[Boromir88]

FRIENDLIES - ROUND 2

Competition Heats Up

The first round of friendlies brought many draws and matches that looked more like team practices. In Round 2, it appears teams started turning up their competiveness, and some of the results were quite surprising.

Not so surprising to us is, when Armenolos sticks to their standard game plan, they come away with the win. It was another respectful Numenorean match, held in Romenna's stadium (since Numenor's competition committee are making final adjustments in renovating the Stadium at Armenolos for the group stage matches). The only difference is, for over 2/3rds of the match Armenolos looked like their old 2009 champion-winning team, by dominating the flow of the match and dominating possession.

Armenolos called all the shots in this one and it's been a long time since fans had seen Armenolos back to their winning strategy of controlling possession and a finishing ability with precise passing. After Tar Ancalimon gave Armenolos the 2-goal lead, they did not wish to embarass their later generations and let the White Tower fight their way back into the game.

Earnur did make the score 2-1 with 15 minutes to play, after a powerful strike from short distance. Minas Tirith tried to close with a flurry of shots and get the draw, but most were wild and not all too troubling to Tar Atanamir.

Armenelos 2-1 Minas Tirith
tot shots 13-14
on target 6-4
GOALS:
*27, 1-0 Ar Adunakhor (Tar Ancalimon)
*62, 2-0 Tar Ancalimon (Tar Miriel)
*75, 2-1 Earnur (Earnil II)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Tar Calmacil
*Minas Tirith- Earnur, Earnil II

Another game that brought out the two squads competitive side. Arnor came out on fire, looking to defeat their Mordor foe, as Isildur scored in the 3rd minute. Mordor, got the game calmed back down as Shelob proved she could be a dangerous force at FW. The great spider would level the score in the 19th minute, and then before the end of the 1st half, assist Nazgul #4, giving Mordor a 2-1, halftime lead.

Arnor did not want to go down in defeat to Mordor and pushed back in the 2nd. Mordor's defensive strategy was to get rough, but all it got them was cards. In the 77th minute, after taking a hard foul from Grishnakh, Isildur rocketed in the free kick.

Both teams tried to go for the win at the end, but the keepers, Silent Watcher and Arvedui came up with a couple classy saves to keep the score at 2-2.

Arnor 2-2 Mordor
tot shots 16-16
on target 7-7
GOALS:
*3, 1-0 Isildur (Argeleb)
*19, 1-1 Shelob (Shagrat)
*42, 1-2 Nazgul #4 (Shelob)
*77, 2-2 Isildur
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Isildur, Elendur
*Mordor- Grishnakh, Fellbeast #1, Shelob, Nazgul #2

A cordial match, played outside, on the dark and damp Isle of Werewolves. Both teams were comfortable playing in these haunting conditions, and the crowd was definitely treated to some nice skill on the pitch. Especially from Phantomwolf and Sauron.

Phantomwolf, always looking to show off his skill set in front of his friend and old teammate Sauron, scored both of TIG's goals. And both times, it was to give TIG the lead, so it might show when TIG has it's head in the match they can grab the lead. However, with a striker like Sauron on the other team, it is hard to discount Barad-dur. And so it was Sauron who was able to equalise both times, and perhaps gain some confidence for Barad-dur.

Barad-Dur 2-2 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 15-16
on target 8-7
GOALS:
*9, 0-1 PhantomWolf (LegateWight)
*39, 1-1 Sauron (Angamaite)
*55, 1-2 PhantomWolf (WilwaWight)
*81, 2-2 Sauron (Herumor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*BDur- Gothmog, Mouth
*TIG- SteveWight, WilwaWight