silent for a beat, but then cheered wildly at the awkward-looking goal. Now Dwarf U was in a deep pickle: two goals behind and a man down. They elected to concede the field to Inter, conserving their energy for the next two matches. Inter silently accepted Dwarf U’s surrender and took their foot off the pedal for the remainder of the match.
Inter Beleriand 2-0 Dwarves United
GOALS:
65, 1-0 Maedhros (Beren)
76, 2-0 Fingon (Haleth)
Total Shots:
11-14
Shots On Target
5-5
YELLOW CARDS:
2-0
INB: Baragund, Forweg
DWU: -
RED CARDS:
DWU: Kíli (67, straight red)
AC Beleriand vs Gondolin
And now, the main event. AC Beleriand managed to bring a strong contingent into the hidden city, and they easily scooped up all the thirty-thousand tickets allocated for the away side. And of the ten thousand tickets for the neutral, they hoped that the Inter supporters would also support their fellow Beleriand team, although Turgon’s influence might tilt them towards supporting the home team instead. There was, however, nothing they could do against the forty-five thousand-strong home crowd. They were banging drums and singing ‘Gondolin, pride of the Noldor,’ at the top of their lungs.
The game soon started, and the home team fed on the crowd’s energy. They also remembered last year’s humiliating defeat. Salgant, especially, was like a different player—he was more judicious in his tackling, keener to stay on his feet than to launch into reckless two-footed slide tackles, but he remained dogged in chasing his mark around the pitch—last year it was Beren; this time it was the Fiery Boot himself, Fëanor.
The first half was a disjointed affair, a battle of tempo. AC Beleriand wanted to slow the game down, play the ball on the floor and gradually work it up the pitch towards their attacking four, whereas Gondolin played a very direct game and concentrated on getting the ball into the box as quickly as possible. Both teams had a decent number of chances, but none of them were clear ones. Duilin and Maeglin frustrated Ulrad and Denethor, keeping them from playing easy passes towards Fëanor and the wide players. On the other side, AC Bel defenders Imlach and Rochallor bracketed Gondolin’s forwards well, and full-backs Fingolfin and Balrog #4 checked the runs of Gondolin wingers Idril and Elemmakil.
Towards the end of the first half, AC Beleriand abandoned their patient build-up play and started launching long balls towards Gondolin’s box, disorienting the home team’s back line. Fëanor had the best chance of the half—he slipped Salgant’s mark and took a long pass from Imlach. He jinked past Penlod and Aranwë, but Rog snuffed his side-footed shot easily.
AC Beleriand finally scored the opener three minutes after the restart. With a burst of pace, Denethor managed to evade Maeglin’s marking long enough to fire a long diagonal to the right of Gondolin’s box. Angrod and Eöl dashed past their markers towards the ball, while Fëanor made a run towards the penalty area to draw Salgant and Penlod away. The Dark Elf took the ball with top of his foot, making it bounce up, and then launched himself into an overhead kick towards the top-left corner of the goal. The AC Beleriand supporters stood up and roared, while the neutral fans applauded Eöl’s effort. They have taken the lead in impressive fashion.
Gondolin pushed forward with renewed ferocity, but they were unable to make headway against AC Bel’s defence. More often than not, they had to get back quickly on defence after an attacking attempt; as soon as they lost possession, AC Bel played the ball forward quickly against Gondolin’s disorganised defence. During one such sequence, AC Bel gained a four-on-five opportunity, pitting their front four against Gondolin’s back four and Salgant. Aegnor managed to gain a few metres of space in the marking confusion and, after taking Eöl’s backheel pass, shot a fierce drive from fifteen metres out. Rog managed to make a stop; he then leapt after the rebound ahead of a sliding Fëanor. Scanning the field as he stood up, he threw a long overarm pass towards Duilin at the edge of the box, and the Gondolin midfielder sprinted past Denethor and Ulrad. Imlach stepped up to challenge him, but by then Duilin had already spotted Maeglin’s run from the right wing. He slid in a through ball past Imlach and Rochallor, and Maeglin needed just the simplest of tap-ins to put the ball past Marach.
There was less than half an hour left to play, and the mood at the stadium was tense. AC Beleriand had an advantage in possession, but Gondolin’s energy, fuelled by their home crowd, allowed them to play last year’s semifinalists almost evenly. Who will take control of this tie and take all three points?
After a brief huddle that took place while Gondolin celebrated their goal, Fëanor moved higher up the pitch to become a second centre forward, turning AC Bel into a 4-2-2-2 (Angrod and Aegnor were too far ahead of Ulrad and Denethor for them to be a bank of four.) The two wide midfielders were also instructed to send crosses into the box—high crosses when Fëanor was matched against Aranwë, low ones when their captain was marked by the taller Penlod. Twelve minutes before full time, AC Bel’s tactic paid off; Angrod crossed low for Fëanor, and the Fiery Boot easily exploited his quickness advantage to dribble past Penlod. With only the goalkeeper to beat, he curled his shot past Rog for the lead.
Gondolin pressed relentlessly for an equaliser, but, with Fëanor, Angrod, and Aegnor joining Ulrad and Denethor in midfield, AC Bel kept the ball successfully and killed the tie. The home team, however, didn’t surrender until the final whistle, and their supporters appreciated their effort. At least they managed to score a goal against a top defence, and, with their toughest fixture out of the way, they still have a chance to advance.
AC Beleriand 2-1 Gondolin
GOALS:
48, 1-0 Eöl (Denethor)
63, 1-1 Maeglin (Duilin)
78, 2-1 Fëanor (Angrod)
Total Shots:
16-12
Shots On Target:
7-6
YELLOW CARDS:
2-2
ACB: Eöl, Imlach
GDN: Penlod, Salgant
Code:
--------------- W-D-L Pts GD
Inter Beleriand 1-0-0 3 +2
AC Beleriand 1-0-0 3 +1
Gondolin 0-0-1 0 -1
Dwarves United 0-0-1 0 -2
W-D-L: win-draw-loss
GD: goal difference