Arda Cup Soccer 2008

[Nogrod]

The first game of the second round in Edoras was a real deathmatch between two teams that had lost their first games. A defeat in this game would practically end all the hopes for the losing side whereas a win today would keep everything in their own hands (a win in the last match would qurantee them a place in the next round).

Both coaches had clearly pressed the point as the teams played an outstandingly offensive game providing entertainment for a full house of football fans gathered to the stadium. It was a hot afternoon for the goalies on both ends of the field.

Like in its first game Mirkwood took the control of the game in the beginning with an aggressive playing style. The pressure lead to an early lead already on the 9th minute when Legolas headed the ball in from a corner by Thranduil.

Mirkwood never gave away the control of the game but with the individual skill of its few players and even some luck the Breeland team managed to stay in the game keeping the Mirkwood defense at its toes.

After quite a low key performance in the first game The Barrow Wight started showing his qualities and Tom Bombadill demonstrated why he’s thought to be one the best forwards there is in the northern Middle Earth. The Mirkwood side relied much more to a team effort as they seem to be having – against all expectations – quite a balanced team who despite the racial tensions seems to be quite proud and willing to play together for their homeland.

After Barrow Wight’s sensational cannonball he shot from 35 meters brought the game even, the Mirkwood team’s pressure led them to a lead once again before the half time after Grishnakh was passed free in to the box by a nice pass by Legolas.

But Breeland did hang on and equalized the game again after the second half of the game had been played for only four minutes. The dynamic duo of The Barrow Wight and Tom Bombadill fooled the whole Mirkwood defence and Tom ended it with a ferocious kick from his much feared yellow boot.

Mirkwood continued pressing and took the lead the third time at 64th minute. Nob was forced to tackle Legolas as he was about to break free from which he was rightly shown a yellow card. Grimbeorn shot the free kick hitting the post. Scatcha who had excelled in the first match was the first one to get to the ball and he hammered it past Old Man Willow who had no chance to readjust his position.

Many thought the game was packed but they were wrong. The duo BW & Tom did it once again. At less than ten minutes of the game left they forced their way through the Mirkwood defence and silenced it’s supporters by bringing the game even for the third time.

The crowd was entertained with great performances and a lot of goals and excitement, and both teams still had their dream alive of making it to the second round of matches. The somewhat feared clashes between the supporters of Breelanders (who called the Mirkwoodians “eastern mongrels”) and Mirkwood fans (who called the Breelanders “bun-hearted westerners”) happily never took place as both team and their supporters seemed to be happy with the result.

Breeland 3-3 Mirkwood
shots 14-19
on target 7-10
GOALS:
*Mirkwood, 9 (Legolas- Thranduil)
*Breeland, 24 (Barrow Wight- Ferny)
*Mirkwood, 38 (Grishnakh- Legolas)
*Breeland, 49 (Tom- Barrow Wight)
*Mirkwood, 64 (Scatha- Grimbeorn)
*Breeland, 81 (Tom- Barrow Wight)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Breeland- Sardoc, Nob
*Mirkwood- Galion, Grimbeorn, Lagduf

Many were afraid that the winners of the first leg of matches would be playing it safe today against each other. But they were proved wrong as soon as the game started. Both teams fought fiercely for every ball and tried to shoot always they had even the slightest chance of doing it.

The Tol-In-Gaurhoth team gave the home crowd shock-treatment by taking the lead already at the 8th minute. Sauron passed the ball backwards with his heel like he knew the phantom was breaking free. The phantom seldom misses a one on one with the goal keeper and it was no different this day.

With the backing of a roaring crowd the home team stood up and started to fight back. With Eorl controlling the team play Edoras rolled over the middle field and came nearer and nearer scoring a goal. After 31 minutes of play Eomer finally exploded the stadium with the equalizer they deserved. Just before the half time the crowd went totally mad as Eorl himself booted the ball in from in front of the goal after a nice pass by Eowyn.

The crowd sang songs of victory through the intermission.

But the Tol-In-Gaurhoth team was not ready to surrender that easily and from the very first minutes of the second half on, that became clear to the homeside fans as well. T-I-G forced the Edoras team to run for their lead by passing the ball ever faster and as both teams continued the hard game the home team started to wear down as the game went on. This was clearly visible in the number of bookings the homeside received in the second period.

