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Old 03-19-2012, 04:23 PM   #41
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Eye Friendlies!

To get warmed up for the tournament, squads always play some practice matches. This year there will be four rounds of warm-ups to work with. The teams made their friendly arrangements before the groups were decided, so some of them will find themselves matched up against teams that they'll play again once the tournament starts. Will that change the way they play?

Some teams will be interested in finding a rhythm and then not over-taxing themselves. Others will want to get used to playing with proper effort against quality foes. Some will feel more comfortable from the get-go and might be prone to laziness.... We'll see what happens.

Round 1 Friendlies

Anduin vs Valimar
Angband vs Doriath
Angfauglith vs Tol In Gaurhoth
Armenelos vs Gondor
Arnor vs Imladris
Barad-Dur vs Rohan
AC Beleriand vs Inter Beleriand
Dwarves United vs Misty Mts
Erebor vs Wilderland
Eriador vs Isengard
Gondolin vs Real Valinor
Hithlum vs The Downer
Minas Tirith vs Mordor
Nargothrond vs Shire-Bree United
The Havens vs FC Valinor
The Sea vs Tirion
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Old 03-20-2012, 02:52 PM   #42
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A Friendly Preview - Round 1

To get ourselves warmed up for the tournament, we are back with a game-by-game analysis for Round 1 friendlies. Some of our competitors find predicting friendlies to be all together silly and pointless, and TTN acknowledges friendly results must be looked at with a grain of salt. However, when we promise to bring coverage from every angle, we mean every angle. Friendlies can go a long way in determining how teams plan to play and win during the tournament, and of course, how they perform against other Arda-quality teams.

TTN's eventual aim is to use the power rankings, and point-system to accurately predict match results. However, since the first power rankings are based on a lot of speculation, for Round 1 we will just give a general overview of what we expect to see. The numbers in parenthesis are where TTN has currently ranked a team.

(23)Anduin vs (2)Valimar - The way Valimar plays always translates well in winning friendlies and we expect much of the same from them this year. Anduin will be brutally annoying defensively, but ultimately won't control enough possession.
Odds: 70% Valimar wins 1-0. 25% Draw 1-1. 5% Anduin wins 1-0.

(4)Angband vs (14)Doriath - Doriath is much depleted from last year, but still has a solid core, and particularly at the mid-field which should be able to dominate Angband's mid-field. Angband will need to get the ball to their upfront play-makers to win, and I'm uncertain Morgoth will desire to spend his energy to aid the mid-field in a friendly.
Odds: 25% Angband wins 2-1. 55% Draw 1-1. 20% Doriath wins 2-1.

(12)Angfauglith vs (26)Tol In Gaurhoth - As much as TIGs comradery has gone to being extremely successful in previous Arda Cups, we can't see any way they will be able to crack Anfauglith's stellar defense. TIG could even out the game by dominating the midfield, but that will rely on phantomwolf's desire to keep his head on the game, which is usually pretty ho-hum.
Odds: 10% Anfauglith wins 2-1. 70% Anfauglith wins 1-0. 20% Draw 1-1.

(3)Armenelos vs (20)Gondor - Should be a friendly in all meanings of the word, as Armenolos tries to respectfully prove superiority over their younger brothers. The Gondorians will try to prove their own worth in the eyes of their ancestors.
Odds: 80% Armenolos wins 2-1. 15% Draw 1-1. 5% Gondor wins 2-1.

(29)Arnor vs (13)Imladris - Both squads should have the highest respect for the other, which means this will most likely be a friendly kick-around. Arnor has the superior strikers, but they can be neutralized by Imladris' brilliant defense and goal-keeping. While Elladan and Elrohir are untested, and will have trouble scoring on the less-pricey, but well-organized Arnorian defense.
Odds: 15% Imladris wins 1-0. 75% Draw 0-0. 10% Arnor wins 1-0.

(28)Barad-Dur vs (10)Rohan - Rohan looks to be one of the Middle-earth power houses this season (and it's definitely been a costly one). On the other side, Mordorians are scratching their heads at Sauron's own plan. Who has claimed he wants to bring the Arda Cup to Mordor, but has shown up this year with some of the cheapest teams.
Odds: 20% Barad Dur wins 2-1. 35% Draw 2-2. 45% Rohan wins 2-1.

(8)AC Beleriand vs (25)Inter Beleriand - AC Beleriand has put together quite a team of historic names, but it's unsure how the different personalities will mesh. Inter Beleriand, while having some strong players of their own, also has significant gaps. Balrog #5 will surely be a powerful force on the defense, but you're truly only as good as your weakest defender, and well, the rest of Inter Beleriand's defense is nothing to brag about.
Odds: 30% AC Beleriand wins 2-0. 65% AC Beleriand wins 2-1. 5% Draw 1-1.

(17)Dwarves United vs (31)Misty Mts - The Dwarves will have a difficult time containing Durin's Bane, but let's be honest, the Balrog is Misty Mts' only real threat. Also, Durin's Bane will likely be heavily guarded by either Celebrimbor or Aule, who should be able to confidently contain the Balrog. TTN has a "wait and see" policy to determine how much of a threat Dwarves United will be in the attack, but from the preliminary look, not much of a threat at all.
Odds: 50% Dwarves Utd wins 1-0. 40% Draw 0-0. 10% Misty Mts wins 1-0.

(9)Erebor vs (18)Wilderland - Promises to be one of the higher-scoring matches of this round. It will be impossible for either defense/GK to keep the other off the board. At the moment, TTN gives Erebor a slight edge defensively, but this is quite negligble. The more telling difference is how will Galadriel and Elwe want to run the mid-field? Being more conservative in mind, they may desire to hold the ball more and look for openings to feed passes to Scatha and Orome, thus their forwards may be more reigned in then Erebor's trio.
Odds: 40% Erebor wins 3-2. 30% Draw 2-2. 30% Wilderland wins 3-2

(7)Eriador vs (27)Isengard - Isengard's not going to be an easy one to beat by any means, but they will also have trouble beating anyone. Saruman may have the wits and tricks to pull it off, but we are not convinced Grima has the ability to command the mid-field. Eriador. however, is solid talent top to bottom and will be even more difficult to beat.
Odds: 5% Eriador wins 2-0. 85% Eriador wins 1-0. 10% Draw 1-1.

(22)Gondolin vs (5)Real Valinor - Not much to say about Real Valinor other than they will probably be as good as advertised and are just on a different level than Gondolin. Gondolin fans might have been displeased with Turgon's defense-first strategy in previous seasons, but TTN believes this year, Turgon's steady carefulness probably could have been needed more. That is, before shelling out 20 million each for Maeglin and Gothmog.
Odds: 15% Real Valinor wins 3-1. 15% Real Valinor wins 3-2. 70% Real Valinor wins 2-1.

(14)Hithlum vs (32)The Downer - Another high-scoring affair as we expect Hithlum's defense to have some difficulty handling The Downer's antics. However, The Downer's defense will have an even more difficult time handling Hithlum's killer forwards.
Odds: 25% Hithlum wins 4-2. 60% Hithlum wins 3-2. 15% Draw 3-3.

(21)Minas Tirith vs (30)Mordor - A battle of two teams who will meet again in the group stage. Being rivals we expect a rather bruising game, but also a sense of guardedness to not give away their full bag of tricks for when they meet again.
Odds: 20% Minas Tirith wins 2-1. 65% Draw 1-1. 15% Mordor wins 2-1

(11)Nargothrond vs (24)Shire-Bree United - Nargothrond is looking more dangerous than ever, but it will be interesting to see how they deal with transitioning from a careful defensive team, to a more powerful attacking force. Shire-Bree went far in attracting out-side help, but they're not strong enough to beat a 1st Age power.
Odds: 25% Nargothrond wins 3-1. 70% Nargothrond wins 2-1. 5% Draw 2-2.

(19)The Havens vs (1)FC Valinor - It will be difficult for any team to keep The Havens attackers off the score board. But based upon last years performances it will be harder to keep Celegorm and Curufin off the board, as well. Plus, we are more confident in FC Valinor's defensive/goal-keeping ability.
Odds: 5% FC Valinor wins 3-1. 40% FC Valinor wins 3-2. 55% FC Valinor wins 2-1.

(6)The Sea vs (16)Tirion - Ulmo's teams usually take to a pretty uninspired friendly play, but even so, they remain professional and sound, and thus nearly impossible to beat. Tirion will likely be the aggressors, but against The Sea, they may even be uninspired to make a hard push to grab the win.
Odds: 20% The Sea wins 1-0. 75% Draw 1-1. 5% Tirion wins 1-0.
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Old 03-21-2012, 02:54 PM   #43
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The AKM pre-friendlies comment

From the Editor (John Bull)

The season is being kicked off as you read this editorial, and the whole Arda is slowly coming to terms with the fact that it is once more time for Arda Cup. It is truly a time to cease all other, less important, tasks and ventures. Arda Cup is a genuine celebration of sportsmanship, valour and virtue, plus a dazzling show-off of talent, skills and cunning. All that is displayed for the whole Arda by both the greatest heroes and vilest villains of all time - in front of live audiences!

It is time for Celebration! (Be sure to check the feet-work in the beginning!)


~*~

The first round of friendlies looks pretty interesting. Which of the dazzling attacks are on fire from the very beginning, which rock-solid looking defences actually hold from the first game on, which goalkeepers claim their superiority over the forwards from the get-go? Which teams have the balance right, which need to go back to the drawing board, which players rise to the occasion against expectations, which players leave room to enhance their play in comparison to their salaries?

The world of the friendlies is a world of its own as many teams will do different kind of testing: some teams will play in over-friendly terms against some teams but with full seriousness against some others, some teams want to take it easy against a team they meet in the group-phase (or they think they will meet after it) not to reveal all their cards while others in a same situation might go for the mental supremacy and display their strength, and some might just wish to give their goalie a tough rehersal and defend lazily when others might go on trying a universal defence making also the forwards play defence first etc.

Which brings us to the odd comment made by the TTN just yesterday. It is a prime example of how mediocre journalists try to pick on their professional colleagues trying to make themselves look good - but who actually only harm their own credibility.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TTN Network
Some of our competitors find predicting friendlies to be all together silly and pointless, and TTN acknowledges friendly results must be looked at with a grain of salt. However, when we promise to bring coverage from every angle, we mean every angle. Friendlies can go a long way in determining how teams plan to play and win during the tournament, and of course, how they perform against other Arda-quality teams.
As you can see from above, we agree with the TTN that even if the friendlies are a world of their own, there can be some things an observant analyst may pay heed to and from which some predictions can be made concerning the real games to follow suite. But that has nothing to do with a network's or media-house's willingness or interest in making predictions for the first round of the friendlies. Or to the helpfulness of such more or less random predictions.

More helpful to the Arda Cup follower, especially to the phantasy-gamer, would be fex. pointing towards the fact that many, if not most, top-paid forwards are not even near the worth of their salaries if you compare the relative worth with their team-mates with over ten times smaller pocket-books. And thus one should pay heed to how they perform during the friendlies: do they score or assist, do they play it with half-speed or with full effort - and against what kind of defences etc. It is also clear that goalies and defenders with 1 million paycheck must be - again in relative terms - more worthwhile than their 20 million counterparts (even if some of them will be getting points scoring from free-kicks and corners etc.) or especially to their 5-8 million colleagues. So watch for solid defences, not only at the salaries etc.

Compared to fex. above-mentioned points, the "off the hat" predictions of 15% chance a particular first friendly ending 1-0 to one team are more or less irrelevant.


When something can be said. The AKM will be there to say it.
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Old 03-22-2012, 08:54 AM   #44
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Results

FRIENDLIES - ROUND 1

Back to the Drawing board.

A friendly that produced minimal effort from both teams, as they were on respectful terms with Thuringwethil's previous connection to TIG, and Sauron's investment this year. With such a low effort, it was no surprise both defenses were up to the task of shutting out the offenses, and as the game drew on, neither side decided to spoil the result by pushing for the winning goal.

Angfauglith 0-0 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 7-9
on target 2-4
GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angfauglith- Galdor, Balrog #3, Gorgol, Balrog #2, Thuringwethil
*TIG- LomWight, GalWight55, NogWolf, GwathWolf

Perhaps one of the more amiable matches of Round 1, but still fairly competitive at the start, as both seemed to want to test the capabilities of the other. When Tar Ancalimon broke the tie, as halftime was approaching, Armenolos put all efforts to defense. This allowed Gondor to fight their way back into the match, with Anarion tying the score in the 67th minute. Afterwards, both were content with the result and kicked the ball around for the remainder.

Armenelos 1-1 Gondor
tot shots 11-10
on target 5-5
GOALS:
*40, 1-0 Tar Ancalimon (Tar Calmacil)
*67, 1-1 Anarion (Turambar)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Ar Gimilzor
*Gondor- Earnil I

Knowing they would meet again, Minas Tirith and Mordor played extremely conservative, unwilling to give anything away. This shows even in the rather few cards that were handed out. Once the Nazgul put Mordor ahead, they did not desire to expand their lead and give Minas Tirith a reason to go into group play angry and vengeful. So, they simply kicked possession back to Minas Tirith and played defense. Mardil was able to get the equalizer in the 2nd half, and both just played possession to close out the match.

Minas Tirith 1-1 Mordor
tot shots 12-13
on target 5-4
GOALS:
*34, 0-1 Nazgul #5 (Nazgul #4)
*65, 1-1 Mardil (Boromir I)
YELLOW CARDS:
*MTirith- Ostoher, Earnur
*Mordor- Fellbeast #1, Shagrat, Gorbag
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Old 03-23-2012, 01:19 AM   #45
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As the two teams made their way onto the pitch, there was a distinct air of boredom on the part of Barad-Dur- and indeed, the team's listless play resulted in a mere three yellow cards. Rohan came out strong early, but after netting two first-half goals (one a beautiful back-kick from defender Felarof that the Barad-Dur goalie couldn't be bothered with saving), they kicked the ball to their opponents and concentrated on defense the rest of the match.


Barad-Dur 0-2 Rohan
tot shots 7-13
on target 2-6
GOALS:
*30, 0-1 Felarof (Aldor)
*44, 0-2 Eorl (Eomer)
YELLOW CARDS:
*BDur- Angamaite, Gothmog II, Herumor
*Rohan- Eorl, Felarof, King Dead

This matchup was destined to be ugly, and neither team disappointed. At times it felt like this was more a game of "take down the other team" than an actual football game - fouls abounded, and Misty Mountains newcomer Orophin achieved his first straight red of the cup, after his boot connected with Gimli's head rather than the ball (with the relative proximity of the two items, it could have been construed as an actual mistake, as Gimli was heading the ball at the time.) Several Misty Mountains players cheered as Orophin was escorted off the field, and Durin's Bane was heard mentioning something about an "initiation".


Dwarves United 0-0 Misty Mts
tot shots 6-11
on target 2-3
GOALS:
*
YELLOW CARDS:
*DwUnt- Azaghal, Durin, Thror, Gimli, Thorin
*MMts- Chief Wolf, William, Rumil, Azog, Bert
RED CARDS:
*DwUnt- Thror (62, second yellow)
*MMts- Orophin (68, straight red)



This matchup was very cordial - the two teams rarely came into contact with one another, preferring instead to concentrate on passing and passing disruption. Real came out with a goal early, off the boot of Nessa (assisted by Tilion), and another soon after that, courtesy of Enerdhil (off a swift header by Miriel.) Gondolin attempted to even the score, sending in a goal themselves, but once that happened, Real turned up their possession game. Gondolin didn't have possession more than twice the rest of the game.

Gondolin 1-3 Real Valinor
tot shots 9-17
on target 3-8
GOALS:
*18, 0-1 Nessa (Tilion)
*26, 0-2 Enerdhil (Miriel)
*59, 1-2 Gothmog (Duilin)
*73, 1-3 Arien (Nerdanel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondolin- Gothmog, Galdor
*RealVal- Caranthir
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Old 03-23-2012, 03:37 PM   #46
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Eye friendlies rolling along...

The Dúnedain of the north have long been the friends of the Elves of Imladris, so it made sense that the two would agree to a friendly even before they knew what their rosters were.

Rivendell played host, and Elendil, Isildur, and company took the opportunity to arrive early and dine with the Children of Elrond and their friends and enjoy tale-telling and music afterwards. As evening approached the players went to their separate preparation rooms to dress and the rest filed into the arena alongside other residents of the area, as well as those that had traveled in support of Arnor.

The game on the field was very casual and light-hearted. The defenses didn't chase the ball much, but rather allowed the offensive players to try various ball-tricks to work it in past a thinner defense when they had the notion. But the defenders didn't just let people go past either, and did their best in a non-physical manner.

Neither were the offenses overly aggressive- there was a lot of passing work. The game was in every respect a glorified warm-up.

Before the half ended both squads managed a handful of decent attempts, but only Imladris sent them into the netting. Arnor dinged the sidebar on one, and their other best attempt was miraculously saved by Elros, who seemed keen to prove that he could replace his brother better than critics believed.

In the second half Imladris was decidedly avoiding going on offense, and Arnor pressed for a while to get on the board. After they forced Elros to make a couple more great saves, Elendil decided that their work was done and that they would just kick it around to finish things off. Both teams felt they had gotten in some work against a talented squad and were content to leave it at that.

Arnor 0-2 Imladris
tot shots 12-10
on target 5-5
GOALS:
*27, 0-1 Elrohir (Arwen)
*43, 0-2 Elladan (Figwit)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Malvegil
*Imlad-

---------------------------------------------------
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Erebor and Wilderland figured they might end up in the same group when they scheduled their friendly, but it didn't matter. It was simply too convenient an arrangement to pass up.

King Thranduil was hosting the match at his underground palace, and it wasn't a bad trip at all for supporters of either team. And in fact there were quite a few that were supporting both at once.

Thranduil was with Erebor, while his father King Oropher and the popular Galion was with Wilderland, so the Elves were split. Both squads also featured a dragon- Scatha for Wilderland and Smaug for Erebor.

The squads were decently friendly on the pitch, though they were certainly a bit more physical than some early contests. Tactics-wise both squads were extremely restrained, as they would be playing each other for real in groups.

At minute 20 Smaug pounded in a corner, at which point Erebor called off the attack and just hung back to clog up their half of the pitch. Wilderland equalized shortly before the half and that was that so far as Erebor was concerned.

Wilderland on the other hand started the second half looking for a repeat of the first, with each squad scoring once. They scored and fell back to defend, but Erebor was entirely unwilling to up their effort or offensive support just to attempt to gain a friendly goal, so they kicked it around until time was up.

Erebor 1-2 Wilderland
tot shots 16-9
on target 7-5
GOALS:
*20, 1-0 Smaug (Bard)
*42, 1-1 Orome (Elwe)
*54, 1-2 Orome (Elwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Erebor- Bolg, Dain, Smaug, Landroval
*Wilder- Skinbark, Beechbone, Scatha

---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

Isengard and Eriador agreed to a more neutral ground friendly, meeting up at an old worn field near Tharbad. The conditions weren't ideal but both squads were just looking to get a read on their teammates and run a bit with tournament talent.

The first half was extremely lackluster and not much to speak of. They were pretty well taking turns kicking and moving, just seeing if they could work with each other.

In the second half Elrond encouraged his side to move forward more aggressively to crack the scoreboard, and indeed they did. After that they fell back to await Isengard's attempt at the equalizer, but it didn't come easy for Saruman. After Elrond saved what was their finest effort yet Saruman ordered his side to just save their energy for the next match.

Eriador 1-0 Isengard
tot shots 9-7
on target 3-2
GOALS:
*56, 1-0 Arveleg (Glorfindel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Eriador- Asfaloth
*Isen- Saruman, Lurtz

---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

At the time when Hithlum decided to schedule their friendly with The Downer they thought it was possible they'd end up in the same group, and Hador wanted his squad to be prepared for the unorthodox Downer team. He had encountered them in last year's Arda Cup and knew what an odd lot they were.

When they discovered they wouldn't be in the group after all, Hador tried to reschedule, but no one was willing to trade. The Downer's violent and often illegal methods were an injury risk that most teams simply weren't willing to take.

