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Nilpaurion Felagund · 11-09-2013, 12:27 AM

Utumno Arena
Hithlum vs Tol-in-Gaurhoth

The second semifinal of the 2013 Arda Cup was to be held in the underground arena in Utumno, also known as ‘Hell’s Pit’ to the locals. The name came easily to those who saw the thousand torches and bonfires that illuminated the stadium. Smoke had started gathering in some stands, and had begun rolling towards the pitch itself; Hithlum fans suspected that this was no accident, that Morgoth and Angband, who had strong sympathy with the Wolves (two of their players had once played for Angband), were trying to recreate conditions similar to those in ‘the Den’, the Wolves’ home arena in Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Hithlum captain Hador had already approached the Avari referee, asking him to stop the game in case the smoke interfered with visibility on the pitch.

Three thousand denizens of the Barrow-Downs forums assembled to cheer for their team. While they were outnumbered by forty thousand Hithlum supporters who made their way into enemy territory, they were reinforced by the home crowd, who cheered for the lycan team as if they were their own.

However, it was no ordinary team they were up against, and no amount of intimidation would work on them. Many of the Hithlum players had died (or, in Húrin’s case, lived) within sight of Angband, and they knew well the terror of Morgoth’s stronghold. These players had nerves of mithril and could not be psyched out—they had to be outplayed.

[Hithlum in yellow and dark red; Tol-in-Gaurhoth in green and black.]

One of the biggest questions coming into the game was TiG’s formation—more specifically the number of central midfielders they would field. It turned out that they stuck to the 4-3-3 they beat Armenelos with, making everyone think that they would battle Hithlum for possession without conceding the flank. But NerWight, SallyWight, and LegateWight sat in their own half instead of pressing Hithlum’s midfielders, springing only into action when Aradan crossed the halfway line. Every recovered ball was sent quickly to the wings, where PhantomWolf or Thuringwethil stormed forward and combined with InzilWolf.

NilpWolf moved to central defence to provide strength against the on-form Túrin, while BoroWolf matched endurance with Húrin. GaladriWight tracked Beleg’s forward runs, but refrained from following the winger whenever he dropped deep. Draugluin was the spare defender and swept up behind them, occasionally barking orders about retaining shape.

Hithlum had lion’s share of possession in the opening spell of the game, but Hador and Morwen were repeatedly rebuffed when they attempted playing the ball to the final third. NerWight and SallyWight kept goalward of them, while LegateWight was quietly efficient in cutting off passing lanes to the Hithlum forwards. In the first fifteen minutes of the game, Hithlum may have had 57% of the ball, but the Wolves had already mustered three shots to Hithlum’s none—and, more importantly, they were a goal ahead.

LegateWight intercepted a Hador through ball for Húrin and sent the ball quickly to PhantomWolf on the right. The TiG number 10 ran at Galdor, and InzilWolf brilliantly faked a far post run, as if to meet a cross, before quickly changing direction and taking PhantomWolf’s lay off. He fired a snapshot that Huor did well to bat away. The lycan forward was also involved in the ensuing play. Thuringwethil met NerWight’s corner kick at the near post, but instead of trying for goal himself, she set InzilWolf up wonderfully for an unstoppable close-range volley that beat Huor.

Hithlum committed more players forward in search of an equaliser, leaving themselves vulnerable to the Wolves’ counterattacking strategy. Shortly past the half-hour mark, Draugluin cleared a Beleg cross, and SallyWight sent it long to PhantomWolf, who stormed forward with acres of space before him. Aradan was forced to bring him down at the edge of the area, conceding a free kick and receiving a yellow card in the process. PhantomWolf himself took the free kick. Again, InzilWolf was prominently involved in the subsequent play—displaying his brilliant change-of-direction play once more, he made a nuisance of himself at the far post, before spinning and dashing for the near post just as PhantomWolf took the kick. His booming header forced an outstanding reflex save from the Hithlum shotstopper, but the rebound spilled into SallyWight’s path, and she stabbed it home into an empty net.

‘Two-nil, and it’s not even half-time,’ the Wights and Wolves chanted, soon taken up by orcs, trolls, and other nameless creatures of the home crowd. Meanwhile, shortly before play restarted, Túrin conferred briefly with his captain Hador. ‘Keep the midfield back and just send the ball to me. I’ll win every header.’ It might have seemed a boast coming from any other player, but the Hithlum talisman’s eyes glinted with determination. He would turn this game around, or die trying.