At 59th minute T-I-G got it’s earned equalizer as Formendacil headed irresistibly a free kick given by Eomer in. The hometeam tried to turn into offence once more but it had clearly lost its legs and after just defending the beginning of the second period it seemed hard to them to change the tempo and focus of their play – even if Eorl’s great individual play gave some hard times to T-I-G defence.

And so it happened that at the 78th minute the amazing duo Sauron – the phantom whose passes seemed to find each other every time they were on offence together silenced the crowd once and for all by giving the T-I-G the lead.

Edoras threw in all it had to throw during the last minutes but the T-I-G team-defence held and the visitors took the valuable points.

With the win Tol-In-Gaurhoth secured it’s place in the second round of games that start after the group-phase. The enthusiasm could be seen in the faces of the many T-I-G supporters caught by the cameras after the final whistle. Mormegil, Feanor of the Peredhil and Boromir LXXXVIII (not to be muddled up with Boromir I or Boromir II) were passing a bottle of sparkling wine and singing while Valier and Naria were blowing empty ones trying to dance at the same time.


Edoras 2-3 Tol-In-Gaurhoth
shots 18-16
on target 8-8
GOALS:
*TIG, 8 (the phantom- Sauron)
*Edoras, 31 (Eomer- Theodred)
*Edoras, 43 (Eorl- Eowyn)
*TIG, 59 (Formendacil- Eomer)
*TIG, 78 (Sauron- the phantom)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Edoras- Brytta, Aldor, Eowyn, Frealaf, Eomer
*TIG- Cailin, Formendacil, Thuringwethil


----------------------
B EDORAS

Mirkwood – Tol in Gaurhoth 2-3
Breeland – Edoras 2-3

Breeland – Mirkwood 3-3
Edoras – Tol in Gaurhoth 2-3


1. Tol in Gaurhoth 6-4 6pts
2. Edoras 5-5 3pts
3. Breeland 5-6 1pt
4. Mirkwood 5-6 1pt

The last matches:
Mirkwood – Edoras
Tol in Gaurhoth – Breeland

[Nogrod]

Like in Edoras, also in Osgilath the afternoon match was one between the losing teams of the first leg. But there the similarities seemed to come to an end. For as the crowds really got entertainment for their money in Edoras, there’s not much to tell the next generations about the match between Lothlorien and Umbar. Especially the Lothlorien team has disappointed both their fans and the great number of football cognoscenti who have bet their money on the team getting through from its group. After today’s match Lorien still has a chance to go forwards but the betting offices are giving one extremely high returns on that prediction.

The game was mostly lazy-paced. The Umbar offence showed some real promise at times but the Lothlorien defence led by Galadriel – which seems to be the only thing working in that team – managed to keep the Umbarians at bay for most of the first half. But just before the half time Nazgul #9 managed to pass the ball to Castamir who gave the southerners the lead with a splendid bicycle-kick even Galadriel was unable to catch.

As their only forward Eldarion was running in shadows Haldir tried to beat his team into making an effort on the second half but was mainly left alone in the offence. Umbar was the more active party on the second half as well but it seemed they were mostly happy with their lead and so most of the game was played in the middle field.

Securing one’s lead has proven a bad idea many times before and so it did this afternoon as well. Lothlorien got the equalizer as Haldir managed to beat his team into a few real efforts. Amroth made a good run at 70th minute and Haldir passed him a long ball behind the Umbar defence. Pelendur at Umbar goal had only needed to catch two shots in the whole game before Amroth’s breakthtrough and was totally unprepared leaving it an easy job for the Lothlorien midfielder to score.

Both teams maintained their chances of qualifying from the group-phase but with these performances it’s more than easy to predict that the evening game’s teams will be more probable ones to qualify.

Lothlorien 1-1 Umbar
shots 11-15
on target 4-7
GOALS:
*Umbar, 41 (Castamir- Nazgul #9)
*Lothlorien, 70 (Amroth- Haldir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Lothlorien- Gollum, Rumil, Orophin
*Umbar- Sangahyando, Ulrad, Fastred

The crowd was waiting nervously for the evening match as the Nargothrond team had taken a convincing win over Umbar on the first round and the team was full of legendary players. The Nargothrond roster looked quite intimidating indeed.