So Hithlum decided to come out with decent effort and energy and grab a couple goals, and then pull back and hope that The Downer would channel their energy into equalizing rather than roughing them up.

In the first half it worked quite well. Downer players were a bit slow realizing they were playing and Hithlum was able to get a couple of goals before they really woke up. After that they pulled back and let the Downers have their turn, which they did capitalize on before the end of the half.

Things had gone so smoothly in the first that Hithlum decided to once again try and come out fast and grab a goal and then let The Downer make a trial of their defense. The first bit went off without a hitch, as Hador himself put it in off a nice Nienor feed. But when Hithlum pulled back they found that The Downer wasn't in a mood for offensive execution, but rather felt like being just plain offensive.

John Fillis was first to get things going, as he was caught loosening the laces of Sador. Then Alien, not to be outdone, forced one of Arroch's horse-shoes off. While the ref was busy sorting that out, Evil Mayo threw bits of himself into the eyes of Androg and Gethron.

Infuriated by the turn of events, Hurin called for another attack to be launched, and he teamed up with his son to put Hithlum up by another goal. Soon after Burnt Bert retaliated by taking Turin down with a very late tackle, and was lucky not to be sent off.

The ref called Captain Hookbill over and gave him a talking to, explaining that he could not allow them to play in this manner. Hookbill eventually got the message and told them that they'd have to play it straight, and they finally agreed to it after he promised to reward them after the contest. (No outsiders asked what the reward was- no one wanted to know.)

For the final 20 The Downer was nicely focused, and none other than Alien himself put the ball in off a deft find from the Captain, and the match ended at 4 to 2.

Hithlum 4-2 The Downer
tot shots 11-16
on target 6-7
GOALS:
*14, 1-0 Hurin (Turin)
*29, 2-0 Hurin (Nienor)
*38, 2-1 Hookbill (Lalwende MP)
*49, 3-1 Hador (Nienor)
*63, 4-1 Turin (Hurin)
*81, 4-2 Alien (Hookbill)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Hurin, Nienor, Grithnir
*Downer- John Fillis, Alien, Evil Mayo, Burnt Bert
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Old 03-23-2012, 06:09 PM   #47
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Friendlies rolling along...

The friendly game between Angband and Doriath was played on the stadium of Eithel Sirion and both sides had ample crowds of followers to attend the game. To the disappointement of many, there never was a real fight even if the line-ups might have promised a more heated game between the old rivals.

After some careful kicking the ball around Mablung scored for the Doriath team at half an hour’s mark. With that Melian called her team to retreat into defence. But Morgoth was not applying any real pressure, but went on as they had played their game so far. That sure turned the game a little on the team Angband’s favour but neither team seemed to be playing it for real. Fifteen minutes before the end Ancalagon finally scored it even. Then both teams looked like happy with the result and kicked the ball around for the last fifteen minutes.

Angband 1-1 Doriath
tot shots 9-9
on target 4-5
GOALS:
*31, 0-1 Mablung (Daeron)
*75, 1-1 Ancalagon (Ulfast)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Ulwarth, Lorgan, Ancalagon
*Doriath-

~*~

Because of the ban on playing Arda Cup games in the west, the teams made up of mostly western players were forced to travel east to play the friendlies. To that matter Cirdan offered a nice solution offering to host two games at the Grey Havens.

On the first one The Sea led by Ulmo played it even with team Tirion led by Finwë. The game looked like a draw from the very beginning and it ended like one as well. That doesn’t mean the teams were just walking around the pitch, but they were clearly rehearsing both atttack and defence, taking their turns. So none was surprised the game ended 2-2. The only news one might call for would be Eönwë’s passivity, but when the real games begin there is no reason to think he would not rise to the occasion.

The Sea 2-2 Tirion
tot shots 14-14
on target 7-5
GOALS:
*21, 1-0 Tar Minastir (Tar Meneldur)
*39, 1-1 Aredhel (Finwe)
*59, 2-1 Tar Aldarion (Tar Minastir)
*81, 2-2 Finwe (Ingwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Sea- Tar Meneldur, Osse
*Tirion- Thorondor


At the late-game the crowds were finally given some value for their money as the home team The Havens and the visiting FC Valinor produced some real game on the first period – and even if the pace of the game fell down on the second half, the crowds were treated with two nice goals on that half as well.

Eventually FC Valinor won the the game and no keen onlooker could have missed the dynamics of the game: FC Valinor made a goal and then pulled back until The Havens equalised. And then again they scored and pulled back… in the end, after Curifin’s 3-2 goal, the game kind of settled down as the home team felt no urge to fight the last ten minutes for real.

The Havens 2-3 FC Valinor
tot shots 15-12,
on target 6-7
GOALS:
*9, 0-1 Celegorm (Yavanna)
*38, 1-1 Earendil (Andreth)
*43, 1-2 Curufin (Maglor)
*73, 2-2 Tuor (Andreth)
*79, 2-3 Curufin (Idril)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Havens- Aegnor
*FCVal- Irmo
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Old 03-23-2012, 10:12 PM   #48
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Pipe Tar-Eldar Network Television friendly coverage

Tar-Eldar Network Television's first ever Arda Cup friendly broadcast was almost cancelled when a freak thunderstorm struck the Ever-Cold Arena in Himring, shorting out TENT's broadcast tent. But after a few minutes and some Húrinean effort from network technicians it was restarted in time for the kick-off of the friendly match between AC Beleriand and Inter Beleriand.

It was to be expected that the match would be a friendly in every sense of the word, what with Fëanor and his eldest son being captains of the opposing squads. However it still turned out to be a competitive game between the two, at least during the first half. After getting their two goals AC Beleriand went purely defensive in the second half. Inter Beleriand tried their best to get a goal, but after a few tries they realised they were going nowhere against the Fingolfin-led back line and were content to play shut down instead.

AC Beleriand 2-0 Inter Beleriand
GOALS:
15, 1-0 Beren (Eöl)
32, 2-0 Fëanor (Ecthelion)

Total Shots
12-14
Shots On Target
6-5

YELLOW CARDS:
2-3
ACBel: Ulrad, Rochallor
Inter: Balrog #5, Haleth, Gorlim

In other games not televised by TENT:

Anduin vs Valimar
Despite being forced to play in unfamiliar surroundings, it seems that nothing much has changed in the minds of Manwë and Mandos, abiding once again by their one-goal-win strategy that they have mostly stuck to in the past. This was not a particularly high-energy match, with both squads going through the motions before Valimar finally scored. After the first (and eventually only) goal both teams became even more conservative and Anduin figured it wasn't worth the effort to try and equalise against the Valarin defence.

After the game none from the Valimar team sat down for the post-game interview.

Anduin 0-1 Valimar
total shots 9-10
on target 3-5
GOALS:
*55, 0-1 Pallando (Ilmare)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Léod, Borondir
*Valimar- Amrod, Alatar

__________________


Nargothrond vs Shire-Bree United
This was perhaps one of the gems of the first round of friendlies, especially for those who like daring individual plays, fancy passing, and high scores. Glaurung and Bombadil lit up the scoreboards, and the Barrow-Wight and Finrod both got a couple of assists. The Barrow-Wight was quite familiar with the two who converted off his passes, having played with Bombadil and Strider before in the 2010 Breeland squad (and re-teaming with the Ranger in Eriador last year), but the Friend of Men immediately connected with the Father of Dragons despite not having played with him in four years. After the game Glaurung commented, 'Finrod's passing is sublime, and his ability to read defences is unparalleled. He's not just a friend of Men, he's a friend of anyone who wants to score.'

Despite the competitiveness this was a very carefree affair. At first both squads tried to grab the lead, and then whoever scored fell back to allow the other team a chance to tie. Mistakes were made here and there, especially in the defensive end, but the teams weren't bothered by it. After Strider's goal the teams mutually decided to leave the scoreline be, and just passed the ball around in the final seven minutes. Said Strider after the game, 'It's just fun to be on the pitch once more, and I think both our teams showed it. Sure, we have a lot of things to improve on if we want to go far in the Cup, but for now, after the uncertainty of the off-season, just having the chance to play again is a treat.'

Nargothrond 4-4 Shire-Bree United
total shots 21-18
on target 10-9
GOALS:
*10, 0-1 Bombadil (Barrow-Wight)
*16, 1-1 Glaurung (Gwindor)
*28, 2-1 Gwindor (Finrod)
*39, 2-2 Khamûl (Strider)
*51, 2-3 Bombadil (Bandobras)
*60, 3-3 Glaurung (Finduilas)
*68, 4-3 Glaurung (Finrod)
*83, 4-4 Strider (Barrow-Wight)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Nargothrond- Arminas
*SBU- Nazgûl #6, Strider
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Old 03-24-2012, 11:13 AM   #49
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Power Rankings - 1

THE TWO TOWERS NETWORK
Boromir the 88th

Welcome readers, with Round 1 friendlies complete TTN would like to bring the next installment of the power rankings. Our formula takes into account the result (Win, Draw, or Loss), the strength of the opponent, and the strength of victory (or goal differential). Also, we take into account past results, and that way your team keeps winning, they will rise more quickly than teams that are less consistent.

This time we will add some commentary, with the numbers since there are clear results to look at. (Further note: in our next issue TTN will address the spurious accusations by the AKM, that somehow we are a "mediocre" network, but at this time, we will go ahead with only our just released Power Rankings).

Key: (Rank. Team. (w-d-l) - Points).

Power Rankings

01. Real Valinor (1-0-0) - 40.0
The solid 2-goal win over 22nd ranked Gondolin puts Real Valinor ahead of all other winners after Round 1.
(Last: W 3-1, Gondolin)

02. FC Valinor (1-0-0) - 39.5
With our previous ranking mainly based on team salary and how the rosters looked on paper, all teams were relatively close together. Despite FC Valinor's 3-2 win over 19th ranked Havens, it wasn't quite enough to hold on to the #1 spot after computing all numbers. But it is tight at the top for sure.
(Last: W 3-2, Havens)

03. Valimar (1-0-0) - 37.0
Valimar also fell a spot after beating Anduin (23rd) only by a 1-0 margin.
(Last: W 1-0, Anduin)

04. AC Beleriand (1-0-0) - 34.0
After defeating Inter Beleriand (25th) 2-0, AC rose 4 places in the rankings, but ultimately Inter Beleriand, at least at the moment, was not a strong enough team to see Feanor's team rise any higher.
(Last: W 2-0, Inter Beleriand)

05. Armenolos (0-1-0) - 32.5
Gondor was certainly one of the tougher opponents played by our top-ranked teams, but after a disappointing result, Armenolos falls 2 places. And barely remains above the surging Rohan.
(Last: D 1-1, Gondor)

06. Rohan (1-0-0) - 32.0
Convincing victory over Barad Dur, but Barad dur is at the bottom of our rankings, so if Rohan seeks to crack the top 5, they will have to beat tougher opponents, or Barad-dur will seriously have to step up and start winning some matches themselves.
(Last: W 2-0, Barad-dur)

07. Angband (0-1-0) - 32.0
Another disappointing draw from a Top 5 team, means Angband also fell a few places. Technically, they are tied for 6th with Rohan, but since Rohan has a win, Angband only a draw, Rohan moves ahead.
(Last: D 1-1, Doriath)

08. Eriador (1-0-0) - 30.5
Despite a win against Isengard in Round 1, we see Eriador fall 1 place. Simply put, they have to beat better opponents than the 27th ranked Isengard, and more than by a 1-0 score if they wish to remain in the Top 10.
(Last: W 1-0, Isengard)

09. The Sea (0-1-0) - 30.0
After a draw with Tirion (16th), The Sea does fall some, making way for a few teams below them who won their Round 1. Still, Tirion is a difficult opponent so The Sea shouldn't be too upset coming away with the draw.
(Last: D 2-2, Tirion)

10. Imladris (1-0-0) - 26.0
A 2-0 win against Arnor saw Imladris rise 3 spots. There is still quite a bit of distance between them and our 9th ranked team this week. If Imladris wants to improve, they must show they can beat better teams.
(Last: W 2-0, Arnor)

11. Wilderland (1-0-0) - 25.5
Wilderlands 2-1 win against last weeks 9th ranked Erebor, means Wilderland jumped ahead 7 places, and are right behind Imladris. We will point out, however, this is also why we recalculate all points from round to round. Wilderland benefitted the most from beating a Top 10 team, but if Erebor continues to fall, this win will start looking less and less impressive. (*For fuller explanation on how we recalculate go to bottom of the page)
(Last: W 2-1, Erebor)

12. Hithlum (1-0-0) - 25.0
Based on some teams ahead of them drawing, or losing, Hithlum did see a slight jump after a 4-2 win over The Downer. But not as significant as Wilderland, because of the strength of opponent.
(Last: W 4-2, The Downer)

13. Nargothrond (0-1-0) - 24.0
Not a terrible result, as Nargothrond was able to score a throng of goals against Shire-Bree. But it still ended in a draw, and those are teams Nargothrond has to beat if they want to make it past the group stage this year.
(Last: D 4-4, SB-United)

14. Erebor (0-0-1) - 24.0
And this is where Ereborn ends up after a loss to the lower ranked Wilderland. Wilderland was still a decent team in the pre-rankings, which is why Erebor still stays slightly ahead of the host of teams who had Round 1 draws.
(Last: L 1-2, Wilderland)

15. Doriath (0-1-0) - 22.5
Ends up tied with Angfauglith, but we will place one spot ahead based upon their draw with the stronger Angband, and also because of scoring a goal.
(Last: D 1-1, Angband)

16. Angfauglith (0-1-0) - 22.5
A pretty disappointing result, just an all around ho-hum performance with no energy against the weaker TIG squad. However, this is also why we assign friendly matches with an Importance value of 1. Some teams simply play better when the games mean more, and so if Angfauglith shows up in the group stage, their lack of spirit in the friendlies won't be as important.
(Last: D 0-0, Tol-in-Gaurhoth)

17. Tirion (0-1-0) - 21.0
Not bad, getting a drawing against the higher-ranked Sea, but not great either. And so Tirion stayed pretty much the same from their previous ranking.
(Last: D 2-2, The Sea)

18. Gondor (0-1-0) - 17.5
Gondor was able to rise a couple spots based on drawing with 3rd ranked Armenolos. And just nudge ahead of Dwarves United.
(Last: D 1-1, Armenolos)

19. Dwarves United (0-1-0) - 17.0
Frankly, we were disappointed with Dwarves United complete lack of scoring ability against the much lower ranked Misty Mountains. We knew the Dwarves would have a difficult time scoring, but did not realize it would be this bad.
(Last: D 0-0, Misty Mts)

20. The Havens (0-0-1) - 14.0
Losing to a difficult opponent means The Havens won't drop too far in our power-rankings, at least this week. But losing is losing, and if that continues, Havens will start falling more dramatically.
(Last: L 2-3, FC Valinor)

21. Minas Tirith (0-1-0) - 13.0
Draw with Mordor, not horrible, but it will keep the White Tower exactly where they were previously. Really, they need better performances against Mordor if they hope to advance, but we can see why they played conservatives, since they will see Mordor again.
(Last: D 1-1, Mordor)

22. Shire Bree Utd (0-1-0) - 12.5
A draw against Nargothrond was pretty good for the Shire team, good enough they jumped a couple places, at least, and are closing in on Minas Tirith.
(Last: D 4-4, Nargothrond)

23. Gondolin (0-0-1) - 11.0
Gondolin barely hangs on from falling any further based on they played a really tough Real Valinor, and Tol-in-Gaurhoth showed absolutely no effort against Angfauglith.
(Last: L 1-3, Real Valinor)

24. Tol in Gaurhoth (0-1-0) - 10.5
As a continuance form the above point, TIG jumped up a few spots, but must deliver better performances than 0-0 draws when playing so-so competition.
(Last: D 0-0, Angfauglith)

25. Anduin (0-0-1) - 10.0
Played Valimar tough, still came out with nothing to show for it. That's what matters most in this tournament, and Anduin appears to have no teeth to their offense.
(Last: L 0-1, Valimar)

26. Inter Beleriand (0-0-1) - 8.0
Difficult opponent, so they may be better than their current power ranking. However, likely not much better, unless they can improve quickly after a few more friendlies.
(Last: L 0-2, AC Beleriand)

27. Isengard (0-0-1) - 6.0
No shame in losing to Eriador 0-1. That is afterall, what we essentially expected. So, what do we expect from Isengard? Well, much the same. Staying down near the bottom of the rankings.
(Last: L 0-1, Eriador)

28. Mordor (0-1-0) - 5.0
Decent result, getting a draw with Minas Tirith. The team of Nazgul and co, certainly seems to be stronger than Barad Dur at the moment.
(Last: D 1-1, Minas Tirith)

29. Barad Dur (0-0-1) - 5.0
Not at all the start that we expected out of Barad dur. Rohan looks to be an extremely strong team, but Barad-dur showed no backbone at all in Round 1.
(Last: L 0-2, Rohan)

30. Misty Mts (0-1-0) - 4.5
The draw allowed Misty Mts to jump ahead of Arnor, but how good is Dwarves United? That is yet to be determined. And how bad is it, that Misty Mts could only forge a 0-0 tie?
(Last: D 0-0, Dwarves Utd.)

31. Arnor (0-0-1) - 4.0
Arnor may be even worse off than we imagined. Imladris was a tough opponent, but losing straight up 2-0? Arnor will have difficulties advancing.
(Last: L 0-2, Imladris)

32. The Downer (0-0-1) - 1.0
When their heads are in it, The Downer definitely showed an ability to score, but even when their heads are in it...still same results. A loss.
(Last: L 2-4, Hithlum)
_______

*RECALCULATIONS: Since our Pre-friendly rankings were based without any results, we recalculate points from round to round. That way, if we ranked a team too high (or too low) before seeing any matches, our power-rankings are the most true and accurate. Fully based upon match results, and not how we ranked them prior. We noted the Wilderland-Erebor match.

Based on beating the 9th ranked Erebor, Wilderland earned 21 points in Round 1. And they certainly benefitted from beating a Top 10 team (hence jumping up a full 7 spots in the power rankings). However, Erebor is no longer the 9th ranked, team but now 14th. Based on this, when we recalculate the points for the next power-rankings, Wilderland will get 15 points for beating Erebor. Their win, will mean less, since Erebor fell in the rankings. That trend will continue if Erebor continues to fall. Or if Erebor bounces back with wins of their own, than Wilderland's victory will just look all the more impressive.

After Round 2, we will of course immediately publish the next Power Rankings, so stay tuned for that. But once Round 2 friendlies are released to the press, read TTN's preview and insight. I think you will find it to be much more accurate, with it's spot-on analysis and predictions than AKM, or TENT will try to make you believe.
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Old 03-25-2012, 01:43 PM   #50
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Pipe Thev AKM's group analysis after the frist round of friendlies

NB. The groups are handled in the order they will meet each other in the first round of qualification matches after the group-stage; so group A is followed by group H, group B by group G etc.

These are only preliminary notions about the predictable strengths of the teams. More accurate analysis will follow as we get more friendlies under our belt.


~*~

Group A

The first friendlies showed that the Shire-Bree united will be fighting for qualification for real. When in the mood, Bombadil (2+0) is as deadly a weapon in the offence as Fëanor and Túrin. Even if they had a loose game, scoring four goals is always a mark of some decent attacking skills and even if the two other contenders from group A aka. T-I-G and Angband both had tougher and different-mooded games, their scoring needs to rise a level before the group-stage if they wish to overrun the Shire-Bree Utd.

The AKM also takes note of the fresh performances of the Barrow-Wight (0+2) and Strider (1+1).

T-I-G left a pretty sloppy impression of themselves. Happily they are still testing players as fex. LomWight and GreenWight clearly don’t belong to this level of the game. Also, with the quality of their shots (too few of them) they mostly make the opponent’s goalkeeper look good.

Angband’s defence doesn’t look so solid many thought it would, but luckily it seems Carcaroth is playing the game on his level being one of the best goalies on the first round of friendlies (the AKM holds 80% saving-percentage to be a kind of borderline between good and bad goal-tending). But Angband’s attacking capabilities were hardly shown in their game against Doriath, so a lot remains unclear right now.