After this change in tactic, Hithlum mustered two good chances before the half time whistle. Túrin did seem to win every header, although he often got too rough with NilpWolf in their duels—at one point, he got booked for elbowing the Wolves defender hard in the face. The lycan rolled on the ground and cried in pain, screaming, ‘The pain, the pain! Lynch me! For Eru’s sake, lynch me now!’ His performance might have influenced the referee into reaching for his card, because no one else was convinced the Werewolf was really hurt. But in other instances, the Hithlum forward headed the ball past the Tol-in-Gaurhoth defensive line for his father to run into; unfortunately, Húrin got the ball too close to the byline, and his shot from a very acute angle sailed wide of ShastaWolf’s left-hand post.

Shortly before half time, he chip-headed an effort at goal past ShastaWolf, only for his attempt to land on the roof of the net.

The Hithlum faithful were on tenterhooks during the break; they had once overturned a tactical difficulty against Nargothrond with an inspired formation change, but they feared that the Wolves were too cunning to be outthought like that. The second half soon began with no changes in either team’s strategy: Hithlum kept seven players behind the ball, sending long passes for Túrin, while Tol-in-Gaurhoth kept their shape, snapping into tackles only when Morwen or Hador tried to bring the ball into their half. Túrin kept winning an absurdly high number of aerial duels, but he found his space easily smothered by the two centre-backs, sometimes aided by LegateWight. His knockdown targets Húrin and Beleg were ably corralled by the TiG full-backs. If they were to break through the Wolves defence, they really needed the help of their midfield.

The Hithlum front line did induce a moment of panic among the Wolves back four. An hour into the game, Balrog #5 sent a long ball, but this time not for Túrin but for his father. Húrin won the header, brought it down, and turned on Boro before the rest of the defence could reorient themselves. NilpWolf shifted right to contain him, and Draugluin switched on Túrin. Húrin sent a short cross to his son, who easily outleapt his marker and sent a goalbound effort from the penalty spot. Fortunately, Shasta was at hand to keep him out, and his clearance fell to GaladriWight, who sent it forward to Thuringwethil. The vampire tried to dribble infield, but Arroch shepherded him to the touchline, rebuffing all her attempts to link up with InzilWolf. The TiG centre forward jogged closer to Thuringwethil, dragging Balrog #5 with him. He had noticed PhantomWolf’s infield run from the opposite wing, and his movement left Gundor all alone to contain the Wolves playmaker. Thuringwethil sent a low cross, and Balrog #5 slid in to clear it, but the ball bounced awkwardly off his knee and into his arms. The referee whistled and pointed to the penalty spot, then brought out a yellow card for the Hithlum defender.

The Hithlum fans were outraged. Balrog #5 pleaded with the ref, telling him that the ball hit his arm, not the other way around. But the referee shook his head; the ball bounced into the byline instead of continuing on its path, meaning that he had controlled the ball with his arm. Balrog #5 spun away with a huff; Hador had to grab his shoulder to tell him to calm down, lest he get sent off.

And so it was a penalty to Tol-in-Gaurhoth. PhantomWolf stepped up to take it, lashing it into the top-left corner before Huor could react. The stadium exploded as the Angband crowd howled in delight. ‘Three-nil to the empty seats,’ they chanted, gleeful that the shoulders of the Hithlum supporters have dropped.

Hithlum players gritted their teeth. They were so close, throwing the Wolves off-guard when they sent the ball to Húrin instead of to Túrin, but their goalkeeper made an excellent save, and they immediately started a counter just as Hador and Morwen advanced to reinforce their attackers. The players of Hithlum were not ones to admit defeat easily, but most of them could see that overhauling a three-goal deficit in less than half an hour against an excellently defending side required nothing short of a miracle. Only Túrin and his father had any fight left in them, and Tol-in-Gaurhoth smartly shifted to 4-4-2, the same formation they used to shut Armenelos out in the closing stages of their quarterfinal tie.