Osgiliath took to defending from the opening whistle. It was the tactics they knew and they hoped that Nargothrond would get too confident on offence so that they could strike back with fast counter-attacks. But the Nargothrond team played a very disciplined game and didn’t fall for that so any time they lost the ball on offence they fell immediately back into defence and minimized the chances for any effective counterattacks.

But it was clear from the very beginning which was the team calling the shots in the field. Osgiliath defended bravely like in the old days when they had to do it for real – and like then the opposing forces just ran them over. Glaurung in fact did literally just that as using his size to his advantage he forced his way through the defence and hammered the ball in.

On the second half the script remained more or less the same. Nargothrond still played a highly disciplined game which gave also the Osgiliath team some opportunities to actually build up attacks. And Nargothorond also scored on the second half of the game. But if Glaurung’s goal was just brutal force and brazen aggressiveness then Beren’s and Gwindor’s goal on 60th minute was classy teamwork with a show of talent even the homeside fans had to acknowledge and cheer for.

But the 2-0 lead seemed to relax the Nargothrondian discipline a bit. Awakened with the newly found cheering and singing of the homecrowd the Osgiliath team turned into open offence and started creating some nice opportunities. Those were paid at 72nd minute when Eldacar finally got into a runaway with Falastur against a lonely defender Bregor. He made a late sliding tackle on Falastur who nevertheless managed to pass the ball to Eldacar who then beat Beor on the goal. Bregor was booked with a yellow card afterwards and the homecrowd was wild with joy.

The homeside goal woke the Nargothrond team and they played securely keeping the homeside at bay for the last minutes of the game.

The win for Nargothrond means they’re secured to qualify. Osgiliathians gained a lot of self-confidence after being able to play a decent game against such an opponent a will be hard for Umbar to beat on the last round. And with a win on that game the Ogiliath team qualifies.

Nargothrond 2-1 Osgiliath
shots 10-8
on target 4-2
GOALS:
*Nargothrond, 35 (Glaurung- Finrod)
*Nargothrond, 60 (Beren- Gwindor)
*Osgiliath, 72 (Eldacar- Falastur)
YELLOW CARDS:
Nargothrond- Glaurung, Bregor
Osgiliath- Narmacil


-----------------------
D OSGILIATH

Nargothrond – Umbar 3-1
Lothlorien – Osgiliath 0-1

Lothlorien – Umbar 1-1
Nargothrond – Osgiliath 2-1


1. Nargothrond 5-2 6pts
2. Osgiliath 2-2 3pts
3. Lothlorien 1-2 1pt
4. Umbar 2-4 1pt

The last matches:
Umbar – Nargothrond
Osgiliath – Lothlorien

[the phantom]

--GROUP C--

As the crowds gathered in Doriath, the Noldor who had come to support Formenos were ushered immediately into the controlled atmosphere of the stadium as angry residents of Doriath shouted threats and threw bottles- far too many of the bottles completely empty, "And the threats as well!" remarked one of the Formenos supports.

Though the first round game between Alqualonde and Formenos was a grudge match with ugly history behind it, the crowd did not get out of hand due to the fact that there were fairly even numbers. The Alqualondians dared not attack their foes. But as the games were being hosted in Doriath, their fans had no such population limitations.

Before the first game opened up King Elwe took the field and gave a fine speech. "We were all caught in Melkor's foul web! Even I, your king, sent a man, Beren, purposefully to his death. I am as guilty of murder as the Sons of Feanor! Will you mistreat me?" Elwe continued, asking the crowd to put their hurts behind them, and show themselves to be a wise and goodly people.

In large part the Sindar were calmed, but there remained pockets of drunk unreasonable fans which would surely cause trouble during the second match. But the first match proceeded without any problems, and the crowd was largely on the side of Alqualonde, including King Elwe who cheered his brother on from the stands. Both teams played good solid football the first half, but neither could get on the scoreboard due to a couple of fine saves by both keepers.

But things changed quickly in the second half, as Lindo sent one over to Gil Galad and he went straight around his defender and pounded a goal in as help didn't arrive quick enough. The crowd cheered loudly and Alqualonde, their morale boosted by the goal and the support, went on the attack yet again. The Isengard defense held at first, but at minute 62 Uinen passed the ball to her husband and Osse thundered a powerful kick right between two defenders and into the goal.

