Middle-Earth Football World Cup 2007

[Sleepy Ranger]

We're now ready to begin the next two matches. Bree take on Mirkwood in what should be a fairly good match. Tom Bombadil has brought his old yellow boots out and is raging to go. Mirkwood sharpshooter Legolas hopes his team win a free-kick as he claims to have a feeling that he will score off every single one he gets in this tournament.

In the other game Rivendell take on Ham in what should be a win for the more experienced Rivendell. Time has taken it's toll though and Rivendell are no longer the team they once were but they are still a formidable force. Ham, newcomers to the tournament have a knack for taking down stronger opponents who on paper should be quite impossible to beat.

***

Group F
Bree 1 - 0 Mirkwood
(Tom Bombadil 61st)

Despite Bree holding onto the ball for longer it was Mirkwood that completely dominated the first half making wonderful use of their posession. The managed to get in a lot of shots owing to some wonderful linking play but unfortunately they lacked the killing edge with their shots fizziling wide or taking a deflection at the wrong time. Their best chance came when Legolas sent in a deadly through ball to Beorn who lashed in a hard shot which was barely punched away by Old Man Willow.

In the second half Bree began to tackle hard and sometimes quite viciously. Such play resulted in yellow cards for Harry and Nob. However both these fouls were in quite safe positions and Mirkwood were unable to capitalize. Completely against the run of play Bree managed to nick a goal. A well played counter attack led by Butterbur ended with a save by Spider but he could only watch helplessly as Tom Bombadil pounced on the rebound and put Bree one goal up.

It was all insanity after that. Mirkwood launched attack after attack, ceaselessly trying to pull a goal back but Bree managed to hold on. Mirkwood almost pulled one back through Necromancer after a well designed play resulted in a fanyasyic oppurtunity for him. However his shot was agonizingly cleared off the goal line by Badger. The Mirkwood players complained that the ball had crossed the line but the referee said it had not and the goal did not stand much to the anguish of Mirkwood. Bree did not deserve a win but stole one right from the jaws of defeat. This reminds me of a certain match Mordor had...

Shots: 3(2) - 10(6)
Posession: 38 - 62
Bookings: Harry, Nob

Group H
Rivendell 2 - 3 Ham
(William 31st, Gilraen 75th) (Farmer Giles 53rd, 80th, Tailbiter 72nd)

Rivendell dominated the attacking flow of the first half and created a couple of chances. All in all it was a fairly good half for Rivendell despite Bert being booked early on. Around the 30th minute a pulled volley by William after a failed clearance by Garm led to the opening goal of the game. Rivendell began to ease their attack a bit after going a goal up.

This turned out to be a costly mistake early on in the second half as Ham finally managed to get together an attacking rhytym. Miller lobbed in a ball for Farmer Giles who chested it down and lobbed it over Elrond to equalize with a fine goal. So far this has been the first time in this tournament that a team has equalized. The game really opened up after this and there were some fine displays of attacking football.

The 70th till 80th minutes were very exciting, producing three goals. It was a fantastic spell. It started off as Miller played a neat one two with Farmer Giles and spun past Elrond but instead of taking the shot himself he played it in for Tailbiter to finish with ease. Only minutes after play resumed Gilraen was in a wonderful position owing to a ball lobbed into the area by Glorfindel. Gilraen then tapped the ball up and headed it in to equalize.

Right at the 80th minute, Miller drove the ball in for Farmer Giles to blast in, honestly it was a bit of mis-hit but the ball knocked off the crossbar and spiked down into the goal. Fantastic build up. It was a well paced match and in the end Ham walked out winners. Rivendell will very much be rueing the fact that they did not press for a second earlier in the game when they had a chance. Hats off to both teams though. They played superbly.

Shots: 9(5) - 8(6)
Posession: 51 - 49
Bookings: Bert

***

Fantastic stuff! Mirkwood really did not deserve to lose but that's football for you. The tournament really seems to have picked up now. It was an amazing match between Rivendell and Ham with Ham managing to squeeze in the win. So far all the newcomers have been doing very well in the tournament, even managing some major upsets. However these were just the first set of matches. Theres plenty of twists and turns still to come. Where is the trophy going this year?

[Sleepy Ranger]

The group tables are in the attached document. I'll keep updating it and reposting it everyday.

Tomorrow's Fixtures

Group A
Moria vs. Valinor

Group B
Tuna vs. Brethil

Group D
Tol Eressea vs. Dor Lomin

Group G
Barrow-Downs vs. Gondor

The Barrow-Downs will be playing tomorrow. Hopefully they'll get off to a winning start. However that may prove to be a tough task against a resilient Gondorian team.

[The Saucepan Man]

The Numenor v Buckland result doesn't surprise me. Numenor have one of the best defences in the tournament. And Buckland are hardly the team to breach it, as they have built their team around a lone striker, without giving him the support that he needs. However good Merry is (and he is), he's not going to score many with such an average midfield behind him.