The Downer showed once again that they can be a nuisance – and if the opposing team doesn’t take them seriously, they can also score. But the results are the results and they tend to end being the losing side game after game. Especially the goal tending of Bubble Buddha is plain bad (33% - 2 saves from 6 shots!).


Group H

If Sauron wasn’t playing for Barad Dûr the AKM would be ready to write the team off from any considerations concerning their qualification from the group-phase. Yes we know they played the game on walking pace, but whatever their intention might be, it doesn’t look good, any way one tries to look at it.

Gondor on the contrary made an impressive play ending up equal with Armenelos in a somewhat competitive game, even if the equaliser was due more to the passivity of team Armenelos on the second half and the kind of gentlemanlike attitude of both teams. Hyermendacil showed some promising saves on the goal and that will give the team added confidence.

Minas tirith and Mordor draw their game playing a half-paced and half-hearted game. But it seemed Mordor was more the team in command of the game, basically letting Minas Tirith to equalise. Which doesn’t speak too well about the Gondorians.

Silent Watcher looks like a decent goalie for 1 million salary… which just goes to show how ridiculous some wages in this tournament are (Huan’s salary is 18 million and his percentage is 13% lower - the shots he faced sure had more quality, but still).


-----

Group B

Group B looks weaker than originally as only Eriador was able to pull out a win from the first round of friendlies – and even they didn’t impress anyone with their performance winning Isengard just 1-0.

The greatest disappointment sure was team Gondolin. With Gothmog and Maeglin (and their 20 million salaries) spearheading the offence, the footballing community of Arda had been looking forwards to some dazzling offensive play, but there was nothing of the sort to be seen. Now sure, Real Valinor is one of the favourites to win the tournament this year, but you rarely win if you can’t deliver more than three shots on goal, especially if the attack is the thing you have invested your money on.

It also looks that Arnor is not the solidly defending team it once was and it’s attack looks pretty pathetic as well. So unless Araphor finds himself again, or unless Isildur starts to show his qualities the first time, it will be bye-bye to team Arnor. Imladris isn’t a weak team but not a serious contender for top eight (or even 16 if you just counted the relative strengths of the teams – because of the group-settings they might go that far though) and it was clear Arnor had no way of beating them even if they had tried harder.

There are no great tales to be told about Inter Beleriand either. Everyone knew that from the two rivalling Beleriand-teams AC Beleriand are the “big guys”, but how easily they scored two on the first half and – even if they gave the chance to Inter on the second half – how easily they kept their sheet clean, just talks a lot both about the weakness of Inter’s defence and the sloppiness of Fingon and Maedhros at the moment. We say “at the moment” as we know they are both able to perform on a different level and if they find that gear Inter Beleriand may well fight for the second slot from group B.

Eriador didn’t do anything to impress anyone, but took a secure victory over Isengard with minimal effort. One must ask, why do teams play friendlies if they don’t practise or try anything, but maybe that was just getting used to the game after a year’s break, or something? Whatever the cause for their sloppiness, team Eriador will advance as the group winner quite easily – unless they become overconfident and play like in that first friendly when the tournament begins for real.


Group G

If teams from group B were disappointments, the teams from group G gave a lot more solid performances. As was to be expected. Looking at the first qualification rounds it looks like only Eriador has a say meeting any of the teams from group G. But who will they meet will be a tough one. Unlike group B, group G spells quality.

Even if they had an “open doors” game with the Shire-Bree Utd., Glaurung from Nargothrond is on fire! Scoring a hat-trick is always scoring a hat-trick – and with Felagund (0+2) and Gwindor (1+1) by his side, Nargothrond has shown they will be making the opposite defences sweat for their salary. Beör the Old was left quite alone in the goal and so his pretty bad saving-percentage might not give us a true picture of his current form, but it is a fact one should not forget either: Nargothrond’s defence doesn’t stand on the same level of quality as their offence.

Anfaughlith was probably the only team from group G that left the AKM a bit disappointed. Their defence seems to work all right – although T-I-G, at it’s current form, isn’t probably any decent yardstick to test it – but they sure have a lot to improve on offence. Like the AKM predicted already as the rosters were published, Thuringwethil is just a bit too alone in the offence. Spending ridiculous sums to defence thus comes biting them back.

Doriath on the other hand managed to surprise the AKM positively. In a pretty competitive, even if somewhat laid-back game they managed to score and keep their lead with tough defence for 45 minutes against Morgoth’s Angband. That speaks good for their chances to compete for qualification.

AC Beleriand in turned showed how good a team it is. In the rivalry game against Inter Beleriand they were on control through the game. They scored twice on the first half and then just shut Inter out of the game securing a clean victory. Fëanor (1+0), Eöl (0+1) and Beren (1+0) seem to be in shape once again, but the most positive news to AC was Marach’s performance on goal shutting out five shots and thus sharing the title of the best goalie of the round with Elros of Imladris.


-----

Group C

Unless Dwarves United starts to show a capability to also play the game this group looks like more or less settled already. Anduin did lose to Valimar only 0-1, but there’s little there to tell the future generations about. Amroth played a good game in the goal, but that’s more or less all there is. And it will not be enough.

Aule’s team of dwarves was a real disappointment in action. If the idea was, that by signing Legolas into attack they would overcome the dwarvish scoring problems, it seems to have been wishful thinking. Legolas is a quality player but even he can’t deliver it on his own. The dwarves in the midfield can suffocate an opponent’s play but they just don’t seem to have feet or quick reactions enough to feed a striker. Also the effectivity of Celebrimbor and Aule in the defence must be questioned when they give the opponent as qualityless as Misty Mts. to shoot a dozen of shots while they themselves shot only half of that. For their good fortune, Misty Mts. only managed three of those towards the goal.

Erebor and Wilderland met each other in the friendly game and were clearly careful not to give up their best tactics or the quality of their effort, but there are two things a keen eye notices immediately.

First Oromë seems to have found himself a team and an assistant (Elwë Greymantle) he really feels at home with. Two goals for the two guys looks pretty promising looking at the future – especially if Scatha and Galadriel will find their game as well. And the effectivity of their scoring was remarkable.

On the other hand, even with a kind of subdued play Erebor managed to shoot 16 shots (of which 9 towards the goal). They need to heighten the quality of their shots though – even if part of the explanation to them scoring only once must be Great Warg’s solid play on Wilderland goal. But what can be promised is, that Smaug and Thranduil will keep their opponent’s defences and goalies busy, and if they start to aim a bit better it will bring hard times to anyone opposing Erebor.


Group F

Group F has two clear favourites to advance from the group-stage and the two other teams need to perform anything short of miracles to seriously contest for those two places.

Saruman maybe The Wizard, and the former head of the White Council, but his adventures in the Arda Cup have always ended up as failures. And it looks like the history is repeating itself once again. Eriador sure is one of the possible teams to advance far in the tournament, especially because of Elrond at the goal – but if you only shoot twice against a goalie of that caliber your game is doomed. Losing to Eriador only 0-1 is a honourable defeat in principle, but looking at how lazily Eriador played the game (lazy first half, then a little period of some playing to score and then again pulling back) there’s not much to brag about that for Saruman.

Misty Mountains seems like the other drop-out from this group. One would have thought Durin’s Bane and Azog could get the ball rolling in offence, and in a way they did, shooting eleven shots – but only three on target. Instead of a precision attack you get an aerial bombardment. And even if there was some understandable rivalry between the teams in this game against the Dwarves, one straight red and five yellow cards is just too much for any team to play a succesful game.

Which analysis leaves us with the teams going through from group F.

Now the question on everyone’s lips before the games concerning Imladris was, whether Elrond’s children would be ready to take the responsibilty to lead the team without their father. The late signing of their uncle was seen by many as a panic reaction to a lack of leadership in Rivendell after the master had gone. Whatever the case it looks pretty good on Imladris right now. Elros was the security principle himself on the goal and all the children got their names on the scoreboard in the Imladris’ confident victory over Arnor. Whether their form will carry them further in the tournament only the time will tell, but they are clearly going through from the group-stage unless their first performance was a happy-go-lucky incident.

Rohan on the other hand might go relatively far this year – especially looking at the weakish opponents they will be facing in the first qualifiers. Sauron’s laid back Barad Dûr sure was no real test by any standard, but they took a convincing 2-0 victory shutting Barad Dûr totally out of the game after their second goal. The Mearas backline is back and it looks formidable. And with their relative strength on both offence and midfield team Rohan looks pretty dangerous this year. The strongest of the group F anyway.


-----

Group D

It would be nice to say that group D is anyone’s game, but it looks like both Valinor teams are going to have the best bet to advance. That is not to say Armenelos and Tirion have no chances, but it is to say that they need to really show some quality to pass the two Valinor-based teams.

You can imagine the row that will ensue if Armenelos is left into the group-stage. The island will just plain explode, especially as the games will take place there in front of the demanding home-audience. The Dunedáin are no simpletons, far from it, and they understand that their team has been thrown into the group of death, but nevertheless: losing is not an option to the Numenórians. They will just refuse to concentrate on that idea and thus – if they don’t qualify – the shock will be huge.

Now it is almost impossible to assess their current form on the basis of that friendly-friendly with their younger brothers from the mainland but the AKM has to note that – like it said already earlier – Ar Pharazôn and Ar Adunakhôr lack a boot to feed them. That is a problem they need to address if they wish to qualify.

Tirion’s draw with The Sea is as ambiguous as Armenelos’ one with Gondor. It seemed both teams were playing very amiably giving each other chances and not caring too much about actually winning. Tirion’s attack seems to be in a nice form already now, but their Achilles’ heel is the defence where they lose to basically everyone in group D with their cheap defenders and an overpaid (and card-magnet) eagle.

Ranking the Valinor-teams is not an easy task. Taking Real Valinor’s confident 3-1 win over Gondolin as a reason to put Real over FC - like the TTN does – is compelling as that kind of win over a former powerhouse looks very good indeed. But then again it looks like FC Valinor was more or less in total control over their game with The Havens, purposefully allowing Havens to come into the game after scoring themselves. And saying that Gondolin is the better team of the two the Valinor teams faced is basicallt stuff from historybooks. Gondolin has been great, but the last year was a disaster and it doesn’t look that good this year either.

Talking not of their opponents but the teams themselves, it looks clear both teams have dazzling attacks. Curufin (2+0) is one of the hottest strikers this early to the season and Celegorm (1+0), Yavanna (0+1) and Idril (0+1) have not gotten rust on their boots either. But the dynamic trio Miriel (0+1), Nerdanel (0+1) and Arien (1+0) look strong once again – and now they seem to have interesting support from the midfield from Nessa (1+0) and Enerdhil (1+0) – and Tilion (0+1) seems to have ample time to come to support the attacks from his position in the defence. So just looking at the players and their stats from previous years would push the balance towards Real Valinor, just for the wider base of excellence.

Thinking about the goalies would easily make the analyst go for FC Valinor in turn with Huan, the most succesful goalie, well the most succesful player, of the whole Arda Cup history, standing between the posts while Real has put Tulkas on goal. Tulkas is in one way the most powerful of the Valar, but is he a goal-keeper? That is a question. Who kept the twenty-million forwards Gothmog and Maeglin at bay only allowing them one goal? Well that was the Real defence as Tulkas only had to face three shots – of which he let in one.

But Huan wasn’t at his sharpest either – and as the AKM has said many times: Huan tends to be the winning goalie (and that is what counts in tournaments!), but he’s not the best there is – and if the defences start to break down he’s not going to hold the team on the surface alone, like goalies like Elrond, Manwë or Tar Atanamir can do on their best day.

So the AKM will not at this point make a prediction on which team wins group D, but holds it more or less a miracle if the winning team in this group is not one of the two Valinor-based teams.


Group E

Another “killer-group” became even more hairy with the confident performance of team Hithlum, even if the Downer is a team playing against which no one should judge anything. But Seeing all the forwards scoring (Húrin 2+1, Túrin 1+1, Hador Lorindol 1+0) and also Nienor (0+2) stepping up to the quality game is pretty encouraging for Hithlum. Their problem sure resides in the defence. Playing against The Downer might be frustrating, but nevertheless, letting them to shoot 7/16 is way too much – and even if Aradan played better some might have expected, he still had to pick the ball from behind him twice.

The Havens played decently but were clearly the underdogs against the powerful FC Valinor. Eärendil (1+0) and Tuor (1+0) seem to have found a decent feeder for them from Andreth (0+2) but their result was clearly more due to FC Valinor’s nice attitude than their own brilliance. When the serious games start The Havens might be the weakest link of this group – unless Hithlum’s defences collapse totally when the stakes get higher.

The Sea seems to be as balanced and dangerous team the AKM predicted. The Númenorians Tar Minastir (1+1) and Tar Aldarion (1+0) score (what a loss to Armenelos with their possible scoring problem!) and Ulmo threats to keep the downstairs clean from any opposition when they really start to play: the family-friendly “game” against Tirion is not counted as any test on their defences.

Valimar surely is the pre-tournament favourite to win this group and they did just what was predicted: winning Anduin 1-0 is just soo Manwë! So they play easily, make the goal to win, but nothing more, especially if the opposing team is a “goodie-team”. Minimum effort, maximum outcome – and no hard feelings to anyone if possible.

But like every year before, the AKM will not predict Manwë to go all the way. Especially this year the best teams from this and group D are of such top quality that Valimar either has to find a totally new gear and attitude to the game, or then they drop out of the competition pretty early after the group-stage – if not already there.



~*~

The AKM will not make any official predictions to the outcome of the group-phase – or any power-ranking tables before more friendlies have been played and there is more to put into a prediction. But some of the AKM’s ideas – for the time being – sure are easy to read from the text above.
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Old 03-28-2012, 12:03 AM   #51
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Pipe Tar-Eldar Network Television friendly coverage 2

The friendly match between Doriath and Gondolin, covered exclusively by TENT, has been touted as the battle between the last two champions (although the two squads have fallen in quality from their championship years.) This time no mishap occured that threatened the broadcast of the game from the Song of Stone Stadium, Gondolin, and TENT viewers were able to follow the action from the warm-up to the final whistle.

The last game played in that stadium was the Deathless Champions League finals between Eldar United and Taniquetil, also covered exclusive by TENT. Gondolin GK Rog is the only player from that match to be playing now.

The two hidden kingdoms were on cordial terms with each other, but their teams played competitively for the entire ninety-plus minutes, not giving away possession or alternating attacking with defence, but playing with a tournament-level intensity (though with none of their tactics on display).

The Gondolin front line, deemed 'overpriced' by various sportwriters, seemed to have entered the game with a chip on their shoulders, as Maeglin scored two and Gothmog delivered a beautiful cross to Duilin after drawing defenders away from the midfielder. Meanwhile, Doriath's offence found itself buoyed by Daeron's surprising emergence as an orchestrator. The minstrel has assisted in all of Doriath's three goals so far.

Despite the offensive excellence shown by both squads, their defences struggled to find form. Sports analysts have pointed out that Gondolin's defence looked out of sync, allowing seven shots on target, and GK Rog made matters worse, allowing two goals in. He needs to regain his 2010 form if this team wants to find success beyond the group stages.

As for Doriath, Melian faces the difficult task of plugging holes once filled by all-star defenders. Galathil, Nimloth, and Saeros were playing half a step behind at times, especially during the sequence of events that led to the first goal. After Elemmakil dispossessed Nellas, Melian ordered her defenders forward to leave Maeglin offside, but Saeros remained in front of the Sharp Boot when Elemmakil booted the ball forward. Maeglin then dashed past the courtier and controlled the long pass before converting his one-on-one opportunity with Doriath GK Dior.

Doriath 2-3 Gondolin
GOALS:
18, 0-1 Maeglin (Elemmakil)
34, 0-2 Duilin (Gothmog)
55, 1-2 Lúthien (Daeron)
69, 1-3 Maeglin
82, 2-3 Beleg (Daeron)

Total Shots
14-17
On Target
7-7

YELLOW CARDS:
3-2
Doriath: Galathil, Saeros, Beleg
Gondolin: Salgant, Aranwë

In other games not televised by TENT:

Nargothrond vs FC Valinor

Pre-tournament favourites FC Valinor has proven once again that the hype surrounding it was not undeserved after their convincing defeat of the vastly improved Nargothrond squad.

Curufin was red-hot during the first twelve minutes of the game, scoring first and then assisting Yavanna. After the two quick goals, FC Valinor went on the defensive, allowing Nargothrond possession for the rest of the half. After a few attempts have been repelled, Glaurung finally beat the defence and put a spectular tailer past the Hound of Valinor.

A few minutes after the half Celegorm went streaking down the wing, drawing the defence to him before passing a perfect cross to Argon, who had an easy time nudging the ball past Nargothrond GK Bëor. After regaining the two-goal lead, FC Valinor went full-defence mode once more, and again the Nargothrond squad took a while to score, despite the best efforts of Finrod, Glaurung, and Gwindor.

It was a slight defensive mistake from FC Valinor that gave Nargothrond its second goal. Nahar failed to clear Orodreth's weak corner kick completely, and it landed on Gwindor's foot, who had no difficulty converting from short-range.

After Gwindor's goal, FC Valinor contested possession of the ball once again, and they were rewarded when Curufin's long-range shot found the net. That proved to be the last goal of the game.

FC Valinor has proven their quality from top to bottom, while Nargothrond, despite all its talents up front, was, once again, hoping for its defence to find groove come tournament time.

Nargothrond 2-4 FC Valinor
total shots 20-15
on target 8-8
GOALS:
*7, 0-1 Curufin (Idril)
*12, 0-2 Yavanna (Curufin)
*39, 1-2 Glaurung (Gwindor)
*49, 1-3 Argon (Celegorm)
*71, 2-3 Gwindor (Orodreth)
*83, 2-4 Curufin (Irmo)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Nargothrond- Baran, Mîm
*FCVal- Nahar, Argon
____________________


Angband vs Anfauglith
Morgoth arranged for his two squads to play a friendly game in the Angband Arena. At first spectators expected a choreographed game, with both teams alternating attacking and defending roles, but it was a surprisingly fluid match, played at an almost tournament-level quality, though not in intensity.

Though there wasn't much of the muscling that most baddie-laden squads excel in, there was an incident in the first half where Uldor grabbed Thuringwethil's wings as she jumped up in attempt to head in a Balrog #3 corner. This resulted in an Anfauglith penalty and the only goal for the first half.

After the break Morgoth's squad came in with a determination to equalise, and the Anfauglith squad was equally determined to deny them. But after Ancalagon tailed in a perfect Morgoth through-ball the two squads agreed to keep the scoreline and played the ball in the midfield for the remainder of the match.

Angband 1-1 Anfauglith
total shots 11-8
on target 4-3
GOALS:
*26, 0-1 Thuringwethil
*78, 1-1 Ancalagon (Morgoth)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Lorgan, Uldor
*Anfauglith- Gorgol
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Old 03-29-2012, 11:07 AM   #52
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With Lothlorien lacking a team of their own this year, they were determined to see an exhibition played in their realm at least. And with Celeborn on team Anduin and Galadriel on Wilderland it made sense that those two would be matched up.

When the groups were announced fans were a bit disappointed as the two squads were placed in the same group, which would mean they would probably play more guarded in their friendly match.

And that did in fact happen, but it was still good play with a good showing of speed and effort, and the fans were pleased that it wasn't one of those 0-0 kick-it-around matches. Each squad scored in both halves, though Wilderland came close to not gaining the equalizer thanks to a couple late saves from the Anduin keeper. But finally Orome came through to make it a square result for everyone.

Anduin 2-2 Wilderland
tot shots 11-17
on target 5-7
GOALS:
*15, 1-0 Grimbeorn (Lenwe)
*42, 1-1 Galadriel (Orome)
*56, 2-1 Boromir II (Amdir)
*84, 2-2 Orome (Elwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Borondir, Fram
*Wilderland- Scatha, Finglas

The Downer traveled to Himring to take on Inter Beleriand in one of the late matches today.