Isengard began playing more risky after that, but it paid off at minute 71 as Ugluk received a pass and beat two defenders to an open shot and cut the lead to 2-1. But that was all that Saruman's team could muster, as Saruman himself was for nearly the entire game shadowed by Frodo who frustrated the wizard time and time again.

Alqualonde 2-1 Isengard
shots 12-10
on target 6-5
GOALS:
*Alqualonde, 47 (Gil Galad- Lindo)
*Alqualonde, 62 (Osse- Uinen)
*Isengard, 71 (Ugluk- Quickbeam)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Alqualonde- Elwing
*Isengard- Deor, Ugluk

As Formenos took the field for the second game, bottles and even a few knives came flying out of a couple of sections close to the tunnel. As the guards converged on the problem areas the Formenos team perplexingly did a lap around the field, staying rather close to the crowd the entire time, though keeping their faces turned away. Several times they passed a trouble spot and objects flew at them, and the guards in that area would converge and arrest the offending parties. When they finished the lap they were battered and bruised, and many of them cut, looking in no condition to play, though at least the worst fans had been found out and removed.

But then eleven more players wearing Formenos uniforms trotted out of the tunnel, shook hands with the squad already on the field, and the first group went back to the locker room. The confused referee made his way over to the Formenos bench, and there he was informed that the first group had merely been decoys wearing Formenos uniforms sent out to reveal the worst behaved fans and get them arrested.

And then Doriath took the field. The crowd whooped and hollered, certain that their King and Queen, aided by some of the finest players in the kingdom, could deliver a win.

Formenos took possession and passed the ball around the midfield, and the crowd still cheered. They pushed the ball into the offensive zone and passed it around, and Doriath could not get the ball away from them, and the crowd grew slightly quieter. At the ten minute mark Maedhros boomed a scary kick just over the crossbar and things grew quieter still. Doriath took possession a couple of times but were not able to cross midfield, and the crowd noise lowered to a murmur.

Aredhel passed to Feanor and he lined a kick up that Melian barely tipped in order to make it hit the sidebar and rebound away. The crowd grew silent for a moment, but Doriath pushed the ball away from the goal and the crowd began building up a cheer. And then at the 22 minute mark Feanor stole a pass, put a move on a defender and ran into the right side of the box. Two defenders and Melian converged and at the last minute Feanor sent a behind the back heel pass out in front of the far post, and his eldest son Maedhros came sprinting in from the side and slid into the pass and pushed it across the goal line with him.

The crowd watched in silence (apart from the small Noldorin section) for the next several minutes, as Formenos continued to control play. Doriath twice took shots at the goal, but they were prayers from a considerable distance that did not disturb Huan in the least.

At minute 37 Maedhros broke free and pounded a monster kick directly at Melian, betting she'd guess one way or the other. But instead she held her ground and stopped it. But so forceful was the kick that she was unable to control it, and the ball got away from her, and first to it was Aredhel who wasted no time in chipping the ball into the open net in front of her. The crowd merely stared as Formenos went into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

As the second half began, it was apparent that Formenos was happy with their lead and more than willing to conserve energy and just play keep-away with the ball in their own zone. They were largely successful until the 68th minute, when Daeron managed to get a toe on a pass and deflect it forward. Mablung snagged the deflection and got a pass through to Elwe, who quickly hung one up for Beleg to head in. But Huan ran out to cut off the angle and took Beleg's shot directly to the midsection and then jumped on the ball before anyone could get the rebound.

Feanor ran back and berated the Formenos defenders and they really picked up their play after that, never allowing Doriath to have possession in the front part of the field. Some of the depressed crowd actually began filing out with fifteen minutes still left in the game, and because of it they missed their team's only goal, though it wasn't anything to be proud of. Mablung sent a hard shot at the goal and, as seen on the replay, it ricocheted off Beleg's shoulder, completely changing course, and Huan could not prevent it from sneaking in off the sidebar.

Gifted with a chance to pull the game even, Doriath immediately tried to push the ball into the forward zone, but Formenos, taking no chances now, sent the ball down the field to their skilled up front players, and Formenos held the ball in Doriath's half for the remainder of the game to take firm control of Group C.