Tol in Gaurhoth against the Misty Mountains was only surprising in the extent that Tol in Gaurhoth managed to put up a reasonable fight for the first half. The end result, however, was no surprise. Misty Mountains aren't an excellent team, but they are capable. Gwaihir is a class act and the Stone Giant is a powerful force up front. Tol in Gaurhoth, on the other hand, look distinctly average to me. The Cursed Villager's sending off was no doubt a result of frustration borne of the poor team spirit which I highlighted earlier.

The win over Mirkwood was an excellent result for Bree as, with the excellent Gondolin in their Group (and leaving aside the no-hopers of Wooton Major), it is likely to be between these two for the second qualifying position. The quality of Bree's defence is clear from the fact that they managed to keep out talented players like the Necromancer and the ace sharp-shooter, Legolas.

Finally, we were treated to a peach of a match in Rivendell v Ham. Bracing stuff! Rivendell aren't the team that they once were but, even though they lost, they still look to have something of the old magic about them. And Ham were a revelation. I knew that Farmer Giles and Tailbiter would combine well, but I was quite surprised by the quality of the support that they received from the Miller. I had thought him rather an average player, but I may have misjudged him. Ham could well give Rivendell a run for their money as Group runners up, although I remain confident that Doriath will top Group H.

PS Sleepy, any chance of posting the Group table in rich text format or pdf, as I can't open Word documents on my home computer?

[the phantom]

Numenor 1 - 0 Buckland

As expected, Numenor's athleticism showed forth as they dominated the shots 11-2. Buckland is fortunate that Numenor's aim was a bit off, otherwise the score would've been nasty.

Tol In Gauroth 0 - 2 Misty Mountains

And yet another expected result. Misty Mts is now in good position to advance out of group play, but Tol In Gauroth is by no means out of it. Group E isn't particularly strong, with likely cannon fodder Old Grey Hill and the very troubled Fangorn team rounding out the quartet. Of course, if Fangorn could ever unify they'd be pretty good. Tol In Gauroth will have to hope against that, pick up their play a bit, and avoid any more red cards.

Bree 1 - 0 Mirkwood

Ah- here we have our first hobbit-biased refereeing of the tournament. If you'll look at replays of that Necromancer shot, the ball clearly crossed the line, but surprise surprise- the ref sided with the hobbitish Bree. It's ridiculous. Now, I have no problem with the fact that Bree scored a goal. It's pretty difficult to completely shut down old Tom Bombadil. But Mirkwood should have been able to put up a couple goals of their own. Their shooting was far below what they are capable of, and the one time they did it right their goal was taken away. Ask yourselves- how could sharpshooters Necromancer, Beorn, and Legolas not put in a single goal in ten tries, considering that the goalie is a sluggish willow tree? I'd check their Gatorade cooler for athletically inhibiting drugs. Hobbits have been known to spike drinks in tournaments.

Rivendell 2 - 3 Ham

This game was very fun to watch! Of course, it is likely to end up meaningless, seeing as Arnor and Doriath are in that group. But I suppose now if Ham can catch one of those two clubs on a very poor and unlucky day, they might manage a tie at least, and then they would have a chance at advancing.

[the phantom]

All right, all right… so you say you weren’t being paid last year to favor The Shire. Well that’s even worse! You should at least make some money if you’re going to turn the other way and allow a team to be crooked. But I guess you just do it for free. Wow. I could’ve at least respected an enterprising cheater, but it turns out you just have a soft spot for hobbits and allow it to show forth in your reffing. I have no respect for that.

And as far as this investigation business, why is the committee waiting for some kind of “formal complaint”? You know good and well there’s something fishy going on with those hobbits. It’s a simple matter of physics. Given the strength of their muscles and length of their appendages, hobbits should not be able to produce the necessary amount of kinetic energy to kick the ball with anywhere near the velocity of their opponents. And yet somehow they are able to pass effectively and score goals? Also, it is proven that they cannot run as quickly as dwarves, and yet they can somehow play defense against Elves? They aren’t tall enough to challenge any sort of head-shot, and their goalie isn’t tall enough to cover the upper half of the goal, so how are they not outscored 10-0 in every game? It makes no logical sense!

Either their opponents are drugged, or all the hobbits are on extreme performance enhancing meds (or both). It’s as simple as that. If you aren’t conducting an investigation, it’s because you don’t want to. There’s plenty enough reason to initiate one.

*sigh*

But I guess if you require an official complaint from a team, I'll see if I can get one to do it for me. If Mirkwood makes an early exit, perhaps I will be able to convince Necromancer and his cronies to lodge a complaint. I know he's not happy with that goal-line call in that last game versus Bree, and he has no love for hobbits.

Of course the complaint process (formal complaint, investigation, statements, appeals, etc) will likely not be over till after the tournament, which means that I have no choice but to put up with those little hooligan hobbits for a while yet.