Maedhros and Fingon elected to take it slow and careful to avoid provoking the violent streak in The Downer, but it turned out they didn't have to worry, as Hookbill had his troops surprisingly focused from the outset.

After the initial shock Inter drew first blood off a snipe from Fingon. The Downer struck back immediately in the 2nd with Hookbill toeing it to Fillis in the aftermath of some corner-kick chaos. But in the end it was Maedhros himself deciding things, pounding in a left-footed strike after being released by Hunthor.

It was a good competitive game and both squads felt pleased that they were on their way towards tournament form.

Inter Beleriand 2-1 The Downer
tot shots 14-10
on target 7-5
GOALS:
*36, 1-0 Fingon (Balrog #5)
*48, 1-1 John Fillis (Hookbill)
*70, 2-1 Maedhros (Hunthor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*InterBel- Haleth, Gorlim
*Downer- Evil Mayo, Morsul, Peter Hampton
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Old 03-29-2012, 02:53 PM   #53
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Friendlies round 2 (at Mithrim & The Havens)

The High-King Fingolfin had invited his loyal fief, Hador and his people from Dor-Lómin, to co-host two friendlies at the beautiful Lake Mithrim Arena. That way the two teams could offer the local spectators two games on one evening, like it would then be when the tournament starts. Unable to play on their own continent, the Valinor-based teams were just happy to accept an invitation to play in beautiful Beleriand.

The first game of the evening sure didn’t leave anyone cold. Real Valinor started with full force and in tournament tempo from the first minute, and as Real scored 1-0 already at the third minute, Hithlum was forced to give their best effort as well. But even if Hithlum fought valiantly, Real Valinor was on a level of its own making it 3-0 on the first half and adding one more in the beginning of the second. When Arien made her hat-trick twenty minutes before the closing whistle – making it 5-1 – Tulkas finally called back their offence, but they were not giving in for Hithlum in defence any easier. The final “comfort-goal” for Hithlum was more a show of Túrin’s determination and will-power than any lapse on Real Valinor’s defence.

Andróg was quite forthcoming in the post game press-conference: “Defending against those three ladies is like trying to stand your ground against a whirlwind, a tornado and a hurricane all at the same time. It was way easier defending Amon Rûdh. I mean our team isn’t exactly one built for defending but outscoring the opponent. Sadly there seems to be at least one team that can outscore us.”

Hithlum 2-5 Real Valinor
tot shots 20-18
on target 8-10
GOALS:
*3, 0-1 Arien (Nessa)
*9, 0-2 Arien (Miriel)
*18, 0-3 Miriel (Enerdhil)
*49, 0-4 Miriel (Nerdanel)
*56, 1-4 Nienor (Hador)
*70, 1-5 Arien (Miriel)
*81, 2-5 Turin (Morwen)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Sador, Arroch, Androg, Gethron
*RealVal- Rumil, Tilion, Caranthir


After the most entertaining and high-quality game in the afternoon there were great expectations for the evening match-up between the hosts AC Beleriand and Manwë’s Valimar.

The crowds looking forwards to fast-paced and serious competition were disappointed after the first half as the two teams seemed content more or less just kicking the ball around. But whether it was something the teams had made a deal already before the game, or whether it was because of the pressure of the crowds, both teams made some real play on the second half ending up in a fairly competitive game, displaying some pretty impressive skills and both individual & team effort.

And as the hometeam pulled a last minute draw with a goal by Denethor, the crowds went back home satisfied with their team and with the games they had seen.

Meeting the press, Manwë was once again faced with the accusation that his teams play it “sweet‘n nice” against their friends and other goodies and don’t play for maximum results. To that Manwë had this to say: “A solid teamplay starts from the defence and so we always go defence first. That’s where we lay our eggs, if you get the meaning. It’s like our philosophy is the opposite from team Hithlum: they try to score as much as possible and hope the opponent doesn't score more; we try to let the opponent to score as few as possible and then see how many we have to do to win the game. And it is not everytime winning is preferable... You may call it conservative or unentertaining philosophy, but I call it the philosophy of reason and success.”

AC Beleriand 1-1 Valimar
tot shots 14-9
on target 4-3
GOALS:
*54, 0-1 Vaire (Alatar)
*82, 1-1 Denethor (Feanor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*ACBel- Beren, Feanor
*Valimar- Pallando, Amrod

~*~

Meanwhile Tirion had accepted Cirdan’s invite to stay at Havens to practise a few days after the first round of friendlies and then play their second friendly against the hosts. During those days both teams were often seen practising together. Outside the friendly practising the old Olwë and Finwë were seen having long evening meals together with their married children Eärwen and Finarfin and their sons Angrod and Aegnor.

After sessions of amiable practising the two teams then played it more or less for real on the field. Both teams played it pretty straightforward as if not willing to give up any tactical niceties they might have up in their sleeves for the tournament, but they played it with full tempo giving the audience a really entertaining afternoon.

The home team took the driver’s seat in the beginning and led the game already 3-1 on the early second period, but little by little the accuracy and effectiveness of Tirion forwards just proved lethal and they went on to win the game 5-3 with both teams holding it down for the last ten minutes after the fifth goal.

Aredhel was crowned the MVP of the game with her 2+1 (the AKM has already pointed it out earlier that she is clearly underpaid with her 10 million deal to Tirion, and this should prove it). But Aegnor was also rewarded after the game for putting the ball twice behind his father’s back, and the latter one where he received a perfect long pass from his grandfather was declared the best goal of the day.

So even if the game had been a competitive one, the teams separated in friendship and mutual recognition wishing each other well for the group-stage – and for a rematch in the qualification rounds. As late as possible.

The Havens 3-5 Tirion
tot shots 14-21
on target 7-11
GOALS:
*26, 1-0 Aegnor (Andreth)
*32, 2-0 Tuor (Earendil)
*39, 2-1 Ingwe
*47, 3-1 Aegnor (Olwe)
*53, 3-2 Aredhel (Mahtan)
*61, 3-3 Finwe (Aredhel)
*68, 3-4 Eonwe (Mahtan)
*77, 3-5 Aredhel (Finwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Havens- Angrod
*Tirion-
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Old 03-30-2012, 04:47 PM   #54
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The Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain welcomed in Dwarves United for a friendly. They were certainly supporting the homeside in the friendly and in group play (both teams were in the same group), but they planned to pull for their Dwarven brethren to finish second in their group.

The first half didn't give the crowds much to look at- both sides were hoping to unleash their true potential on the opposition only when group play arrived. But when the second half started it was obvious their competitive natures were rising to the top, as both squads did want a win.

Finally it was the crafty Nazgul #7 that broke the scoreless tie, directing the ball in off of a nice find by Bolg. There was some grumbling from the Dwarves United fans about the Lonely Mt. being willing to hire such evil sorts, but most applauded the well-executed play.

The Dwarf-friend Legolas and his friends up front tried to rally for the equalizer and did come close, but the Great Eagles were able to bother them enough to keep them from getting the cleanest looks.

After getting within 10-15 minutes of the finish, both squads shut it down, content to avoid injury and save their energy for when it really mattered.

Dwarves United 0-1 Erebor
tot shots 3-4
on target 9-11
GOALS:
*57, 0-1 Nazgul #7 (Bolg)
YELLOW CARDS:
*DwUnt- Azaghal, Aule, Thror
*Erebor- Meneldor, Smaug

Many outsiders wondered how the Rivendell public would handle Elrond returning with his new squad, but as those close to the situation expected, everything was quite cordial. Either no one begrudged Elrond his right to leave his longtime home, or they certainly weren't letting it show.

The northern Dunedain that played alongside Elrond were well received as always, as was Gil-galad and Glorfindel. The Witch King however was given a wide berth, and the local media largely ignored him.

When the game kicked off Imladris was extremely passive and looked as if they expected the same from the opposition, but Elrond had his side looking to attack. At the 25 minute mark the great Glorfindel put a mark on the scoreboard with a nice deflection and Elrond called off the attack.

Imladris was content to waste the rest of the half, but came out in the 2nd looking to equalize. Gil-galad and friends upped their defensive efforts to counter, and after 25 minutes of hard work Imladris decided not to escalate further and reigned it in, and Eriador followed along.

Eriador 1-0 Imladris
tot shots 13-8
on target 6-3
GOALS:
*25, 1-0 Glorfindel (Arassuil)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Eriador- Arahael
*Imladris- Galdor, Erestor
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Old 03-30-2012, 06:17 PM   #55
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ResultsArmenelos 2-1 Minas Tirith

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
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Old 03-31-2012, 07:24 PM   #56
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As a friendly, one could expect that the game between Rohan and The Sea would be a lot of nothing, as both teams were careful to keep their cards close to their chests in terms of different styles of play. However, this particular game was probably as boring as a game of football between two Middle Earth teams could be. There was a bit of excitement near the end of the match, as King Dead booted in a goal off a long-range pass from Eomer, equalizing the game, but even Tar Minastir's earlier goal was lackluster, as though the match didn't really matter. Both teams played slow and steady, putting focus on defense (Gandalf especially was encouraging his back row, not batting an eye when Snowmane received a yellow card off a bull-rush on Salmar that was seconds too late) but there wasn't a lot either team could derive from their opponent this match.


Rohan 1-1 The Sea
tot shots 13-10
on target 6-5
GOALS:
*31, 0-1 Tar Minastir (Veantur)
*68, 1-1 King Dead (Eomer)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Rohan- Aldor, Snowmane
*Sea- Salmar

In contrast, the friendly match between Gondor and Isengard started slow, but the competitiveness inbred in both teams caused some exciting plays near the end, as Falastur's goal tied it up. It was almost a game of pinball instead of football, as the ball bounced from player to player and side to side quickly. Most of the shots taken were near the end, as goals were being fired at both goals as fast as anyone had even a chance at making a shot. However, both Gondor's and Isengard's goalies were more than up to the challenge, and the fast-paced match ended in a draw.

Gondor 1-1 Isengard
tot shots 14-14
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*59, 0-1 Wormtongue (Treebeard)
*77, 1-1 Falastur (Anarion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Turambar, Romendacil, Eldarion
*Isengard- Wulf, Wormtongue, Mauhur


One might expect that in this game the rough-and-tumble Misty Mountains team would run roughshod over the gentler-spirited players of SBU, but that wasn't the case at all. Durin's Bane was on fire in this game, scoring two of MM's three goals, but whenever they were ahead, they would pull back and concentrate on defense, letting the other team have a shot at their goal. And Strider, the Barrow-Wight, and Bombadil didn't disappoint - these three players were responsible for both all three goals and all three assists, between them. However, they too would pull back and let MM have the ball, once they were ahead. The biggest flares of excitement to happen happened in the short spaces when the teams were tied, as the players' competitive streaks flared up. However, with both MM and SBU letting in three goals apiece, one wonders if they're really that bad defensively, or just faking for the friendlies? This remains to be seen.

Misty Mts 3-3 Shire-Bree United
tot shots 12-15
on target 6-8
GOALS:
*5, 1-0 DBane (Azog)
*16, 1-1 Bombadil (BWight)
*27, 1-2 Strider (Bombadil)
*36, 2-2 Rumil
*70, 3-2 DBane (Narvi)
*79, 3-3 Strider (BWight)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Misty- William, Bert, Watcher
*ShBreeUnt- Ferny, Bandobras
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Old 04-01-2012, 12:03 AM   #57
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Pipe ArdaCup.com Stats Report #2: 2nd Round of Friendlies

In this issue of the ArdaCup.com Stats Reports we bring you the numbers and an analysis of the previous two rounds of friendly matches. But before we proceed an introduction is in order for our newest number-crunching innovation.

The Adjusted Goal Multiplier:

There's always that question. Under the old power rank, a team putting up goals and shutouts against weaker teams will be ranked higher than a team grinding it out against stronger teams. But under the new Power Rank system opponent strength will be a factor in the ranking.

First of all a multiplier is assigned to each team based on their current goal differential using the following formula:
Code:
Multiplier = 1 + [goal differential]/2*[absolute value of the greatest or least goal differential among all teams]
Using current teams as an example, Real Valinor gets a multiplier of 1.5 due to its league-leading goal differential of 5.

Code:
1.5 = 1 + 5/[5*2]
Whereas The Havens gets a multiplier of 0.7 due to its -3 goal differential.

Code:
0.7 = 1 + [-3]/[5*2]
After a multiplier has been assigned to each team, the scores of each game are adjusted: the goal made by a team is multiplied by the opponent's multiplier, and the goal allowed is multiplied by the team's own multiplier. From these adjusted scores the adjusted goal differential is computed.

Power Rank:

A short stats list and analysis of the top ten teams shall be listed before the complete Power Rank table is given below.

Legend:
Team name (win-draw-loss)
Offence (goals per game) [rank]
Defence (goals allowed per game) [rank]
Goalkeeping (save percentage) [rank]
Adjusted Goal Differential [rank]
  1. Real Valinor (2-0-0)
    4 [1]
    1.5 [19]
    72.73% [15]
    +2.7 [1]
    If the other nine teams on the list are the cream of the crop, then Real is the cherry on top. With its number one offence and adjusted goal differential, they possess the ability to dominate games completely. And if you think it's only their offence that's on fire, though, remember that their defence withstood the onslaught of Maeglin, Gothmog, Túrin, Húrin, and Hador and allowed them only eleven shots on target and three goals.
  2. Rohan (1-1-0)
    1.5 [11]
    0.5 [2]
    85.71% [7]
    +1.4 [4]
    The top Edain team (ranked higher than even the perpetually Cup-contending Númenórean squad) and the top Third Age team of the moment lives primarily through its defence, but a goal against an Ulmo back line is a good sign for the Riders's offence. Excellent friendly performance is not always indicative of tournament success, but with Rohan's form they look set to dominate their weak group.
  3. AC Beleriand (1-1-0)
    1.5 [16]
    0.5 [6]
    87.5% [3]
    +1.7 [3]
    Surprise, surprise! A squad with Fëanor as captain thriving more on defence. Although drawing blood against Manwë is indicative of a flowing offence. If their attack and defence click at the same time then there's no telling how far this team would go.
  4. Eriador (2-0-0)
    1 [26]
    0 [1]
    100% [1]
    +2.0 [2]
    With Elrond between the posts Eriador's defence being tighter than Moneybag's pockets is no surprise. They don't need a red-hot offence to win games, just one that scores goals. Having just put one behind Imladris's seventh rank defence, they look set on that end.
  5. Armenelos (1-1-0)
    1.5 [15]
    1 [11]
    77.78% [10]
    +0.6 [6]
    The Númenórean squad have been playing too friendly with fellow Dúnedain so far, so we have yet to see how good this team really is. However they have to get moving fast—their group brings death to the unprepared.
  6. Wilderland (1-1-0)
    2 [8]
    1.5 [20]
    75% [12]
    +0.5 [9]
    Losing Sauron and Smaug is no biggie for Wilderland, who gained Oromë, Elwë, and Galadriel in exchange. The first two are spearheading their effective attack, and the Lady of the Golden Wood got a goal in the last game, proving that she's just not about defence. With Scatha yet to step up, this team still can go higher.
  7. The Sea (0-2-0)
    1.5 [12]
    1.5 [18]
    72.73% [16]
    +0.6 [7]
    The Sea is middling in almost all aspects, including in the standings, but they're doing it against the best teams, which is why Ulmo's squad enters the list with a seventh-ranked adjusted goal differential. We're banking on the Vala of the seas to take it a notch higher come tourney time.
  8. FC Valinor (2-0-0)
    3.5 [4]
    2 [25]
    71.43% [18]
    +0.1 [11]
    The other Valinor squad looks to be playing second fiddle to Real, being a hair behind their brethren in both offence and defence. We still haven't seen how good their over-all defence really is, though, since they gave The Havens and Nargothrond almost an hour of free rein over the ball, resulting in a lot of shots. If they decide to play for real for ninety-plus minutes, how much less shots might those two have made?
  9. Valimar (1-1-0)
    1 [29]
    0.5 [4]
    87.5% [5]
    +1.0 [5]
    Manwë is up to his old tricks again, playing the one-goal-win game, but their defence is looking fine enough for them to stick to such a strategy. The only goal they conceded so far came from a Fëanor play.
  10. Erebor (1-0-1)
    1 [20]
    1 [9]
    75% [14]
    0.0 [12]
    The Lonely Mt squad is slightly better than Wilderland defensively, but their front line needs to step up if they wish to win their group from Oromë's team.



The Power Ranking is based on the aggregate of offensive and defensive ranking, combined with the adjusted goal differential rank of each team. The listed offensive and defensive rankings are from the actual numbers by the teams, and not adjusted. Ties are broken by the win-draw-loss record.

The offensive ranking is based on the goals scored throughout the friendly matches. Ties are broken by a) greater number of shots made on target; and b) greater number of shots made.

The defensive ranking is based on the goals allowed throughout the friendly matches. Ties are broken by a) least number of shots allowed on target; and b) least amount of shots allowed.

Please note that the above ranking is based on the two rounds of friendly matches played by the teams, and does not reflect actual tournament performance.


Top individual performers:

GOALS + ASSISTS

4+1
Curufin (FC Valinor)

4+0
Arien (Real Valinor)
Glaurung (Nargothrond)

3+1
Strider (Shire-Bree United)
Bombadil (Shire-Bree United)
Oromë (Wilderland)
Aredhel (Tirion)

2+3
Míriel (Real Valinor)

2+2
Finwë (Tirion)
Gwindor (Nargothrond)

2+1
Tar-Ancalimon (Armenelos)
Húrin (Hithlum)
Túrin (Hithlum)
Tar-Minastir (The Sea)

2+0
Ancalagon (Angband)
PhantomWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)
Isildur (Arnor)
Maeglin (Gondolin)
Tuor (The Havens)
Aegnor (The Havens)
Durin’s Bane (Misty Mts)
Sauron (Barad-dûr)

1+2
Hookbill (The Downer)
Nienor (Hithlum)

0+4
Barrow-Wight (Shire-Bree United)

0+3
Elwë (Wilderland)
Andreth (The Havens)
Daeron (Doriath)

GOALKEEPING
  1. Elrond (Eriador) – 5/5 (100%)
  2. Elros (Imladris) – 10/11 (90.91%)
  3. Marach (AC Beleriand) – 7/8 (87.5%)
  4. Ungoliant (Anfauglith) – 7/8 (87.5%)
  5. Manwë (Valimar) – 7/8 (87.5%)
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Old 04-01-2012, 01:21 AM   #58
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Round 3 - Friendlies

TWO TOWERS NETWORK
Boromir the 88th

Several surprises came out of Round 2 friendlies, as we saw a few teams score 5 goals, and some truly shining individuals who are beginning to find their legs. Without further ado, here is the next installment of TTN's power rankings, and this round, we will use our numbers to predict the results of the round 3 match-ups.

Key: (Rank. Team. (w-d-l) - Points).