Doriath 1-2 Formenos
shots 7-15
on target 3-8
GOALS:
*Formenos, 22 (Maedhros- Feanor)
*Formenos, 37 (Aredhel- Maedhros)
*Doriath, 82 (Beleg- Mablung)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Doriath- Daeron, Saeros, Elwe
*Formenos- Caranthir, Feanor

[the phantom]

--GROUP F--

The pubs around Taniquetil stadium were teeming with Elves, Ainu, and men the minute they opened for business. Everyone was excited for the games that would take place later in the day. Amon Rhud and Helm's Deep, losers of their first matches, both believed they could pick up a win and thus not be sent home without any points. Supporters of Taniquetil and Armenelos on the other hand discussed how they might go about taking complete control of the group in the second match.

For the most part things were civil, but arguments did break out here and there between the Valar's faithful supporters and the haughty fans of Armenelos.

"How can you honestly expect to contest with the Powers of Arda?"
"We've done it before, haven't we?"
"Yes, and you got crushed and drowned!"
"That wasn't the Valar who did that! They had to call on Eru for protection, because they knew they couldn't take us on!"
"That's not true! Manwe just didn't want to see blood shed in Valinor!"
"Oh, so it was all about protecting the Elves that lived in Valinor, huh? Then why was it that they didn't think twice about taking those same Elves to battle against Angband and spilling their blood then? Why didn't Manwe just call upon Eru then? Ha ha, because he didn't have to! He knew they could beat Melkor- but he didn't stand a chance against us!"
"You fools! You'll find out that isn't true once the Valar take the field!"

But the Valar were not due to take the field until the first match had been played, and hungry to see as much action as possible the majority of the crowds went inside for the first game between Amon Rhud and Helm's Deep.

The first half was showcase of good team play, but was not particularly exciting. Both teams gained only one quality shot, and neither converted. The ball rarely left the midfield as both teams seemed determined to not allow the other team to score.

The second half went the same way as the first half until minute 62. Nearly all of Amon Rhud withdrew towards their own goal as they had done several times, only this time the Helm's Deep defense drew in a bit farther than usual, while at the same time Grithnir and Asgon stayed fairly stationary up near midfield. And then suddenly as Forhend sent a pass to Forweg, Grithnir and Asgon took off towards the goal on the left side and Forweg boomed the ball down the field. Gram was able to contest the pass, but Asgon tipped it ahead and Grithnir kept going with it. Goldwine was far back enough but was too far towards the right to make it over in time and Grithnir beat Erkenbrand one on one for the game's only score.

"They played a fine game," said Eomund of Helm's Deep after the match, who knew his team was all but eliminated after the loss. "I mean, it wasn't long ago that they were legit title contenders back when Beleg and Turin played for them. They still know how to play some good football. We need to train harder during the offseason if we want to beat teams like this, and maybe even sign a couple of players back that were with us in our glory days- Eomer, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Gandalf.... we could really use them."

Amon Rhud 1-0 Helm's Deep
shots 8-6
on target 3-2
GOALS:
*Amon Rhud, 62 (Grithnir- Asgon)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Amon Rhud- Asgon, Forweg
*Helm's Deep- Brego, Fengel

As the crowd awaited the start of the Armenelos vs Taniquetil match, they grew restless. "Can we truly challenge the Valar?" thought the fans from Armenelos. "Was Manwe truly scared of them when their army showed up?" thought the fans of Taniquetil. As the teams set up to begin, neither looked nervous. Manwe looked completely serene, and Taniquetil fans took heart. But the kings of Numenor looked proud and unintimidated, and the Armenelos fans were boosted as well.

The whistle sounded and the match began- a match that will be remembered for years to come. As in the first game, Taniquetil came out rather defensively, and Armenelos took the initiative and went after them. After forcing a tough save from Mandos only 3 minutes in and shooting wide twice, Armenelos stunned the crowd in the 12th minute as Ar Pharazon punched in a pass from Tar Ancalimon. Many boos greeted Ar Phar as he bowed to the Taniquetil crowd and smiled. Only minutes later Taniquetil and their fans were sent reeling as Ar Pharazon scored yet again, this time off a corner by Ar Adunakhor.

Taniquetil managed to hold possession for a while after that, trying to get the game calmed back down to a comfortable pace, but they were constantly harassed by the Numenorean defenders and only managed three rather long shots before halftime.