Hithlum now had an extra player in the centre of the pitch, and they managed to pass their way past the Wolves’ midfield barrier. But with the front band of four just a few metres ahead of the back four, there was no space for the advancing midfielders to manoeuvre in, and they repeatedly lost the ball, prompting even more bare-bones counterattacking (‘Route One plays’) from Tol-in-Gaurhoth—a downfield hoof from a clearance to their two centre forwards who were fifty metres ahead of the midfield. Hithlum’s defenders were able to contain Inzilwolf and Thuringwethil, but with their movement they managed to occupy all four defenders, giving them second thoughts about advancing to help on the offensive.

There were ten minutes left in the game when PhantomWolf conceded a free kick to the left of the box after a clumsy challenge on Beleg. The Doriath march-warden took the free kick, and Húrin’s dummy header fooled half the TiG defenders in the box, leaving Túrin relatively free to take a shot. ‘Relatively free’ in his case meant that the head and feet of NilpWolf and Draugluin came at him from many directions, but, without jumping, he fired an overhead back-heel over NilpWolf’s shoulder with such ferocity that ShastaWolf was unable to contest the shot.

But that was the last time Hithlum would ever seriously threaten Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the last nine minutes, the Wolves defended with ferocity, closing down anyone who came within five metres of their penalty area and rushing to intercept every through ball. Hithlum, like Armenelos before them, looked bereft of ideas how to break through that wall. Soon, the final whistle was blown, and one of the tournament’s best players was relegated to playing the consolation game. As for the Wolves, they were playing their second final in three years. Last time it took Melian’s super team to deny them the cup. This year, maybe they could finally get their paws on it.

Hithlum 1-3 Tol In Gaurhoth
GOALS:
15, 0-1 InzilWolf (Thuringwethil)
32, 0-2 SallyWight (InzilWolf)
66, 0-3 PhantomWolf
81, 1-3 Túrin (Beleg)