Power Rankings

01. Real Valinor (2-0-0) - 46.8
A comprehensive 3-goal win against a Hithlum team that can definitely rack up goals, assures Real Valinor stays in our top spot.
(Last: W 5-2, Hithlum)

02. FC Valinor (2-0-0) - 44.8
FC Valinor stays step-for-step with Real with a confident 4-2 win against Nargothrond.
(Last: W 4-2, Nargothrond)

03. Eriador (2-0-0) - 34.3
Eriador apparently is taking the place of Valimar this year, winning another game 1-0. However, the win against a strong Imladris squad, means Eriador jumps up 5 places this week.
(Last: W 1-0, Imladris)

04. AC Beleriand (1-1-0) - 33.3
After crunching all the numbers, despite the draw against Valimar, AC Beleriand stays at 4 (and Valimar actually moves down to 5). Our explanation for this is, AC's 2-0 defeat of Inter Beleriand in Round 1, is boosted by the fact that Inter won in Round 2.
(Last: D 1-1, Valimar)

05. Valimar (1-1-0) - 32.8
As partially explained above, Valimar moves below AC Beleriand after Round 2. In Round 1, Valimar's 1-0 win against Anduin, is not as impressive as AC's 2-0 victory over Inter.
(Last: D 1-1, AC Beleriand)

06. Armenolos (1-1-0) - 30.5
Even if it was against a weaker opponent (and one that would play the Armenolos royalty respectfully), Armenolos regained some of their former swagger. If they stick to their principles of possession, they can certainly make it out Group D, which we now nickname Group Death.
(Last: W 2-1, Minas Tirith)

07. Rohan (1-1-0) - 28.5
No shame in drawing with the rushing tide from The Sea, especially since Rohan outshot their opponents statistically. But based on performances from other teams near them in the rankings, Rohan does slip a bit, and will need more from Helm and Eorl.
(Last: D 1-1, The Sea)

08. Tirion (1-0-1) - 27.5
The Havens seems to be in shambles at the moment, but they can score some goals too. Anytime a team can put up 5 goals, you have to take notice. The 4 teams from Group D, are currently ranked 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 8th...Group Death indeed.
(Last: W 5-3, The Havens)

09. Angband (0-2-0) - 27.0
Another rather unspirited performance from Angband. Although, Angband typically doesn't play with much spirit in the friendlies, and yet are still able to get 2 draws against tough squads. Which tells us they should win their Group A pretty comfortably.
(Last: D 1-1, Anfauglith)

10. The Sea (0-2-0) - 26.3
Ulmo's defense does not seem to be as shut down as it has been in the past, but the offense seems better. Perhaps Ulmo figures the defense does not need much work now, and is already prepared for the group stage.
(Last: W 1-1, Rohan)

11. Wilderland (1-1-0) - 24.3
Well, despite the draw to a mediocre Anduin at the moment, Wilderland holds onto the 11th rank for now. Mostly due to Erebor's win in Round 2 benefitted Wilderland based on Wilderland beating them in Round 1.
(Last: D 2-2, Anduin)

12. Erebor (1-0-1) - 24.3
Speaking of Erebor, they wind up virtually tied with Wilderland after Round 2. Wilderland maintains the edge based on already beating Erebor. Although, we might point out Erebor seemed to get a bit unlucky in that match, as ChielfWolf made a parade of saves, so Erebor can certainly climb back into the Top 10.
(Last: W 1-0, Dwarves Utd)

13. Imladris (1-0-1) - 21.0
They seemed surprised Eriador decided to go for the win, but it just proves lose some of your focus and effort, and your performance drops, just as Imladris drops in the rankings.
(Last: L 0-1, Eriador)

14. Anfauglith (0-2-0) - 20.8
Anfauglith is hanging around pretty much where we expected with 2 so-so draws. They also have a clear deficiency in the mid-field, even with a highly talented defense, it may not be good enough to beat any of the teams in Group G.
(Last: D 1-1, Angband)

15. Hithlum (1-0-1) - 19.8
The positive news for Hithlum, is they won't face an offense anywhere near as talented as Real's in group play. The bad news, their defense leaks big time and the FW-trio will have to be 100% on their game to beat the Valar defenses they will face in Group E.
(Last: L 2-5, Real Valinor)

16. Nargothrond (0-1-1) - 18.0
Yes they were up against FC Valinor, but something doesn't bode well with this Nargothrond team. TTN believes they threw all their eggs into the offense, and the massive void in the defense, with a rather pathetic (sorry Old Beor) GK, spells trouble for Nargothrond.
(Last: L 2-4 FC Valinor)

17. Gondolin (1-0-1) - 17.5
Gondolin bounces back after a bad loss to Real Valinor. They just squeak ahead of Doriath and are back in the thick of the talk as a team that can advance from Group B.
(Last: W 3-2, Doriath)

18. Doriath (0-1-1) - 17.3
Doriath will be a tough foe for anyone, but Melian can't hold down the defense on her own. It's clear she needs help from the other 3, but how confident is TTN they can raise their performance for the tournament? Not very.
(Last: L 2-3, Gondolin)

19. Gondor (0-2-0) - 16.0
The draw against Armenolos looked pretty good, the draw against Isengard? Looks pretty bad.
(Last: D 1-1, Isengard)

20. Dwarves Utd (0-1-1) - 12.5
Sorry Aule, this team just isn't working. There is absolutely no scoring threat, and your defense can not hold out forever against the likes of Erebor or Wilderland. Not unless you start generating some more shots on goal to relieve the pressure on the defense.
(Last: L 0-1, Erebor)

21. Shire-Bree Utd (0-2-0) - 11.5
This is such a difficult team to figure out. We like how their offense is clicking and playing relaxed, but boy are there are lot of problems with the DF, and particularly Halbarad struggling between the posts. Conceding 4 against Nargothrond is one thing, but giving up 3 against the...Misty Mountains?
(Last: D 3-3, Misty Mountains)

22. Anduin (0-1-1) - 10.5
A draw against group opponent Wilderland means that Anduin will not be an easy win for anyone in Group C. With the disappointing Dwarves United, at the moment, Anduin could shake up and cause real problems in Group C.
(Last: D 2-2, Wilderland)

23. Tol-in-Gaurhot (0-2-0) - 10.3
A better game than last week from TIG, but still unsure of how they will fair when the tournament begins, when they continue having a rotation of different wights, and can't win Barad-dur
(Last: D 2-2, Barad-dur)

24. The Havens (0-0-2) - 10.3
They've perhaps had the hardest 2 opponents so far in the friendlies, but 2 losses is still 2 losses and Cirdan is hemorrhaging goals.
(Last: L 3-5, Tirion)

25. Minas Tirith (0-1-1) - 9.5
Minas Tirith hasn't been humiliated, but they also haven't looked that spectacular. One could even argue with their payroll the White Tower has been a disappointment with only a draw against Mordor and loss to Armenolos to show so far.
(Last: L 1-2, Armenolos)

26. Inter Beleriand (1-0-1) - 8.8
A loss to AC Beleriand, Ok, it's expected. A win against The Downer, ok, that's also expected. Which means Inter Beleriand is stays in 26th, until they show us something we don't expect. Although, beating The Downer does bring the good news that they are able to beat the teams they should, and not simply draw as we've seen from some others.
(Last: W 2-1, The Downer)

27. Isengard (0-1-1) - 7.0
Nothing spectacular with a draw against Gondor, just a mild surprise that Isengard won't be pushover, by any means. Still, their tournament fate doesn't look bright if they can't pick up a win.
(Last: D 1-1, Gondor)

28. Misty Mountains (0-2-0) - 6.3
We are unsure if Misty Mountains has some surprising scoring ability (well, of course when Durin's Bane isn't playing selfishly, he can rack up the goals for his team), or if Shire-Bree's defense is just terrible. Misty Mts keeps slowly climbing up in the rankings, but is much like Isengard. TTN will have to see more.
(Last: D 3-3, Shire-Bree Utd)

29. Mordor (0-2-0) - 5.8
Much like the 2 teams ahead of them. 2 decent draws just means Mordor, despite the cheap payroll won't be an easy team to beat. But they aren't much of a threat to beat anyone either.
(Last: D 2-2, Arnor)

30. Barad-dur (0-1-1) - 5.5
Barad-dur did look better, but still dropped 1 spot. There is something about this team, that TTN finds very dangerous though. So far Castamir and Beruthiel have done nothing, but we all know of their scoring talent. They should not be underestimated.
(Last: D 2-2, Tol-in-Gaurhoth)

31. Arnor (0-1-1) - 4.0
Kudos to not losing to Mordor, but nothing to see here. Arnor is still pretty bad, but has the most to gain finding the team-spirit magic with their low payroll.
(Last: D 2-2, Mordor)

32. The Downer (0-0-2) - .8
Arguably a better performance from The Downer, but ultimately it's another loss. You have to wonder if Hookbill will continue to play more respectfully, when all that it gets The Downer is more losses.
(Last: L 1-2, Inter Beleriand)

---

The percentages below the teams are the mathematical probabilities of a head-to-head match up. For example, in Anduin vs. Mordor, Anduin is favored and in a head to head match against Mordor would win 64.4% of the time. The flaw in this is we have no real way to take into account a draw, since this assumes there is a winner in every game played between the two teams. But below the percentages is TTN's prediction of one match at this one point in time.

Now, our competitors are going to argue that these numbers mean absolutely nothing, and it's TTN being a mediocre network, by trying to say something, without really saying anything. We remind our readers, this is an experimental method (like our Power Rankings). Our goal is to measure how all 32 teams compare against eachother, and predict match winners. So we provide the math/numbers to determine probability, but also the subjective opinion from the expert. This way, our readers can look at the most comprehensive coverage, determine what to expect, and then make their own decisions. Agree or disagree with our findings, doesn't matter. But we guarantee it will be TTN that provides the most information, covering every single angle by using every possible stat we could possibly come up with.

Anduin vs Mordor
64.4% - 35.6%
-Anduin will be more inspired in a friendly against Mordor and win 2-1.

Angband vs Valimar
45.2% - 54.8%
-Morgoth will likely go into a shell, but Valimar isn't as good as last year. Draw 1-1.

Anfauglith vs AC Beleriand
38.4% - 61.6%
-Anfauglith's defense will make thing's tough, but AC Beleriand has the better talent top to bottom. 1-0 AC Beleriand.

Armenelos vs The Sea
53.7% - 46.3%
-Ulmo continues being the draw specialist in friendlies. Draw 1-1

Arnor vs Gondor
20.0% - 80.0%
-It easily could end in a draw from some arrangement between friends, but in any non-friendly match, Gondor would be heavy favorites. 2-1 Gondor

Barad-Dur vs The Havens
34.8% - 65.2%
-Should be high scoring, The Havens have 2 losses, but have played better against better competion. 3-2 Havens.

Inter Beleriand vs Doriath
33.7% - 66.3%
-A test game for both squads. A team Doriath has to beat to be contenders, but you could say the same for Inter too. 2-1 Doriath.

Dwarves United vs Imladris
37.3% - 62.7%
-We know one thing, the Dwarven team won't score, but does Imladris have enough firepower to get 1? Draw 0-0

Erebor vs Eriador
41.5% - 58.5%
-The Witch King has been completely ineffective, that will change but this will still be a Draw 1-1.

Gondolin vs Tol In Gaurhoth
62.9% - 37.1%
-Maeglin and Gothmog may be heating up, but TTN doesn't like Gondolin's nonchalant attitude. But TIG is the king of nonchalance. 2-1 Gondolin.

Hithlum vs Nargothrond
52.4% - 47.6%
-One of the closer battles this round, will be see our first 10 goals combined game (or even more!?) Draw 4-4

Isengard vs Shire-Bree United
37.8 - 62.2%
-A test match for both teams. If either wants to be seen as legit contenders in their groups, they must come away with the win. 3-1 Shire-Bree.

Minas Tirith vs Rohan
25% - 75%
-Rohan are heavy favorites, but one does wonder their motivation going against their brothers from MT. 2-0 Rohan.

Misty Mts vs Wilderland
20.6% - 79.4%
-Misty Mountains will not have as easy of a time scoring against Wilderland. 2-1 Wilderland.

Tirion vs The Downer
91.7% - 8.3%
-The most lopsided game in Round 3, but you just have no clue if The Downer will suddenly revert to playing dirty, and how that will effect the more precise Tirion. Should result the same low, another Downer loss. 4-1 Tirion.

FC Valinor vs Real Valinor
48.9% - 51.1%
-Promises to be the closest fought battle, but since they will play in the group stage, neither will give away any of their secrets. Draw 2-2.
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Old 04-01-2012, 09:20 AM   #59
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The AKM editor's comment to the TTN

We here in the AKM appreaciate a lot the frankness of our colleagues at the TTN to be able to admit the fact - even if they dress it in the traditional formula of "our rivals will argue that..."
Quote:
Originally Posted by TTN
Now, our competitors are going to argue that these numbers mean absolutely nothing, and it's TTN being a mediocre network, by trying to say something, without really saying anything.
Although the AKM would like to be more specific about that.

The AKM believes that stats and numbers are useful - and the more of them the merrier - and also more accurate. But what the AKM finds futile is predicting the friendlies where so many factors come into the play: have the teams made a deal beforehand that they just practise in turns, maybe they have made a deal that one team practises one thing and another something else; do they play it sloppily or do they try to simulate a real game (or does one team do the first and another the second); do the teams want to try out some tactics they don't usually do; will a draw be satisfying for them unlike in a tournament game...? (the list could be continued)

Like fex. the game between Armenelos and The Sea.

It is easy to predict a draw for several reasons: Armenelos has been playing the friendlies in a most friendly manner not willing to put up a full effort against their friends - and The Sea is full of their countrymen. The Sea in turn has been playing draws thus far and is a quality team which has all it would take to challenge Armenelos: so even if they played it in somewhat competitive manner for a while, it would be close. So which would be more probable than them going for it for a while and playing more or less evenly, and then satisfying themselves for a draw? Also: would they both qualify, they might meet again in a real competitive situation so neither would wish to reveal their hand at this point. So everything just yells a draw between the two teams.

So what does it help if the TTN then offers us the odds of 53.7% - 46.3% "in case it was a real game" - when it isn't a real game but one has to take into account all the aforementioned?

The AKM on the other hand doesn't waste your time with numbers concerning fictional games (a forthcoming tournament game between Armenelos and The Sea), but tries to give the reader the best tools to get her/himself ready when the real games start.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TTN
But we guarantee it will be TTN that provides the most information, covering every single angle by using every possible stat we could possibly come up with.
The AKM has accepted that as a challenge.

Follow the AKM. The most thorough Ranking-list of the teams after two rounds of friendlies is going to be published yet today.
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Old 04-01-2012, 11:21 AM   #60
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The AKM combined ranking after two rounds of friendlies AC12

The AKM ranking consists of the following factors.

1) The first value is that of w/l quite straight and thus real but not reliable as the teams have faced different level of opponents and have played the games more or less seriously. Still we thought a real stat should be involved in our power-ranking.

The final value is a result from three categories (1 to 32): wins/draws/losses, goals scored, and goals allowed.

2) The second value is a kind of ranked success or failure value. A short explanation might be in place here as we think that is at the same time the most important and the most vulnerable of our stats.

The AKM gave the teams an initial ranking (1 to 32) which was published on this thread earlier. That ranking was based on the salaries – as there was little to go on but the renown of the players besides that, and well, numbers are always numbers.

But the AKM’s twist there was that we took the five most attacking players (five on the bottom of the roster) and gave the forwards the value of their salary and the midfielders within that five 75% of their salary to represent the force of their attack. On defence we took the top-five players (GK not included) from the roster, taking the defenders at their “face-value” and the MF:s on 75%. Then we added to the defence value the GK as times three, as we consider the value of a good goalie that important (and it is only one player in comparison to five DF/MF). Finally we leveled the two stats making them even scoped so that both best offence and best defence got the value of 99. Those stats (attacking & defending) were then combined to make the initial power-ranking list (1 to 32).

The first friendlies were then ranked using that initial board of power. So winning the top team would give the team 32 points and winning the worst team 1 point. Playing a draw would give the team half of the “ranking-points” aka. drawing with team #1 would give 16 points. Losing a team would then be just the mirror image of winning aka. losing to the best team would mean -1 points and losing to the weakest team would mean -32 points. To not make individual friendlies affect the ranking too much, we decided to halve the points both ways (so losing to the team #32 would mean not getting -32 but -16 points, playing even with the #1 would not mean 32:2=16, but 16:2=8) and adding to them the then current ranking of the team itself (1 to 32) we came up with the new ranking.

Fex. on the first round of friendlies AC Beleriand (ranked 9. by “off-def –spread salaries” explained above) won Inter Beleriand (ranked 22.). That meant that AC Bel got 11 points (Inter is 11 seats from the bottom) and Inter gained -9 points (losing to the team ranked 9th). Adding half of that number to their then current ranking number led to AC having 5½ (half from 11) plus 24 (being the 9th. aka 24th from bottom) = 29½, which actually raised them two seats to the 7th place. Inter in turn was having -4½ (half from -9) plus 11 (being the 22nd aka 11th from the bottom) = 6½, actually dropping them four seats to 26.

3) The last value is once again a real-stat combined of four different areas of the teams’ performances: two defencive stats and two offencive stats.The defencive stats (1 to 32) are the goalie’s saving percentage and the number of shots the team has allowed on their goal. The offencive stats (1 to 32) are the effectiviness of the team’s shots aka. the ratio of goals scored vs. the total number of shots they make and the number of shots on goal they manage to deliver.


~*~

The AKM acknowledges that the system is under construction and rather scetchy at this point. There might also be a few issues with the relative weight of the different categories, but they will be addressed as the tournament continues. But whatever the possible shortcomings at this stage are, it does give general directions we here in the AKM think are not without a merit.

Another issue is the nature of the friendlies which make every decent statistician’s head explode. The AKM will make a couple of notes how the rankings should or could be modified, because of the way the friendlies have been played, after the list below.

After the friendlies are over the AKM will come up with a modified and hopefully also more accurate ranking and a group by group analysis & a prediction as to their results.


1. (D) Real Valinor 83+76,5+94=253,5

2. (B) Eriador 77+73,5+83,5=234
3. (G) AC Beleriand 82+63+86=231
4. (D) FC Valinor 73+77,75+79,5=230,25

5. (F) Rohan 82+41½+97=220,5
6. (D) Armenelos 71+64,25+83=218,25
7. (E) Valimar 68+72,5+77=217,5

8. (C) Wilderland 68+56+78,5=202,5

9. (D) Tirion 65+46,75+71,5=183,25
10. (E) The Sea 51,5+54,75+74=180,25
11. (F) Imladris 64+46+68,5=178,5
12. (A) Angband 48,5+66,25+63=177,75

13. (C) Erebor 58+37,5+68=163,5
14 (G) Anfaughlith 44,5+56,5+60=161
15. (H) Gondor 48,5+42,75+63=154,25
16. (E) Hithlum 50+37+62,5=150

17. (A) T-I-G 48,5+23,75+69,5=141,75
18. (B) Gondolin 50+37,5+51,5=139
19. (A) ShireBree Utd. 47,5+22+68=137,5

20. (G) Nargothrond 33+44,25+58=132,25
21. (F) Misty Mts. 51,5+14,75+64=130,25
22. (G) Doriath 35+27,25+67=129,25

23. (H) Mordor 51,5+3+61,5=116
24. (B) Inter Beleriand 42+14+58=114

25. (E) The Havens 28,5+23,5+57=109

26. (C) Dwarves Utd. 35+10+59,5=104,5
27. (H) Minas Tirith 28+21,5+48,5=98
28. (C) Anduin 28+21,25+48,5=97,75
29. (F) Isengard 29+15,5+52,5=97

30. (B) Arnor 18+8,75+46,5=73,25

31. (A) Downer 22,5-9+50,5=64
32. (H) Barad Dûr 18+0,25+41,5=59,75





A few notes by the AKM on where the ranking-list is not accurate because of the nature of the friendlies.

FC Valinor could have scored more in both their games and when they tighten their defence into the tournament mode they should be strong enough to even challenge Real Valinor for the top #1 place in the ranking (currently 4th).

AC Beleriand could have overrun their close friends & rivals Inter Beleriand but they only played seriously in offence for half an hour. So more points on the tally in the table would be in order (currently 3rd).

Valimar, as always, seems to be on top of things in their games but will not execute their full arsenal unless forced to (if even then). They could have surely scored more on Anduin at least and thus could have more points in the rankings (currently 7th).

Armenelos could have won their first game against Gondor but decided not to. As they also could have scored more against Minas Tirith, they should clearly have more ranking points and possibly be higher up in the ranking (currently 6th).

Rohan is probably a bit too high on the standings as their 2-0 win over Barad Dûr was not so much their goodness but Sauron’s reluctance to try them for real. Their second draw is also more or less non-telling. Overall their admittedly fine defence probably looks better it is as it has not been tested thus far. So Rohan probably could be lower in the ranking (currently 5th).

Imladris could clearly have scored more against Arnor and possibly even force a draw with Eriador so they should be higher on the ranking (currently 11th).

Angband has played lazily, purposefully easy with half-lights. Even if it is a real possibility that Angband has a problem with their offence (too weak a midfield to support the forwards) it feels they will end up higher in the ranking when the real games begin (currently 12th).