After the half Armenelos charged forward again, and a mere three minutes into play Ar Adunakhor took a pass from Tar Minastir and sent a rocket past Mandos for a shocking 3-0 lead! Manwe called a time out for Taniquetil and spoke to his teammates for quite a long time as the players for Armenelos strolled around the field waving at the crowd. After the timeout Taniquetil tried to push the ball more aggressively, but the Armenelos defense frustrated them again and again, as they were no longer concerned about scoring any more goals they were able to concentrate all of their efforts on defense.

There were many words exchanged between the players and the ref began to hand out cards. At minute 69 the crowd's attention was attracted to the middle of the field as Yavanna was chasing after Tar Calmacil and attempting to kick him. Varda and Thorondor ran to restrain her and the ref hit her with a red card and sent her off- in the meanwhile Tar Calmacil was being patted on the back by his fellow kings for his successful provocation. What he did to her exactly is unclear, though on replay he can clearly be seen pulling up a clump of grass, ripping it apart, and saying something to her.

With a one man advantage, Armenelos had a fairly easy time holding the remainder of the game. Much of the crowd stayed in their seats even after the teams had exited, rooted to the spot by the dismal performance they had just received from their home team.

Armenelos 3-0 Taniquetil
shots 19-7
on target 9-1
GOALS:
*Armenelos, 12 (Ar Pharazon- Tar Ancalimon)
*Armenelos, 26 (Ar Pharazon- Ar Adunakhor)
*Armenelos, 48 (Ar Adunakhor- Tar Minastir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Tar Calmacil, Ar Gimilzor
*Taniquetil- Thorondor, Aule, Varda
RED CARDS:
*Taniquetil- Yavanna, 69

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Hehe, I thought I'd still have a few days to do game predictions. Must do last group stage game predictions rather quickly . . .

But 'yay' to Nargothrond!

And 'aww' to Doriath.

[the phantom]

--GROUP H--

As the second round games in Angband prepared to begin, the fans of the various teams had a lot on their minds.

Valimar fan: Well, we're in control right now, but we still have to play Angband in the final match, and most people think they're the best team in the tournament. Ah, but we can't overlook Annuminas. They must be pretty good to have tied Angband. This is a tough group.

Angband fan: I can't believe we had to settle for a tie. Now we might have to beat Valimar to advance. Not that we can't- but it'd be nice if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Annuminas was better than I thought. This is a tough group.

Annuminas fan: Wow, we played great in that first game. I figured it'd be tough advancing when they stuck us in this group, but we've put ourselves in good position. We just can't let Valimar blow us out, though that's easier said than done. This is a tough group.

Brethil fan: We played Valimar, and now we have to play Angband? This group sucks.

As the first game between Annuminas and Valimar kicked off, the Angband crowd cheered against both enthusiastically. They wanted Annuminas to lose because of the way they had spoiled Angband's opener, and they wanted Valimar to lose because they were sitting in first place and were likely to be Angband's toughest test.

But the wishes of the crowd did not seem to impact the game as both teams played smart and solid football to start off. At 20 minutes Earendil made a beautiful longshot off the pass from Orome and Valimar took the 1-0 lead. For the next twenty minutes they traded shots, but none of them were particularly threatening. But then at the 43 minute mark Tilion made a sudden move behind the defense on the left side and Eonwe crossed to him perfectly for the header to make it 2-0 Valimar going into halftime.

The Angband crowd buzzed loudly during the intermission. Annuminas was not playing poorly- Valimar just looked a bit better and they weren't making any mistakes. "Boy- I'm not looking forward to our next game," said one orc to the other. "If this team can paste the team that tied us, we're in trouble."

As the second half progressed it was more of the same, with the two sides playing solidly but Valimar still getting better chances. But then at minute 67 the game changed when Valimar finally made a mistake. Alatar made an ill advised pass from deep in his own zone and Argeleb intercepted it and sent it forward to Arantar who had alertly charged forward. Arantar outfought Ulmo for the ball, put a move on Pallando and placed a kick just out of Ungolient's reach to bring the score to 2-1.

The Angband fans felt better after that, perceiving that Valimar was not invincible. As the clock ran down Valimar controlled the ball well and didn't attempt to stretch their lead. Annuminas began pressing them intensely and at minute 79 it nearly paid off as Valandur stole the ball away fairly deep in the zone and rocketed a shot that Ungolient barely pushed aside.