Total Shots
16-14

Shots On Target
4-7

YELLOW CARDS:
3-2
HTH: Túrin, Aradan, Balrog#5
TIG: Draugluin, PhantomWolf

11-09-2013, 12:27 AM	#147
Nilpaurion Felagund Scion of The Faithful Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The brink, where hope and despair are akin. [The Philippines] Posts: 5,312	Tar-Eldar Network Television semifinals coverage Utumno Arena Hithlum vs Tol-in-Gaurhoth The second semifinal of the 2013 Arda Cup was to be held in the underground arena in Utumno, also known as ‘Hell’s Pit’ to the locals. The name came easily to those who saw the thousand torches and bonfires that illuminated the stadium. Smoke had started gathering in some stands, and had begun rolling towards the pitch itself; Hithlum fans suspected that this was no accident, that Morgoth and Angband, who had strong sympathy with the Wolves (two of their players had once played for Angband), were trying to recreate conditions similar to those in ‘the Den’, the Wolves’ home arena in Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Hithlum captain Hador had already approached the Avari referee, asking him to stop the game in case the smoke interfered with visibility on the pitch. Three thousand denizens of the Barrow-Downs forums assembled to cheer for their team. While they were outnumbered by forty thousand Hithlum supporters who made their way into enemy territory, they were reinforced by the home crowd, who cheered for the lycan team as if they were their own. However, it was no ordinary team they were up against, and no amount of intimidation would work on them. Many of the Hithlum players had died (or, in Húrin’s case, lived) within sight of Angband, and they knew well the terror of Morgoth’s stronghold. These players had nerves of mithril and could not be psyched out—they had to be outplayed. [Hithlum in yellow and dark red; Tol-in-Gaurhoth in green and black.] One of the biggest questions coming into the game was TiG’s formation—more specifically the number of central midfielders they would field. It turned out that they stuck to the 4-3-3 they beat Armenelos with, making everyone think that they would battle Hithlum for possession without conceding the flank. But NerWight, SallyWight, and LegateWight sat in their own half instead of pressing Hithlum’s midfielders, springing only into action when Aradan crossed the halfway line. Every recovered ball was sent quickly to the wings, where PhantomWolf or Thuringwethil stormed forward and combined with InzilWolf. NilpWolf moved to central defence to provide strength against the on-form Túrin, while BoroWolf matched endurance with Húrin. GaladriWight tracked Beleg’s forward runs, but refrained from following the winger whenever he dropped deep. Draugluin was the spare defender and swept up behind them, occasionally barking orders about retaining shape. Hithlum had lion’s share of possession in the opening spell of the game, but Hador and Morwen were repeatedly rebuffed when they attempted playing the ball to the final third. NerWight and SallyWight kept goalward of them, while LegateWight was quietly efficient in cutting off passing lanes to the Hithlum forwards. In the first fifteen minutes of the game, Hithlum may have had 57% of the ball, but the Wolves had already mustered three shots to Hithlum’s none—and, more importantly, they were a goal ahead. LegateWight intercepted a Hador through ball for Húrin and sent the ball quickly to PhantomWolf on the right. The TiG number 10 ran at Galdor, and InzilWolf brilliantly faked a far post run, as if to meet a cross, before quickly changing direction and taking PhantomWolf’s lay off. He fired a snapshot that Huor did well to bat away. The lycan forward was also involved in the ensuing play. Thuringwethil met NerWight’s corner kick at the near post, but instead of trying for goal himself, she set InzilWolf up wonderfully for an unstoppable close-range volley that beat Huor. Hithlum committed more players forward in search of an equaliser, leaving themselves vulnerable to the Wolves’ counterattacking strategy. Shortly past the half-hour mark, Draugluin cleared a Beleg cross, and SallyWight sent it long to PhantomWolf, who stormed forward with acres of space before him. Aradan was forced to bring him down at the edge of the area, conceding a free kick and receiving a yellow card in the process. PhantomWolf himself took the free kick. Again, InzilWolf was prominently involved in the subsequent play—displaying his brilliant change-of-direction play once more, he made a nuisance of himself at the far post, before spinning and dashing for the near post just as PhantomWolf took the kick. His booming header forced an outstanding reflex save from the Hithlum shotstopper, but the rebound spilled into SallyWight’s path, and she stabbed it home into an empty net. ‘Two-nil, and it’s not even half-time,’ the Wights and Wolves chanted, soon taken up by orcs, trolls, and other nameless creatures of the home crowd. Meanwhile, shortly before play restarted, Túrin conferred briefly with his captain Hador. ‘Keep the midfield back and just send the ball to me. I’ll win every header.’ It might have seemed a boast coming from any other player, but the Hithlum talisman’s eyes glinted with determination. He would turn this game around, or die trying. After this change in tactic, Hithlum mustered two good chances before the half time whistle. Túrin did seem to win every header, although he often got too rough with NilpWolf in their duels—at one point, he got booked for elbowing the Wolves defender hard in the face. The lycan rolled on the ground and cried in pain, screaming, ‘The pain, the pain! Lynch me! For Eru’s sake, lynch me now!’ His performance might have influenced the referee into reaching for his card, because no one else was convinced the Werewolf was really hurt. But in other instances, the Hithlum forward headed the ball past the Tol-in-Gaurhoth defensive line for his father to run into; unfortunately, Húrin got the ball too close to the byline, and his shot from a very acute angle sailed wide of ShastaWolf’s left-hand post. Shortly before half time, he chip-headed an effort at goal past ShastaWolf, only for his attempt to land on the roof of the net. The Hithlum faithful were on tenterhooks during the break; they had once overturned a tactical difficulty against Nargothrond with an inspired formation change, but they feared that the Wolves were too cunning to be outthought like that. The second half soon began with no changes in either team’s strategy: Hithlum kept seven players behind the ball, sending long passes for Túrin, while Tol-in-Gaurhoth kept their shape, snapping into tackles only when Morwen or Hador tried to bring the ball into their half. Túrin kept winning an absurdly high number of aerial duels, but he found his space easily smothered by the two centre-backs, sometimes aided by LegateWight. His knockdown targets Húrin and Beleg were ably corralled by the TiG full-backs. If they were to break through the Wolves defence, they really needed the help of their midfield. The Hithlum front line did induce a moment of panic among the Wolves back four. An hour into the game, Balrog #5 sent a long ball, but this time not for Túrin but for his father. Húrin won the header, brought it down, and turned on Boro before the rest of the defence could reorient themselves. NilpWolf shifted right to contain him, and Draugluin switched on Túrin. Húrin sent a short cross to his son, who easily outleapt his marker and sent a goalbound effort from the penalty spot. Fortunately, Shasta was at hand to keep him out, and his clearance fell to GaladriWight, who sent it forward to Thuringwethil. The vampire tried to dribble infield, but Arroch shepherded him to the touchline, rebuffing all her attempts to link up with InzilWolf. The TiG centre forward jogged closer to Thuringwethil, dragging Balrog #5 with him. He had noticed PhantomWolf’s infield run from the opposite wing, and his movement left Gundor all alone to contain the Wolves playmaker. Thuringwethil sent a low cross, and Balrog #5 slid in to clear it, but the ball bounced awkwardly off his knee and into his arms. The referee whistled and pointed to the penalty spot, then brought out a yellow card for the Hithlum defender. The Hithlum fans were outraged. Balrog #5 pleaded with the ref, telling him that the ball hit his arm, not the other way around. But the referee shook his head; the ball bounced into the byline instead of continuing on its path, meaning that he had controlled the ball with his arm. Balrog #5 spun away with a huff; Hador had to grab his shoulder to tell him to calm down, lest he get sent off. And so it was a penalty to Tol-in-Gaurhoth. PhantomWolf stepped up to take it, lashing it into the top-left corner before Huor could react. The stadium exploded as the Angband crowd howled in delight. ‘Three-nil to the empty seats,’ they chanted, gleeful that the shoulders of the Hithlum supporters have dropped. Hithlum players gritted their teeth. They were so close, throwing the Wolves off-guard when they sent the ball to Húrin instead of to Túrin, but their goalkeeper made an excellent save, and they immediately started a counter just as Hador and Morwen advanced to reinforce their attackers. The players of Hithlum were not ones to admit defeat easily, but most of them could see that overhauling a three-goal deficit in less than half an hour against an excellently defending side required nothing short of a miracle. Only Túrin and his father had any fight left in them, and Tol-in-Gaurhoth smartly shifted to 4-4-2, the same formation they used to shut Armenelos out in the closing stages of their quarterfinal tie. Hithlum now had an extra player in the centre of the pitch, and they managed to pass their way past the Wolves’ midfield barrier. But with the front band of four just a few metres ahead of the back four, there was no space for the advancing midfielders to manoeuvre in, and they repeatedly lost the ball, prompting even more bare-bones counterattacking (‘Route One plays’) from Tol-in-Gaurhoth—a downfield hoof from a clearance to their two centre forwards who were fifty metres ahead of the midfield. Hithlum’s defenders were able to contain Inzilwolf and Thuringwethil, but with their movement they managed to occupy all four defenders, giving them second thoughts about advancing to help on the offensive. There were ten minutes left in the game when PhantomWolf conceded a free kick to the left of the box after a clumsy challenge on Beleg. The Doriath march-warden took the free kick, and Húrin’s dummy header fooled half the TiG defenders in the box, leaving Túrin relatively free to take a shot. ‘Relatively free’ in his case meant that the head and feet of NilpWolf and Draugluin came at him from many directions, but, without jumping, he fired an overhead back-heel over NilpWolf’s shoulder with such ferocity that ShastaWolf was unable to contest the shot. But that was the last time Hithlum would ever seriously threaten Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the last nine minutes, the Wolves defended with ferocity, closing down anyone who came within five metres of their penalty area and rushing to intercept every through ball. Hithlum, like Armenelos before them, looked bereft of ideas how to break through that wall. Soon, the final whistle was blown, and one of the tournament’s best players was relegated to playing the consolation game. As for the Wolves, they were playing their second final in three years. Last time it took Melian’s super team to deny them the cup. This year, maybe they could finally get their paws on it. Hithlum 1-3 Tol In Gaurhoth GOALS: 15, 0-1 InzilWolf (Thuringwethil) 32, 0-2 SallyWight (InzilWolf) 66, 0-3 PhantomWolf 81, 1-3 Túrin (Beleg) Total Shots 16-14 Shots On Target 4-7 YELLOW CARDS: 3-2 HTH: Túrin, Aradan, Balrog#5 TIG: Draugluin, PhantomWolf __________________ フェンリス鴨 (Fenrisu Kamo) The plot, cut, defeated. I intend to copy this sig forever - so far so good...