Hithlum was not giving anything like their serious effort against The Downer but pulled back every once in a while. So they could have scored more and gotten more points to the tallies. On the other hand their ugly loss to Real Valinor shows they are not a top four (probably not even top eight) team this year around, but possibly a bit better than the ranking shows (currently 16th).

Shire-Bree United has scored 7 goals thus far in amiable and friendly atmosphere, but what happens when the opponents start to play for real and shut down their defences? Obviously the high number of goals they have conceded already affects their ranking, but the AKM still predicts that Shire-Bree will fall a notch from it’s ranking unless they too can tighten their defences – which the AKM seems unlikely (currently 19th).

Mordor could have won Minas Tirith but allowed them to draw on purpose. However the tactical ways might change come the tournament, it speaks the team Mordor to be stronger and should have more points on the tally for a win over Tirith. A fair draw with weakish Arnor side doesn’t make them look too good though (currently 23rd).

Barad Dûr in turn is probably a lot better team than how they have played thus far, letting Rohan to take the first game just like that (playing an amiable draw with the T-I-G - another undervalued team – gives the statistician no way to bring them higher to where they belong). If not on the top half of the teams, certainly not the worst team of the tournament anyway (currently 32nd).
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Old 04-04-2012, 03:39 AM   #61
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Results

FRIENDLIES - ROUND 3

Fans Gearing up for an Exciting Tournament to Come.

The Gladden Fields Stadium played host to a round 3 friendly between Anduin and Mordor today. And the spectators who came, were not disappointed, getting pretty much a tournament-performance for a reduced price! Both teams wanted to be prepared for the upcoming group matches, and so they truly competed from start to finish.

This match was indicative of the way Anduin plans to win games. Mordor held possession the most, but they were playing exactly the game Anduin wanted. Playing defense, and then going for the counter strike when their opponent gets over-anxious.

This was proven as early as the 5th minute, when Haldir, broke towards goal and Fram found him for an easy, quick score. Haldir earned the "silent assassin" nickname after that, since he appeared right in front of goal, undetected by the Mordor defense until it was too late. Beating the "Silent Watcher." Mordor did a good job shutting down all of Anduin's counters after the goal, but Anduin also showed they could hurt you from set pieces, with a pairing like Grimbeorn and Boromir II. When they are able to get into the box, they are difficult to handle, since they provide tall and dominating targets. And thus, Anduin went into the 2nd half with a 2-goal lead after a ferocious Grimbeorn header, off a free kick taken by Boromir.

In the 2nd, Anduin went to full-out defense as Mordor tried to claw their way back into the match. Nazgul #4 would make it interesting in the 77th minute, grabbing his 2nd goal of the friendlies. Despite Mordor's efforts to comeback and equalize, it must be said, this was the kind of game Anduin liked playing. They looked comfortable defending the final minutes, and Mordor has some work to do creating better chances.

Anduin 2-1 Mordor
tot shots 10-15
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*5, 1-0 Haldir (Fram)
*40, 2-0 Grimbeorn (Boromir II)
*77, 2-1 Nazgul #4 (Shagrat)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Amdir, Frumgar
*Mordor- Gorbag, Fellbeast #1

This was another competitive game, but unlike the earlier ones, fans felt like it was more scripted, as if the teams agreed to play it this way before the start. And after the 1st half ended even, spectators were quickly disheartened in the 2nd as it became clear Gondor and Arnor were just playing out the game and wasting time.

But again, in an apparently scripted move, both sides ramped up the effort in the final 20 to try for the win. It was no surprise to see the master of late-game heroics, Araphor, involved in the go-ahead goal, feeding a nice ball to Argeleb. Gondor tried to launch one final attack, but Arvedui was at his best tonight, and secured a win for the Arnorians.

Arnor 2-1 Gondor
tot shots 15-14
on target 7-7
GOALS:
*29, 0-1 Anarion (Falastur)
*40, 1-1 Arantar (Elendil)
*81, 2-1 Argeleb (Araphor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Valandur
*Gondor- Earnil I, Imrahil

The late match was between Rohan and Minas Tirith, and while neither wanted to try any tricks, both just wanted to give a straight forward, tournament-level effort.

Rohan got on the board first, in the 14th minute, as Eomer added a goal to his 2 assists, in the friendlies thus far. Afterwards, Rohan showed no interest to expand their lead, leaving it to their defense, and Theoden to shut out Minas Tirith. A tall order for any defense, especially with well over 70 minutes of game to be played. But a task the horses in the back were capable of, and one could see the pride they took in playing excellent defense.

Eventhough you could say the way Rohan was focused solely on defending, that Minas Tirith probably deserved a goal, their equalizer was more a result of bad luck (from Rohan's perspective) than a truly deserving goal. Cirion, who was now coming up from the defense to join the attack, sent a poor cross, that was easily headed away by Felarof, but not far enough. The ball went directly to Mardil, who lined up a strike, Shadowfax reared up for the block, but it took a poor deflection off his back-hoof, leaving Theoden no chance to save.

Rohan tried to get a late-winner, and held possession easily, but time just ran out on them and Minas Tirith held on for the draw.

Minas Tirith 1-1 Rohan
tot shots 13-7
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*14, 0-1 Eomer (Eorl)
*79, 1-1 Mardil (Cirion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*MTirith- Tarandor
*Rohan- Helm, Snowmane
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Old 04-04-2012, 04:51 AM   #62
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Pipe Tar-Eldar Network Television friendly coverage 3

It was another TENT exclusive broadcast between teams that have been covered before: Doriath against Inter Beleriand, playing in the beautiful Menegroth Stadium.

Had Elu Thingol been on this year's squad, he would have been reticent to host a friendly match with the Noldor, especially one co-captained by a son of Fëanor, but Melian had no such qualms. In the post-game press conference she said, 'The Arda Cup should be instrumental in helping heal the wounds of the past.'

That did not prevent Maedhros from dealing a wound to the Doriath defence. Fifteen minutes after the opening whistle he took a cut back from Haleth and fired a shot just below the crossbar that Dior couldn't get to in time.

After the goal Inter fell back to defend, as was norm in friendly friendlies. A slick one-two by Lúthien and Beleg gave Doriath the equaliser sixteen minutes later, and a sublime Daeron through ball to Beleg put them in lead heading into the break.

After the restart Maedhros converted Fingon's cross from the right wing. Inter then gave its back line time to shine, but were unable to stop Lúthien from poking in the rebound from Nellas's speculative shot. Chances for an equaliser were hard to find for Maedhros and company, and ten minutes before the end they hung it up, content to have done their best.

Inter Beleriand 2-3 Doriath
GOALS:
15, 1-0 Maedhros (Haleth)
31, 1-1 Lúthien (Beleg)
39, 1-2 Beleg (Daeron)
56, 2-2 Maedhros (Fingon)
66, 2-3 Lúthien (Nellas)

Total Shots
11-20
Shots On Target
5-9

YELLOW CARDS:
2-2
Inter: Brandir, Forweg
Doriath: Saeros, Galathil

In other games not broadcast by TENT:

Anfauglith vs AC Beleriand

Had he accepted Morgoth's offer to help fund his squad, Fëanor could've been teammates with some of the Balrogs and/or Ungoliant. Instead, their two squads face each other in anticipation of their group stage meeting.

Dubbed as the rematch of Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the scoreless tie was anything but boring. Despite playing at half-speed and with no tactics, the two teams played with a determination to walk away with a win.

It was indeed reminiscent of the Second Battle, with the Fiery Boot taking on the Balrog defenders all by himself. Despite his ball-handling skills that left one, and sometimes two of his markers in the dust, in the main the Valaraukar phalanx was up to the task of denying him his goal, sometimes through physical means.

There was one time when Balrog #4 brought Fëanor down five metres in front of the penalty box. His resulting free kick curled past the wall and towards the goal but Ungoliant snuffed the ball easily.

AC Bel's best chance at goal came late in the second half when Fëanor, after a left-wing incursion, sent a cross towards the unmarked Fingolfin, whose header whizzed just past the far post.

The Fingolfin-led defence was also up to the task of physical intimidation. In fact, Rochallor was lucky not to be sent off after his late challenge on Thuringwethil early in the second half.

Anfauglith 0-0 AC Beleriand
total shots 7-9
on target 2-3
GOALS:
*
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anfauglith- Balrog #4, Borlach, Balrog #2
*AC Bel- Fingolfin, Bregolas, Rochallor, Imlach

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Hithlum vs Nargothrond

There was an unexpected twist to this meeting. Before their squads were complete Hador arranged for a friendly match with Felagund, whose team had players from the eldest Edain house, but also Gwindor and Finduilas, who were familiar with Túrin, as well as Glaurung, the tormentor of Húrin's family, and Mîm, betrayer of Túrin and slain by his father.

The tie was played with the urgency of a tournament game. With Glaurung quiet for most of the match, as urged on by Finrod, Gwindor was the aggressor during the first half hour, racking up the third hat-trick of the friendly round (and the second for Nargothrond) in that time. But Nargothrond might have tired itself out in the effort, as the famed father-son tandem of Hithlum went to work afterwards, scoring a goal each on both sides of the interval. Desperate for an equaliser, Finrod finally gave Glaurung free rein, and in a quick counterattack the Worm of Angband shot the final goal of the match.

Hithlum 4-4 Nargothrond
total shots 20-15
on target 11-8
GOALS:
*8, 0-1 Gwindor (Finduilas)
*17, 0-2 Gwindor (Finrod)
*28, 0-3 Gwindor (Orodreth)
*35, 1-3 Húrin (Morwen)
*41, 2-3 Túrin (Nienor)
*49, 3-3 Túrin (Húrin)
*58, 4-3 Húrin (Hador)
*69, 4-4 Glaurung (Barahir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Androg, Arroch, Gethron, Nienor
*Nargothrond- Barahir, Mîm, Arminas
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Old 04-04-2012, 03:26 PM   #63
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EAisticle: Lion Loopholes

It has reached certain ears – and we must admit they were not pointy Elven ears, but plain human ones, and not the cleanest – that Aganzir, the Woman of the Secret Shadow, has been accepted to the Tol-in-Gaurhoth team as a midfield, and she partially earned this position because of the myths floating around (not exactly like bubbles in a bath or logs in a pond, but more like anchors thrown off a ship) that she is a werecat, aka a werelion. According to some, she can also transform herself into a crocodile, but this theory has no scientific support whatsoever, and is totally irrelevant. Others say that her other other skin is one of a vixen, which is more believable, but just as irrelevant to this topic.

This year the T-I-G team is limited to only four werewolves because, according to some brainy people, wolf forms give the team an unfair advantage over others. The above-mentioned Aganzir is registered as a wight on the above-mentioned team. However, if she chooses to become a lioness, would there be a ban to stop her? There were no lions on teams before; therefore the restriction does not mention any. Will T-I-G make use of this mightily convenient loophole?

Now the above-mentioned grimy human ears collaborate with a mouth, and that mouth is full of teeth and opinions clean enough to quote. “A human is a human, and a lion is no human,” the ears heard that opinionated mouth say. “Four wolves are enough! They have to understand us Homo sapiens too. They will. Any human will. It’s only humane – haha! humane humans!” What the ears and the mouth did not realize is that the rest of the team is also not human: they are wights. Undead. Not human.
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Old 04-05-2012, 04:46 PM   #64
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Eye friendlies continue...

Barad-Dur played host to the team from The Havens, led in by Cirdan and Olwe. Some team members were wary and hardly any Havens supporters showed, but there was no incident. Sauron was running a tight ship.

Neither squad unleashed their full tournament potential, but they were decently competing, particularly when the score was tied. Three times Havens pulled ahead and nerfed their offense in favor of defending until Barad-Dur answered.

The first two Havens goals were answered quite swiftly by Sauron himself. The keeper Cirdan had to laugh when the second ball veered off away from him leaving him no chance at all. After going up against Sauron several times in the past Cirdan knew that sometimes Sauron's just going to beat you with a play.

But Cirdan got the last laugh- Sauron split the defense and fired for a final equalizer with under 5 minutes, but Cirdan managed to tip the ball up and over the crossbar preserving the 1-goal victory for the Havens.

Barad-Dur 2-3 The Havens
tot shots 14-15
on target 7-8
GOALS:
*36, 0-1 Earendil (Tuor)
*42, 1-1 Sauron (Herumor)
*53, 1-2 Aegnor (Angrod)
*59, 2-2 Sauron (Beruthiel)
*77, 2-3 Earendil (Aegnor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Barad-Dur- Herumor, Fuinur, Fellbeast #2
*Havens- Annael, Lindo, Angrod

Since Eriador's home stadium at Amon Sul was busy with preparations for group play, Erebor played host to this contest. Both squads seemed comfortable with their stage of preparation and opted to go with only a half-game, wasting time and kicking it around in the first, and occasionally showing off some trick or another.

When the teams emerged for the 2nd half Elrond and Gil-galad shook hands with Thranduil and the Witch King gave a final pat on the back to Nazgul #7 and the teams went into tournament mode.

Eriador had troubles getting it forward against the eagles at the back, while Erebor did a good job possessing against the fairly conservative defense of Eriador. Smaug and Bard both gained great scoring chances in the early-going, but they watched in frustration as their efforts were wiped out by Elrond.

Finally Smaug could be contained no longer, and he put Erebor on the board at 66 minutes. Erebor continued to press for another goal, but Elrond ordered a more pressuring defense and Erebor ran into problems possessing and Eriador began to look the more dangerous.

In the closing minutes Arveleg sent one just over the crossbar, and Glorfindel made a fantastic run in and nearly trickled it past Beorn, but Girion got there to clear it just in time, and so the game ended at 1-0. Both squads seemed happy to have gotten in one half of hard gameplay against a quality foe.

Erebor 1-0 Eriador
tot shots 12-8
on target 5-3
GOALS:
*66, 1-0 Smaug (Bolg)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Erebor- Gwaihir, Bard, Landroval
*Eriador- Valandil
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Old 04-05-2012, 05:39 PM   #65
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The Friendlies, round three.

The Valinor-based teams took the trip south to play their second last friendlies at the great stadium of Gondolin, carrying the Angband team with them – and well, the secret was lost anyway so there seemed to be no problem with that. But the organisers were at the tip of their toes and scheduled the Angband match the first in the afternoon to avoid any troubles a late game might bring about.

Sadly team Angband and team Valimar were nowhere near to give it a go but passed the ball around – getting all the more careful as the clock ticked on. From the audience’s pov Angband’s sudden awakening 15 minutes before the end of the game was a happy thing, and Valimar reacted to it furiously, like a premeditated deal had been broken. So the last fifteen minutes offered the spectators some real drama and serious game, but nonetheless the game ended in a draw 0-0.

Angband 0-0 Valimar
tot shots 11-9
on target 3-3
GOALS:
*
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Uldor, Balrog #1
*Valimar- Amras, Celebrian


But if the first game was a disappointment, the second one really made everyone forget about it. The beginning of the game between the two top seats Real Valinor and FC Valinor looked to be more of the same but slowly the match-ups started to ratchet up competitive fires. Caranthir, the Dark-brother, was trying to shut down his older and younger brother, while at the other end Maglor kept shadowing his mother and Indis was rivalling her husband’s ex- wife Miriel. And soon it was clear these were real match-ups.

It was the cousin to the Fëanor’s sons, Argon, who really made the impact in this game with his individual performances. FC Valinor cranked up the game on the latter half of the first period and Argon scored from a solo-run (after a nice freeing pass from Yavanna). And when he scored again quite early on the second period – this time with a decent header after a corner by Curufin – Real Valinor really had to step up to play for the victory even if they had started to play quite seriously already before that...

It was clear FC Valinor wished to win and Real Valinor wished to at least draw. After Arien reduced the FC Valinor’s lead to one goal the last ten minutes were just dazzling football with both teams playing it for real.

After the game Indis summed it most appropriately: “You know these family-affairs… there are always these emotions… I mean depending on a family…”

Miriel was not willing to make a clear reference to that, but stressed the fact that both teams would meet again at the group-stage in Númenorë and then everything would be open once again – and she quite happily cast the coat of the favourite to the FC Valinor team. “We don’t yet have our game as organized we’d wished it to be, but we’ll play better the next time”.

FC Valinor 2-1 Real Valinor
tot shots 16-11
on target 7-4
GOALS:
*34, 1-0 Argon (Yavanna)
*61, 2-0 Argon (Curufin)
*83, 2-1 Arien (Nessa)
YELLOW CARDS:
*FCVal- Penlod, Idril, Irmo, Indis
*RealVal- Nienna, Miriel


~*~


The Sea sailed south and harboured their vessels to the shores of Númenor and went to play a friendly there against the upcoming hosts of group D, Armenelos.

It was all friendly and courteous, and in the first half more of a walk-through than a competitive game. But both teams made it more competitive on the second half. After Ulmo scored on the 66th minute, The Sea tried to shut Armenelos down, but that only made the home team try more. Ar Adunakhôr evened the score ten minutes before the end and the draw was very well earned.

Armenelos is facing the toughest competition any team could fear for, but their captain Ar Pharazôn was confident – even if he himself hasn’t scored yet: “The friendlies have shown the Valinor teams are not only good on paper but in reality as well, but these have just been the friendlies… when the real games begin, we will show our qualities with our home crowds behind us. And before you ask me, no, I’m not worried about my scoring… I’m going to score when the goals are needed.”

Tar Minastir was there to speak for The Sea: “We have played even with Tirion so there should be no reason why we couldn’t beat Hithlum and qualify. Yes they come on you like a hurricane but we have a tough defence seasoned for that kind of onslaught – and their defence is vulnerable indeed. So we’re confident we’ll go through.”

Armenelos 1-1 The Sea
tot shots 13-12
on target 4-5
GOALS:
*66, 0-1 Ulmo (Tar Aldarion)
*83, 1-1 Ar Adunakhor (Tar Ancalimon)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Ar Zimrathan, Tar Telemmaite
*Sea- Tar Cirytan, Osse, Tar Aldarion
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Old 04-06-2012, 08:33 PM   #66
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1420! The Felagundion’s sports blog.

Everyone’s favourite manic biased sports blog[*] is back! Now, the rules of Arda Cup team-building may have changed, but the rules of football haven’t, so we’ll leave the discussion of the effects of Eru’s decree to those who care more about it, and let’s get down to discussing the game!

First up, let's have a look at those who'll advance from the group stage, those who'll get their die-roll's chance, and those who won't have a chance in Menel, Cemen, or the seven levels of Minas Anor.

GROUP A
Advance: Angband, Tol-in-Gaurhoth
Dark Horse: Shire-Bree United
Out: The Downer

A winning tradition will push the two into the bracket stage, but this group is so boring it brings me to tears (from all the yawns). The only bright spot this group has is Bombadil, and you know how it is with that enigma . . .

GROUP B
Advance: Eriador, Gondolin
Dark Horse: Arnor, Inter Beleriand

Elrond will have a hard time keeping a clean sheet with the offensive talents in this group. But if anyone can do it, he could.

GROUP C
Advance: Wilderland, Erebor
Out: Anduin, Dwarves United

A Vala with a dragon trumps a Nazgûl with a dragon anytime. The others, obviously, won’t stand a chance.

GROUP D
Advance: Armenelos, Real Valinor
Dark Horse: FC Valinor, Tirion

Tar-Míriel and Arien will lead their teams to get past this most epic of groups.

GROUP E
Advance: The Sea, Hithlum
Dark Horse: Valimar
Out: The Havens

After making it all the way to the semis last year before choking, Manwë will choke earlier than usual this time around.

GROUP F
Advance: Rohan, Imladris
Out: Misty Mts, Isengard

What’s a cavalry without horses? Rohan must have learned that lesson last year, and now they can trample the opposition in the mud.

GROUP G
Advance: Nargothrond, AC Beleriand
Dark Horse: Anfauglith, Doriath

Finrod > Fëanor >>> Everyone else. Nuff said.

GROUP H
Advance: Gondor, Mordor
Dark Horse: Barad-dûr
Out: Minas Tirith

Sauron sucks. We’ve known it for some time, and now everyone else will, too.