After that Valimar decided it would be wiser to stretch the field and put the ball in the offensive zone. But at minute 85 Annuminas shocked the world for the second time in as many games. The goalie Arvedui caught a rocket from Tulkas and immediately boomed it down the field. Valandur beat Valimar to the ball and took off right around Orome and passed it to Araphor. Araphor split through Radagast and Alatar, somehow maintaining control of the ball, and passed it back to Valandur who had run past Pallando. Valandur controlled the pass without ever breaking stride and forced Ulmo to commit to him and passed beautifully back to Araphor for a one on one with the goalie.

The Annuminas section of the stadium exploded as Araphor forced the ball in past Ungolient to equalize with under five minutes left, while the Valimar fans threw up their hands in frustration. The game ended as a tie, with both teams still in the hunt for the playoffs.

Annuminas 2-2 Valimar
shots 11-11
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*Valimar, 20 (Earendil- Orome)
*Valimar, 43 (Tilion- Eonwe)
*Annuminas, 67 (Argeleb- Arantar)
*Annuminas, 85 (Araphor- Valandur)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Annuminas- Arveleg
*Valimar- Orome

After seeing Valimar and Annuminas pick up only one point, the supporters of Angband were eager to see their team pick up 3 points in the standings and hold their destiny in their own hands.

As Angband took the field Uldor and Ulfast were glaring, Ancalagon and Carcharoth were roaring, and the Balrogs looked murderous. Everyone knew that Melkor had given the team a tongue lashing after the last game and it appeared that the team had taken it to heart and were determined to produce a good result in the game.

During the first half it was obvious that Melkor had focused on defense during his pregame pep talk. Angband at times seemed to give the ball to Brethil purposefully just to showcase their defense. By the half Brethil had only managed two weak shots on goal and two off-liners. Despite the lack of scoring the crowd seemed pleased and trusted Melkor to get it done in the second half, and Angband didn't disappoint.

Straight out of the locker room Angband went on the attack and started firing shots at the goal. At minute 52 Balrog #6 sent in a corner and Gothmog kicked it in off the goalie's hands and the crowd screamed its approval.

Angband kept the pressure up and Brethil was unable to counter, though their defense put up a stiff fight. But it wasn't enough as in minute 78 Angband scored again- this time it was Ulfast punching in a rebound from Melkor's shot off the post.

As the clock ticked down and Angband continued to shut down Brethil, the crowd went into full celebration mode. They were no longer worried in the least about the final round of games. Their team was awesome, capable of playing perfectly when the situation called for it. Angband was the force to be reckoned with in the tournament.

Angband 2-0 Brethil
shots 15-6
on target 7-3
GOALS:
*Angband, 52 (Gothmog- Balrog #6)
*Angband, 78 (Ulfast- Melkor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Balrog #5, Uldor
*Brethil- Dorlas

[Nogrod]

The great city of Gondolin showed it’s shining and smiling face to both the visitors and the residents alike on day 2 of the tournament. Of all the groups it felt that it was here everyone was gathering under the banners of friendship and fair competition. There had been no street fights or other serious incidents of violence but elves, people and dwarves dwelt the busy streets carrying their flags, singing their chants and maybe exchanging a few playful rants with the supporters of other teams. This was the sunshine group.

But the setting was the same as in so many groups before this one. The losers of the first matches were meeting first fighting for not to lose and the winners of round one were contesting each other to secure their place in the play-offs.

The Eldar of Tuna had taken a beating from the home team and were not amused. Even if their main goal was now Erebor they had to win the Gondor team first. It would be unheard of and a real shame if they couldn’t make it to the play-offs. But the Gondor supporters were not at all ready to accept the setting of the match widely echoed by the media. Gondor hadn’t fallen, but the host city had. And they should be more alive and accustomed to these eastern shores than the western snobs they were facing.

But even if the Gondorians played well and made no cardinal mistakes it was clear which was the better team in the game. The Tuna offence was just too good for the Gondorian defence, especially Miriel, Finwe and Nerdanel were only too fast and tricky.

After the initial offence, that lead first to Mahtan scoring 1-0 from almost 40 meters with a terrifying blast and then Miriel heading in a corner for 2-0, the game got a little more even as the Tuna team seemed to draw some breath for the rest of the first half.