__________
[*] According to a comprehensive survey of one sports blog follower.
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Old 04-06-2012, 09:41 PM   #67
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Eye 3rd round friendlies continue....

All the inter-dimensional wights and wolves were packed into the haunted arena in the Barrow-Downs for their friendly against Gondolin. It was the third round of friendlies and TIG supporters were hoping to see their team roster begin to solidify, and perhaps the team would be looking to find its tournament form.

And indeed they were, and the same went for their opponent- Gondolin. Both squads came out giving good effort and trying for the win. But they both failed at that, as they each scored a goal in both halves for a 2-2 draw.

NilpWolf did an excellent job containing Maeglin, but the Wights were not able to counter both the keen-boot and the Lord of Balrogs at the same time. Gothmog scored twice on the day, both on feeds from Elemmakil.

At the other end TIG also managed to put 8 shots on goal. Gondolin had trouble with the Werewolves at the front, and when they tried to compensate it left the witty wights with too much room to operate. But thanks to Rog they managed to preserve the draw.

Gondolin 2-2 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 15-18
on target 8-8
GOALS:
*13, 1-0 Gothmog (Elemmakil)
*38, 1-1 NogWolf (SallyWight)
*67, 1-2 NerWight (PhantomWolf)
*75, 2-2 Gothmog (Elemmakil)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondolin- Galdor, Gothmog, Pengolodh
*TIG- DF Wight #2, MF Wight #3

Tirion came into their match against the Downer weirdos nicely focused, while Hookbill's minions were a bit sloppy to begin. Tirion took advantage by building a three goal lead. Only a spectacular ranged rocket from Saucepan Man saved the half for The Downer.

The second half started the same, but The Downer did begin to find better focus as things moved along. After Finwe's penalty at 68 minutes Tirion fell back to defend and managed to keep The Downer at bay until the very end when captain Hookbill tapped it in on a heads up scramble play.

Tirion 5-2 The Downer
tot shots 24-17
on target 11-7
GOALS:
*9, 1-0 Finwe (Aredhel)
*17, 2-0 Finwe (Mahtan)
*25, 3-0 Eonwe (Ingwe)
*42, 3-1 SPM (Lalwende MP)
*53, 4-1 Eonwe (Aredhel)
*68, 5-1 Finwe
*88, 5-2 Hookbill (Lalwende MP)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Tirion- Mahtan, Thorondor, Eonwe
*Downer- Alien, Burnt Bert, Peter Hampton, Hookbill, Morsul
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Old 04-07-2012, 03:47 PM   #68
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One of the most friendly matches (oddly enough), the friendly game between Isengard and SBU played out more like a training exercise or scrimmage rather than an actual game. The captains were so cordial that they even managed to agree that one team would play full defense and one team full offense in the first half, switching in the second half. Isengard won the coin toss, so they elected to be on offense first. A Wulf/Saruman duo accounted for two Isengard goals, with another being put through by Quickbeam with some nice root-work after being fed by Wormtongue. In the second half, Bombadil (having been napping on the sidelines during the first half) roused himself to score two goals against Isengard, with a third being knocked in by Khamul thanks to Strider. There appeared to be a bit of a raincloud over Bombadil's head after the equalizing goal, but luckily Caradhras was warned off with a yellow card and no untoward hailstones fell.

Isengard 3-3 Shire-Bree United
tot shots 18-16
on target 8-7
GOALS:
*31, 1-0 Wulf (Saruman)
*36, 2-0 Quickbeam (Wormtongue)
*44, 3-0 Saruman (Wulf)
*57, 3-1 Bombadil (Khamul)
*62, 3-2 Khamul (Strider)
*75, 3-3 Bombadil (BWight)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Isengard- Caradhras, Lugdush
*SBUnt- Golfimbul, Butterbur, BWight



In this friendly we saw a repeat of Misty Mountains's friendly strategy, to go for the win when behind and ease off when the score was drawn. This was fine with Wilderland, who matched them stroke for stroke. The Lady of the Golden Wood, Galadriel, proved herself quite a force on the offense, feeding both Elwe and the great dragon Scatha one goal each, while on the other side both Narvi and Azog scored one goal and one assist. However, to put a bit of a damper on things, Misty Mountains seems to still be one of the more brutish, physical teams, coming away with a total of five yellow cards.

Misty Mts 3-3 Wilderland
tot shots 13-18
on target 7-9
GOALS:
*12, 1-0 Azog (Rumil)
*24, 1-1 Elwe (Galadriel)
*39, 1-2 Scatha (Galadriel)
*50, 2-2 Narvi (Azog)
*58, 2-3 Orome (Fimbrethil)
*72, 3-3 Durin’s Bane (Narvi)
YELLOW CARDS:
*MMts- Bert, Tom, Watcher, William, Rumil
*Wilder- Elwe, Skinbark



The match between DU and Imladris started off lazily. Both teams were content to merely kick the ball around the pitch - it seemed a lot like no one really wanted to be there. However, the audience got some excitement during the second half; it appeared that both teams had gotten a stern talking-to from someone, as both teams came out at blazing speed and decided that they did, in fact, want to play. A lucky breakaway let Elrohir arrive at the DU goal just before the ball did, thanks to a high-soaring punt from Varda. Her kick sent the ball speeding towards the goal so fast from down the pitch that it very nearly went in by itself - instead it bounced off the top bar and bounced again off Elrohir's knee, careening into the net at such an odd angle that the goalkeeper couldn't stop it. After that goal, Imladris locked down their defense entirely, making it impossible for DU to get a decent shot on goal.

Dwarves United 0-1 Imladris
tot shots 14-6
on target 6-3
GOALS:
*60, 0-1 Elrohir (Varda)
YELLOW CARDS:
*DwUnt- Durin, Gamil Zirak
*Imladris- Lindir
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Old 04-07-2012, 06:21 PM   #69
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The AKM rankings after three rounds of friendlies.

The AKM has compiled a bunch of statistics once again to guide our readers through this competition. This time we present you a combined ranking of three different sets of stats that were more or less unequivocal.

After all the friendlies are done we will present a more detailed and explicit stuff, but this is our take on the teams after three rounds of friendlies.

1. (D) FC Valinor
2. (D) Real Valinor
3. (G) AC Beleriand

4. (D) Armenelos
5. (B) Eriador
6. (E) Valimar

7. (D) Tirion
8. (F) Rohan
9. (C) Erebor

10. (C) Wilderland
11. (E) The Sea
12. (F) Imladris

13. (A) Angband
14. (E) Hithlum
15. (G) Anfaughlith

16. (G) Doriath
17. (B) Gondolin
18. (A) Tol In Gaurhoth

19. (A) Shire-Bree Utd.
20. (C) Anduin
21. (G) Nargothrond

22. (H) Gondor
23. (F) Misty Mts.
24. (B) Arnor

25. (E) The Havens
26. (H) Minas Tirith
27. (F) Isengard

28. (C) Dwarves Utd.
29. (H) Mordor
30. (B) Inter Beleriand

31. (H) Barad Dûr
32. (A) The Downer


~*~

And as no network has yet given the readers these stats, let us publish them then...


Top-scorers.


1. Finwë (Tirion) 5+2=7
Gwindor (Nargothrond)

3. Bombadill (Shire-Bree) 5+1=6

4. Curufin (FC Valinor) 4+2=6
Húrin (Hithlum)

6. Aredhel (Tirion) 3+3=6

7. Arien (Real Valinor) 5+0=5
Glaurung (Nargothrond)

9. Oromë (Wilderland) 4+1=5
Túrin (Hithlum)

11. Strider (Shire-Bree) 3+2=5

12. Miriel (Real Valimar) 2+3=5

13. The Barrow-Wight (Shire-Bree) 0+5=5



Top-Goalies.

1. Elros (Imladris) 94,1%

2. Ungoliant (Anfaughlith) 90,1%

3. Elrond (Eriador) 90%
Manwë (Valimar)
Marach (AC Beleriand)

6. Beorn (Erebor) 81,8%
Carcaroth (Angband)
Theoden ( Rohan)
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Old 04-07-2012, 08:00 PM   #70
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Pipe ArdaCup.com Stats Report #3: 3rd Round of Friendlies

The second friendly round issue of the ArdaCup.com Stats Report brings little change to the top ten teams (just one new face), but with lots of activity bubbling underneath.

Power Rank:

Legend
:
Team name (win-draw-loss)
Offence (goals per game) [rank]
Defence (goals allowed per game) [rank]
Goalkeeping (save percentage) [rank]
Adjusted Goal Differential [rank]
  1. Real Valinor (2-0-1)
    3 [5]
    1.67 [18]
    72.22% [16]
    +2.00 [1]
    They manage to hold on to their top spot due to their previous impressive performances despite their loss to the other Valinor team (it took that win for FC Valinor to equal Real’s offensive and defensive stats), but certainly the gap between Real and the others have narrowed appreciably.
  2. FC Valinor (3-0-0)
    3 [6]
    1.67 [19]
    72.22% [17]
    +1.83 [2]
    FC Valinor is the only team with three friendly wins. Their last win over Real Valinor pole-vaults them over the other teams and into an extremely tight race with their brethren for the top spot. The way the two are going, they would probably meet two more times in the Arda Cup.
  3. AC Beleriand (1-2-0)
    1 [26]
    0.33 [2]
    90% [4]
    +1.58 [3]
    Despite a scoreless draw with group rival Anfauglith, AC Bel doesn’t budge from its spot.
  4. Rohan (1-2-0)
    1.33 [20]
    0.67 [9]
    81.82% [6]
    +1.08 [4]
    A lazy draw one-all with Minas Tirith moves Rohan down two spots. They could have won the game, though, had they shown a little more aggression, so there’s still some separation between them and surging group rivals Imladris.
  5. Eriador (2-0-1)
    0.67 [29]
    0.33 [1]
    90% [5]
    +1.0 [7]
    A one-goal loss against the Lonely Mt squad drops Eriador, but since Erebor is also a high-ranked team, they fall just a spot. Elrond should really address his dragon problems, though—last year his Eregion squad dropped out of the tournament due to an Ancalagon goal, and this time a Smaug goal breaks his save streak.
  6. The Sea (0-3-0)
    1.33 [18]
    1.33 [12]
    73.33% [15]
    +1.08 [6]
    Another draw against a top-tier team moves Ulmo’s squad up a notch. Take note, though, that it was them who scored first in their match with Armenelos, who still had Tar-Atanamir and Tar-Telperiën. This team looks ready for the main event.
  7. Wilderland (1-2-0)
    2.33 [8]
    2.00 [23]
    68.42% [21]
    +0.65 [10]
    A draw where Wilderland conceded too much goals to middling Misty Mts drops Oromë’s squad a notch.
  8. Erebor (2-0-1)
    1 [24]
    0.67 [8]
    81.82% [7]
    +0.83 [8]
    A win against top-tier Eriador bumps Erebor up two spots. Group C looks more and more like a battle between the Lonely Mt and Wilderland for first place.
  9. Imladris (2-0-1)
    1 [27]
    0.33 [5]
    94.12% [1]
    +0.58 [11]
    The squad from Rivendell enters the top ten less due to their steady win over cellar-dwelling Dwarves United, and more due to an Arnor win this round (which made Imladris’s win over Arnor in the first round look good.)
  10. Armenelos (1-2-0)
    1.33 [21]
    1 [10]
    78.75% [10]
    +0.5 [12]
    Gondor’s loss to Arnor this round makes the Kings’s first round draw with them look bad.
Dropped out: Valimar.



Greatest gain:
  • +13 Imladris
  • +11 Doriath
  • +8 Arnor
Greatest loss:
  • -16 Gondor
  • -7 Hithlum, Inter Beleriand
  • -5 Mordor
The Power Ranking is based on the aggregate of offensive and defensive ranking, combined with the adjusted goal differential rank of each team. The listed offensive and defensive rankings are from the actual numbers by the teams, and not adjusted. Ties are broken by the win-draw-loss record.

The offensive ranking is based on the goals scored throughout the friendly matches. Ties are broken by a) greater number of shots made on target; and b) greater number of shots made.

The defensive ranking is based on the goals allowed throughout the friendly matches. Ties are broken by a) least number of shots allowed on target; and b) least amount of shots allowed.

Please note that the above ranking is based on the three rounds of friendly matches played by the teams, and does not reflect actual tournament performance.


Top individual performers:

GOALS + ASSISTS

5+2
Finwë (Tirion)
Gwindor (Nargothrond)

5+1
Bombadil (Shire-Bree United)

5+0
Arien (Real Valinor)
Glaurung (Nargothrond)

4+2
Curufin (FC Valinor)
Húrin (Hithlum)

4+1
Túrin (Hithlum)

4+0
Sauron (Barad-dûr)

3+3
Aredhel (Tirion)

3+2
Strider (Shire-Bree United)
Oromë (Wilderland)

3+1
Gothmog (Gondolin)
Eärendil (The Havens)
Aegnor (The Havens)

3+0
Maedhros (Inter Beleriand)
Eönwë (Tirion)
Argon (FC Valinor)
Durin's Bane (Misty Mts)
Lúthien (Doriath)

2+3
Míriel (Real Valinor)

2+2
Hookbill (The Downer)
Tar-Ancalimon (The Sea)

1+3
Elwë (Wilderland)
Nienor (Hithlum)

0+5
Barrow-Wight (Shire-Bree United)

0+4
Daeron (Doriath)

GOALKEEPING
  1. Elros (Imladris) - 16/17 (94.12%)
  2. Manwe (Valimar) - 10/11 (90.91%)
  3. Ungoliant (Anfauglith) - 10/11 (90.91%)
  4. Marach (AC Beleriand) - 9/10 (90%)
  5. Elrond (Eriador) - 9/10 (90%)
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Old 04-08-2012, 06:39 PM   #71
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Two Towers Network had already gone into today, planning on not previewing the Round 4 friendlies. Feeling like most teams will dramatically reel the intensity back so they can go into group play with fresh legs.

Having said that, we were still going to add our opinion, and defense of where teams were ranked after Round 3. Yet, as we were writing in commentary for 27th rank Havens, a wrong key was hit, wiping out all previous information. We had only saved the new Power Ranking list, and not any of the analysis. Needless to say, TTN is frustrated with it staff, because our readers deserve and expect better, than to get no analysis because of getting it wiped out by one swift stroke (yes, apparently there is a Death Star button on computers, blowing up an entire planetary analysis).

We will only be publishing the rankings (and how many spots gained, or lost from the previous ranking. We will make up for this next week, as well as adding offense, defense, and goal-keeping stats into our point-system formula. This way, teams are measured by their results, strength of schedule in the friendles, but also overal statistics.

Again, we are extremely disappointed with ourselves at this happening, and can already see the AKM and TENT vultures circling above on our amatuer error. But, our methods will be proven to be more accurate, in the end.

Key: (Rank. Team. (w-d-l) - Points).

Power Rankings

01. FC Valinor (3-0-0) - 43.6
(Last Week: #2)

02. Real Valinor (2-0-1) - 39.1
(Last Week: #1)

03. Tirion (2-1-0) - 26.9
We will still make note here, look at how tightly bunched #3-7 are...wow, very very close to call. Almost impossible, even for a computer (No. You can never have too many SW references )
(Last Week: #8)

04. AC Beleriand (1-2-0) - 26.6
(Last Week: #4)

05. Eriador (2-0-1) - 26.5
(Last Week: #3)

06. Valimar (1-2-0) - 26.4
(Last Week: #5)

07. Erebor (2-0-1) - 26.3
(Last Week: #12)

08. Wilderland (1-2-0) - 24.4
We will note here, Wilderland might be a bit too high (yes even though this is TTN's formula, that does not mean we have to agree with the numbers ). Conceding 3 goals to Misty Mountains is concerning, and they're really benefitting from Erebor's continually winning.
(Last Week: #11)

09. The Sea (0-3-0) - 22.5
(Last Week: #10)

10. Imladris (2-0-1) - 22.1
(Last Week: #13)

11. Armenolos (1-2-0) - 22.0
(Last Week: #6)

12. Angband (0-3-0) - 21.2
(Last Week: #9)

13. Rohan (1-2-0) - 19.6
Concerned they seem to want to play like Valimar, when you pull back entirely for defense you're just asking for trouble, and inviting "bad luck" to beat you.
(Last Week: #7)

14. Anfauglith (0-3-0) - 18.4
(Last Week: #14)

15. Gondolin (1-1-1) - 18.1
(Last Week: #17)

16. Hithlum (1-1-1) - 15.7
(Last Week: #15)

17. Doriath (1-1-1) - 15.2
(Last Week: #18)

18. Nargothrond (0-2-1) - 13.9
Conceding 4 goals in every match so far? Where is the careful and "tough as nails" strategy wise-Finrod is known for?
(Last Week: #16)

19. Arnor (1-1-1) - 13.2
Shot up the most this week, but it's deserved. Gondolin and Eriador can not underestimate this Arnorian team.
(Last Week: #31)

20. Shire-Bree (0-3-0) - 13.1
(Last Week: #21)

21. Anduin (1-1-1) - 12.7
(Last Week: #22)

22. Gondor (0-2-1) - 11.9
(Last Week: #19)

23. Tol-in-Gaurhoth (0-3-0) - 11.3
(Last Week: #23)

24. Misty Mountains (0-3-0) - 11.1
(Last Week: #28)

25. Minas Tirith (0-2-1) - 9.1
(Last Week: #25)

26. Isengard (0-2-1) - 7.9
(Last Week: #27)

27. The Havens (1-0-2) - 6.8
Despite beating Barad-dur, how did the Havens still lose spots? This is what we mean by winning consistently will be the most beneficial to teams. Havens were hurt by their previous losses, and only beats #31 ranked Barad-dur, 3-2. Hence, they still fell a few places.
(Last Week: #24)

28. Inter Beleriand (1-0-2) - 5.1
(Last Week: #26)

29. Mordor (0-2-1) - 5.1
(Last Week: #29)

30. Dwarves Utd (0-1-2) - 4.1
(Last Week: #20)

31. Barad-dur (0-1-2) - 3.5
(Last Week: #30)

32. The Downer (0-0-3) - .5
(Last Week: #32)
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:28 PM   #72
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Pipe Tar-Eldar Network Television friendly coverage 4

The TENT-exclusive friendly encounter between Gondolin and Nargothrond was held in a location nostalgic to both teams. Since both the High Faroth Arena and Song of Stone Stadium were undergoing renovations (for group stage hosting and bidding for quarterfinal hosting, respectively), the two hidden realm squads jointly decided to hold the tie in the Twilit Meres Stadium, Aelin-uial, where the founders of both kingdoms received the idea from Ulmo to build realms hidden from Morgoth's eyes.

Despite the geniality between the two most enduring Noldorin realms in Beleriand, some tension was raised when Finrod commented on the situation regarding his cousin's 'banishment' from Gondolin. 'No ruler should be barred from joining his own kingdom's squad,' he said during the post-game press conference. Maeglin replied, 'With all due respect to Lord Felagund, I think he should just mind his own business. I'm sure his own kingdom agrees with me.'

So the seeds of resentment have been planted between the two, but the only way they would meet in the Arda Cup was if one of them won their group and the other finished second--a tall order, considering that Gondolin and Nargothrond have giants Eriador and AC Beleriand in their respective groups.

But on to the game. Nargothrond was leading two-nil thirty minutes into the game before Gondolin got on the scoreboard. Finrod scored his second goal early in the second half to restore the two-goal lead before Maeglin's double put the two teams even. The last half hour of the match proved to be a treat to football fans as the two teams fought for the win. Six minutes before full time Nargothrond got their winner when Orodreth headed in Gwindor's left-wing cross.