The Gondorians came bravely to the second period and at 52nd minute they narrowed the lead deservedly. And the goal was a beautiful one. Five meters from the box Valacar was clearly going to pass the ball rightwards to lord Imrahil who was making a run behind the Tuna defence. Elenwe and Guile rushed in to cut the line of the pass when Valacar suddenly stopped and chipped the ball left past Ingwe and straight to the boot of Faramir who made a beautiful one-touch shot to the opposite upper corner leaving Orodreth totally immobilised.

But the Tuna team was not easily shaken and only seven minutes after the Gondorian goal they went further away with a nice run-through by Nerdanel and Finwe. Finally Nerdanel unselfishly passed the ball to Finwe even if she could have put the ball in herself over Beregond trying to make a flying catch too late. It was an easy task for Finwe to just pass the ball in.

Tuna had cleared the obstacle and Gondor supporters were understandably disappointed, but after an hour had passed there was no sense of bitterness left as the good spirit of the host-city had eased the pain. “The next time we’ll do it!” answered a Gondor-supporter to the Arda Kicker –magazine’s journalist with a wineglass in his hand.

Gondor 1-3 Tuna
shots 10-17
on target 4-9
GOALS:
*Tuna, 14 (Mahal- Finwe)
*Tuna, 21 (Miriel- Finarfin)
*Gondor, 52 (Faramir- Valacar)
*Tuna, 59 (Finwe- Nerdanel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Valacar
*Tuna- Egalmoth



Once again there was no question, which was the main game this evening. Both the Erebor team and its fans had gathered a lot of self-confidence after beating Gondor but that was not the whole story. For underneath the amiable surface it had all through the days been clear that the Ereborians were the odd-one’s out in the great city bursting with elves and men. They felt they were the strangers and even the Lake Town fans had met a wall of indifference in pubs and other public venues after it had been revealed they were fans of Erebor. But in a way that made them feel even greater togetherness and fighting spirit. But the home crowd was really beating it’s drums.

The game was a good one and the teams seemed to be quite even in all other areas but in between the poles of the goal – and Turgon outshone all the other defenders in stamina and alertness in defence. Both teams had a magnificient attack and that resulted in lots of shots and causes for both anxiety and joy to the supporters of both teams.

Gondolin started the scoring at 34th minute as the beautiful combination of the fast and furious Eol and Maeglin passed through the little rigid Erebor defence. It had been clear from the very beginning that the Erebor team had Maeglin under a special guard as he was so intimidating when he got the ball, and it seemed that once he got it there were results on the scoreboard.

But before the half time Erebor managed to score an equalizer. It was a nice pass from Dain that reached Smaug who had rushed to the Gondolin post and just squashed the ball in. Tuor, who had played a fabulous game before that, had no chance.

But even if the game went on in a balanced way the goalie-play of Tuor and specifically Turgon’s great performances gave the home team the momentum they needed. On 68th minute the crowd burst out with much anticipated joy as Maeglin finally got the ball unharassed – after a nice dribbling by Idril drawing the defenders to her – and hammered the ball in from the bottom of his heart. One could see the relief that shone from the face of the great forward who had been pinned down for most of the match by a staunch guarding.

It was a night of endless singing and cheering as the home team had secured their place in the play-offs. But both the Erebor and Tuna fans were having a sleepless night as all would depend on the match between the two sides on the last round.

Erebor 1-2 Gondolin
shots 15-14
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*Gondolin, 34 (Eol- Maeglin)
*Erebor, 40 (Smaug- Dain)
*Gondolin, 68 (Maeglin- Idril)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Erebor- Nain, Smaug
*Gondolin- Galdor, Idril


------
E GONDOLIN

Erebor – Gondor 2-1
Gondolin – Tuna 3-2

Gondor – Tuna 1-3
Erebor – Gondolin 1-2

1. Gondolin 5-3 6
2. Tuna 5-4 3
3. Erebor 3-3 3
4. Gondor 2-5 0

Last matches:
Tuna – Erebor
Gondolin – Gondor

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by the phantom

Armenelos stunned the crowd in the 12th minute as Ar Pharazon punched in a pass from Tar Ancalimon...

Manwe called a time out for Taniquetil

Football must be quite different in Arda. Punching the ball and calling time outs...

However, had it been Taniqetil I can see how a goal by the 'hand of god' would have been allowed...

Armenelos 3-0 Taniquetil

What a shocker! Time for Manwe to make his signature move perhaps, that is, begging Eru for guidance and assistance. Obviously the Valar can't perform on their own.