Gondolin 3-4 Nargothrond
GOALS:
13, 0-1 Finduilas (Glaurung)
34, 0-2 Finrod
38, 1-2 Gothmog (Duilin)
46, 1-3 Finrod (Barahir)
59, 2-3 Maeglin (Elemmakil)
66, 3-3 Maeglin (Gothmog)
84, 3-4 Orodreth (Gwindor)

Total Shots
17-21
Shots on Target
8-10

YELLOW CARDS:
3-2
Gondolin: Maeglin, Elemmakil, Pengolodh
Nargothrond: Orodreth, Guilin

In other games not televised by TENT:

Anfauglith vs Doriath

Thuringwethil and Lúthien, who had been friends ever since their squads faced each other in the Silmaril Invitational Tournament, helped arrange this friendly tie before they knew that they would be in the same group. As such, the two teams didn't display much in the way of offensive tactics, and none on the pitch had sufficient individual skills to unlock the defences the two teams arrayed in front of their goals, especially that of Ungoliant and the Balrogs. Doriath had more possessions (hence more chances at goal) due to Anfauglith's weak midfield, which underscored their offensive woes. But the few chances Thuringwethil and company created were more dangerous than the ones Doriath had, which pointed out the continuing defensive difficulties of the Fenced Land. It required all of Melian and Lúthien's effort to keep the side from the Gasping Dust scoreless, as the rest of the defence were often left wrong-footed by the agile vampire's ball-handling and passing skills.

Anfauglith 0-0 Doriath
total shots 7-10
on target 2-2
GOALS:
*
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anfauglith- Gundor, Balrog #3, Borlach
*Doriath- Nimloth, Daeron

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AC Beleriand vs The Havens

Despite the fact that much of the media's attention has been on the two Valinor squads, AC Beleriand made a statement today about their earnestness to win the Cup with their dismantling of the struggling Havens side. Dubbed by the local media in the Falas as a repeat of the first Kinslaying, Fëanor and Eöl made short work of the mariners, who had only Aegnor's goal to console them. In the post-game press conference Feanor said, 'It's lucky for Real and FC Valinor that they're in the wrong group; otherwise one of them won't even make it to the semis.'

AC Beleriand 3-1 The Havens
tot shots 15-15
on target 8-6
GOALS:
*10, 1-0 Fëanor (Ulrad)
*26, 2-0 Eöl (Fëanor)
*63, 2-1 Aegnor (Eärendil)
*78, 3-1 Eöl (Beren)
YELLOW CARDS:
*AC Bel- Ecthelion, Denethor, Imlach
*Havens- Andreth, Aegnor
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Old 04-12-2012, 03:40 PM   #73
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Eye

Minas Morgul played host for the final friendly for Barad-Dur and The Sea. It was easier for visitors to reach than any of the arenas within Mordor itself, and so would get a better mix of fans. A couple ships worth of mariner-types sailed up the Anduin and made the trek east for the match, and even more Gondorians showed up to support their Numenorean forefathers.

And these fans were pleased indeed, as both Veantur and Tar Minastir made it into the scorebook, one of them off a nice find from Tar Aldarion. They were displeased when longtime foe Sauron scored just before the half, but even with the talented Sea defense playing fairly top level Sauron is going to do that from time to time.

In the second half the high level of play continued and The Sea was able to play their style and suffocate Barad-Dur in the final 25 to hold on for the win.

Barad-Dur 1-2 The Sea
tot shots 14-13
on target 4-7
GOALS:
*17, 0-1 Veantur (Tar Aldarion)
*42, 1-1 Sauron (Beruthiel)
*75, 1-2 Tar Minastir (Ulmo)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Barad-Dur- Castamir, Fuinur, Mouth, Herumor, Sauron
*Sea- Tar Aldarion, Osse, Ulmo

The match between group foes Dwarves United and Wilderland wasn't terribly well attended, even though it took place in Dimrill Dale- close for both the Dwarves of the mountains and the Elves of Lothlorien.

But the Elves were split with their attentions- Rumil and Orophin were with the Misty Mts, Celeborn and Haldir were with Anduin, and Galadriel was with Wilderland, so they simply couldn't get behind one team full force.

The Dwarves on the other hand- they were certainly behind their squad, but many of them were busy with preparations, as the Dwarven Halls of Moria would be playing host to Group C. Not to mention that this particular game would be played again- only when it mattered.

So a half-empty stadium got to see a rather low-effort game. The natural athleticism of Wilderland was on display, and Aule's squad refused to counter with physicality, either for fear of injury or because they wanted to save their energy and plans for the group stage.

With Wilderland playing loose too the Dwarves did get a few looks at the goal, but the Great Warg made several nice saves to keep the opposition at bay. In the end only a pinpoint surprise drive by Celebrimbor kept them from being shut out.

Dwarves United 1-4 Wilderland
tot shots 14-18
on target 7-7
GOALS:
*35, 0-1 Galadriel (Orome)
*57, 0-2 Scatha (Elwe)
*69, 1-2 Celebrimbor (Telchar)
*79, 1-3 Scatha (Galadriel)
*83, 1-4 Elwe (Fimbrethil)
YELLOW CARDS:
*DwarvesU- Gimli
*Wilderland- Oropher, Galion
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Old 04-13-2012, 08:18 AM   #74
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Round 4 of the friendlies

Hithlum had invited team Tirion to visit them at Dor-lómin’s cosy forest-stadium and the attendance was excellent regarding that there were two other quite a crowd-pleaser games taking place in the vicinity around the same time.

The game was an interesting one in many respects. Both teams went for ball possession and short-pass tactics – probably trying to save energy just before the tournament by not running to and fro through the field all the time after long openings. But that didn’t mean the ball was just moved over the midfield. On the contrary, the teams offered the spectators real value for their money with a display of some nice individual skills, well played combinations and in the end seven goals. Tirion got four of them, Hithlum three.

Tirion has been high on the different rankings published in the media and Hithlum has done pretty well too. But the problem both teams face is the super-high level of competition in both of their respective groups.

Asked about that in the post-game press the answers were these.

Aredhel: We just keep scoring more than the opponents do, and to help that we tighten our backline a little bit… You know, even if they would never admit it, the Númenorians are wetting their pants looking forwards to meeting us as they know they have to score at least three or four to even draw with us – and they just don’t score that much, sorry guys. And the Valinor-teams? They are the pre-tournament favourites and they are under pressure to qualify, so we’ll keep on scoring and see whether they can answer that. They will freeze, I will tell you. They will freeze.

Húrin: Valimar and The Sea play the defence-game. The medicine against that is playing offencive – and you know where the talent of our team lies… And the Havens, you ask? Well I wouldn’t count on them to be contesting for the qualification anyway. Tuor is a good lad and his offspring are valiant, and Cirdan is a great person, but they just are not up to the challenge this time.

Hithlum 3-4 Tirion
tot shots 13-15
on target 7-7
GOALS:
*8, 1-0 Turin (Hurin)
*14, 1-1 Finwe (Anaire)
*19, 1-2 Eonwe (Ingwe)
*31, 2-2 Nienor (Hador)
*40, 2-3 Mahtan
*70, 2-4 Finwe (Aredhel)
*81, 3-4 Hurin (Androg)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Morwen, Grithnir
*Tirion- Elenwe


~*~

Even if football is the number one sport in Arda, there still are pockets here and there where other sports take precedence. One of those is the great city of Dol Amroth by the sea. In an effort to spread the enthusiasm towards football the AFA (Arda Football Association) has been sponsoring the building of a beautiful Swan Arena just inside the New Port facing the Bay of the White Ships.

Gondor’s and Minas Tirith’s scheduals had sadly been locked down already before it was clear the stadium would be finished before this year’s Cup would begin, but the adminstrators of Dol Amroth were able to pick quite a treat for their citizens by getting four very interesting teams to the city to finish their friendly season.

In the afternoon game one of the great favourites and talk of the Arda Real Valinor – with all the powerful elves and Western-folk – met the media-favourite team of oddities, the one who can actually also play aka. Tol In Gaurhoth.

In the game Real Valinor showed why they are high in the speculations. Even if the T-I-G played their best football thus far and managed to offer some real competition, there never was a real question about which team was calling the shots here. Real’s ball-handling was just superb and their passes a level faster and wittier, their offencive-players’ manouvers a deal more creative and dangerous than those of their wight-werewolf counterparts. Looking at the shooting stats just tells it all.

Both teams played it all out and Real Valinor went on winning the game 3-1. That was a fair result.

Real Valinor 3-1 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 19-11
on target 9-3
GOALS:
*18, 1-0 Miriel (Elemmire)
*54, 1-1 NerWight (NogWolf)
*72, 2-1 Nessa (Nerdanel)
*86, 3-1 Miriel (Tilion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*RealVal- Rumil, Tilion, Caranthir
*TIG- SallyWight, NilpWolf, DF Wight #2, DF Wight #1


But the game the audiences were really excited about was the “meeting of the brothers” – as the game was marketed (although some critical avant-garde & hipster media, like The Belfalas Guardian, called it “a senior-meeting of centuries old grandfathers and uncles no one living today should be interested more than a piece in the museum of oddities”). But most of the people were thrilled to see the great Númenorians and the Kings of Arnor clashing in a friendly battle on a football-field.

Both teams played respectfully but in a full tournament gusto. Even if Armenelos was the more controlling side, Elendil’s and Araphor’s nice teamwork took Arnor into lead in the first half. Ar Pharazôn’s intelligent pass that freed Tar Miriel one on one with Arvedui draw the game early in the second half.

Little by little Armenelos’ faster and more athletic game bore fruit and Ar Pharazôn scored a neat volley for Armenelos to take the lead on 72nd minute. After that Armenelos pulled back practising keeping the lead – and Arnor was not able to get past the defence any more.

Ar Pharazôn smiled widely in the press conference and praised team Arnor being a lot tougher their rankings by the “know-nothing media” show and suggested they should look and learn. He was also quick to mention that he had told the media already earlier that when the games start to be more real he will start scoring, and he did play a major part in both goals of Armenelos in the game so maybe he is correct.

When asked by Andunië Evening Standard, whether the Valinor-based teams they will meet in the group-phase are still too tough for them to qualify, Ar Pharazôn had only this to answer:

“Phffft!”

Armenelos 2-1 Arnor
tot shots 14-8
on target 6-3
GOALS:
*29, 0-1 Araphor (Elendil)
*55, 1-1 Tar Miriel (Ar Pharazon)
*72, 2-1 Ar Pharazon (Tar Ancalimon)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Ar Adunakhor, Ar Zimrathan
*Arnor- Malvegil, Araval, Earendur
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Old 04-13-2012, 01:21 PM   #75
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FRIENDLIES - ROUND 4

The Ost-in-Edhil Stadium was chosen to host the friendly between Angband and Inter Beleriand. It was an interesting decision to play the game in Middle-earth, but both teams agreed it was the best. Since Angband would be playing their games at Michel Delving, and Inter Beleriand would travel to Weathertop, both agreed to make the trip to Middle-earth early and play their final friendly at a neutral location.

It was fairly well attended friendly, since the locals were interested to see two Beleriand teams play, especially since one had Morgoth himself, and the other Maedhros and Fingon. Also, many supporters of the teams wanted to get to Middle-earth early, and buy up the group-match tickets when they went on sale.

The match was hardly fought and contested, with both sides going for the win, but neither tried deception. Without creativity in the teams' attacks, both defenses were up to the task of shutting them down. Eventually, the agility of Telivildo, and dominating presence of Ancalagon, freed Ulfast to give Angband the lead in the 38th minute.

Angband came out of the break looking to showcase their defense even more, and Inter Beleriand found it very hard to break down a defense organized by Morgoth. The pure skill of Maedhros and Fingon did create some quality efforts, but those efforts were too few, and Carcharoth was never truly tested in goal.

Angband 1-0 Inter Beleriand
tot shots 11-10
on target 4-3
GOALS:
*38, 1-0 Ulfast (Telvildo)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Ulfast, Ulwarth
*InterBel- Haldad

Isengard and Minas Tirith, squared off in a full tournament effort at the Hornburg Stadium.

Isengard dominated the first half, particularly Saruman, who scored both of Isengard's goals. But Wormtongue's midfield also played well in the first half, feeding passes to the up front goal-scorers.

Isengard pulled back the offense in the 2nd, which allowed Minas Tirith to create a couple chances. Mardil was able to pull the White City to within a goal, but it required bringing defenders up as extra attackers, to finally bbeat The Mountain & The Tree defense. After cutting the defecit to 1, Isengard played a couple counter attacks, just to keep Minas Tirith on its toes and not able to focus entirely on equalizing. In the end, Saruman looked more likely to grab his 3rd goal of the match than Minas Tirith did at equalizing.

Isengard 2-1 Minas Tirith
tot shots 13-10
on target 7-4
GOALS:
*22, 1-0 Saruman (Lugdush)
*44, 2-0 Saruman (Quickbeam)
*74, 2-1 Mardil (Cirion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Isengard- Freca, Wulf, Mauhur
*MTirith- Ostoher

A very clean game played amongst friends, but still a competitive one. Eriador, in particular, showing you did not need heavy bruisers, or intimidation tactics to play a solid defensive game.

Although it started out shaky for Eriador's defense, as the BarrowWight and Bombadil were up to their usual performance, making it hard on defenders, and simply being annoying with never ending dancing and terrible poetry.

It's no insult to concede a goal to those two players, since they are one of the best combos in Arda, and have scored on any defense (even on Melkor and the mighty Valimar in the 2009 Cup!) But somehow Bombadil's self-indulgent celebrations were viewed as an insult by the Noldor, and Gil-galad made it his mission to shut Bombadil out for the remainder.

But shutting down Bombadil was not at all a troubling task in the 2nd half, since no one seemed to know where the annoying little man was. And thus Eriador was able to take firmer control of the game. Thrice Eriador scored, and it was a total team effort involving 5 different players. After Gil-galad's goal, making it 3-1, Eriador defended to close out the game. With no Bombadil, Shire-Bree was unable to make a game of it, and so nothing of note happened in the final 10 minutes.

Eriador 3-1 Shire-Bree United
tot shots 12-14
on target 6-5
GOALS:
*24, 0-1 BarrowWight (Bombadil)
*43, 1-1 Glorfindel (Arveleg)
*61, 2-1 Witch King
*78, 3-1 Gil-galad (Arahael)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Eriador-
*SBreeU- Bandobras
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Old 04-14-2012, 12:12 AM   #76
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Eye Final friendlies continue...

With the ban on games in Valinor, Mordor wanted to snare a western foe to host. They made a great pitch to team Valimar, but when the westerners rolled in they found the host stadium at the Morannon to be less than hospitable.

Any lodging that wasn't already filled with Mordorians was crawling with pests and wasn't just dirty but appeared to have been actively wrecked. Not to mention most of the rooms looked as if they'd once been regular size but had been recently divided with hastily erected walls.

Packs of orcs lined the streets and heckled the Valinoreans as they checked into their insufficient lodgings. To escape the sickening cramped quarters the Elves and Ainu went out to find a good pub. What they found were ramshackle joints next to luxurious orc-only establishments. The places of business they were allowed into served only muddy water- or at least they hoped it was only mud.

When it came time for the game the Valimar supporters discovered their seats were all in the top of one side of the stadium, and all the rear rows of orcs had over-sized hats and signs to block the view. And the play on the field that they couldn't see wasn't any less kind- Mordor was taking every opportunity to rough up Manwe and company.

Which, as those experienced with Manwe will tell you, is not a good idea. If an opposing team can keep Manwe and friends calm and playing their regular game, they'll be content to be defensive and, particularly in friendlies, sit on a 1-goal lead. But instead Valimar went up to full effort and tournament style play and didn't pull back to defense only until they had scored three goals, and Mordor simply didn't have an answer for it. The orcs were quite down about it, but as a consolation they knew they'd take it in shifts to scream outside Valimar's quarters that night.

Mordor 0-3 Valimar
tot shots 9-13
on target 2-6
GOALS:
*21, 0-1 Alatar (Ilmare)
*37, 0-2 Pallando (Vaire)
*72, 0-3 Pallando (Amras)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Mordor- Grishnakh, Nazgul #2, Fellbeast #1, Gorbag
*Valimar- Amras, Alatar

The game between FC Valinor and The Downer on the foggy Downs field was a real letdown for the locals that braved the chill to see it. The Downer started off focused on the task, but began losing interest as the score held at 0-0.

FC Valinor finally broke things open at 32 minutes, but they did so in such a business-like manner that it didn't seem to stir The Downer much. Early in the 2nd half it happened again. FC Val fell back to play some defense, but The Downer seemed uninterested in asserting themselves, so the Valinoreans decided to get in a bit more offensive practice.

After the fourth goal FC Val gave away possession completely and The Downer took some half-hearted scoring attempts, but they never got close, and things ended in sad shape for the other-dimensionals.

FC Valinor 4-0 The Downer
tot shots 19-13
on target 9-4
GOALS:
*32, 1-0 Celegorm (Maglor)
*54, 2-0 Curufin (Yavanna)
*68, 3-0 Argon (Curufin)
*76, 4-0 Yavanna (Idril)
YELLOW CARDS:
*FCVal- Nahar
*Downer- John Fillis, Evil Mayo
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Old 04-15-2012, 11:45 PM   #77
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Silmaril Tar-Eldar Network Television featured article

Quiet Argon uses Arda Cup debut to make a statement about his game
by Alice Holly

For many who were not born with talent or fame, suiting up to be on the biggest stage would be enough. It is, after all, something far more than they would have expected or deserved. Having the spotlight on them for a few fleeting moments would be enough of an experience to last them for the rest of their lives.

That clearly isn’t enough for Argon, son of Fingolfin, FC Valinor midfielder.

‘I came here to play winning football.’

And he certainly has. He has four friendly goals in four matches in a team laden with star power, a team on the path to winning it all. He had a double—the only goals his team had—in FC Valinor’s win against their toughest rival Real Valinor. Argon took his time in the limelight and used it to prove that he deserved to be among the elite.

It had been an long and arduous road for Argon—getting the call in the first place required divine intervention.

‘I don’t know anyone from Middle-earth, so my only chance for a call-up to an Arda Cup roster is through Blessed Realm teams. I knew I didn’t have much of a chance because there were only thirty-three spots—actually less, because I can’t play goalie. This year Tulkas and Yavanna built their own squads, after being together in team Valinor last year, so I had a few more chances to be called up. About a week into the preseason, I finally got invited by Yavanna to join her FC Valinor team.’

Argon is not a total unknown in the footballing world. After all, he did come from one of the best footballing families in Eä, the House of Finwë. His father and sister have won the Cup.

‘It’s just that I never got the chance to be on the news like they do, be it about football or anything else. But I guess I like being quiet. I’ve never been fond of war or politics—football’s been enough to get me going.’

He’s also the captain of the Tirion Sporting Club, far and away the best player in a middling team in the Elvish Premier League. They accomplished their best league finish this year at sixth, fully thirty points behind leaders Eldamar. And they have never progressed past the quarterfinals of the Elf A Cup.

‘The people I’m playing with now, I used to meet them on the pitch only twice, maybe thrice a year.’

And those people have nothing but praise for the Arda Cup rookie.

‘He’s a hard worker,’ said his half-cousin Celegorm.

His grandmother Indis concurs. ‘He’s usually the first on the pitch, working on his game—footwork, ball-control, his stamina, whatever he needs to improve on. He’s also usually the last to leave.’

‘He desires to know more about the game,’ said Irmo. ‘He reads up on strategies and tactics. And he’s watching tapes of past Arda Cup games, especially ones of teams we’d be facing. He says he doesn’t want to feel out the opposition only when he’s on the pitch against them—he wants to be ready for what they can do.’

After years of waiting, he’s finally shown Arda that he can play in the greatest stage. Argon’s time in the spotlight is just a stepping stone to greater glory.

‘It’s my first time to be here, and I already want to win it all. Sounds ambitious, maybe, but I know we can do it.’

Alice Holly is a Tar-Eldar Network Television football correspondent.
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Old 04-22-2012, 07:09 AM   #78
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The AKM's Ranking of the Arda Cup Teams 2012

So dear friends, it is getting about time to bring the final rankings to the fore before the tournament begins. The AKM is proud to bring it's readers the first one - and one that looks a little bit different than some of the earlier rankings whether by the AKM or the other networks.

The reason for that is simple.

We have considered both the schedual of each team in the friendlies aka. how tough teams they have played, and more or less ignored those games where both teams have played for a draw.

We'll bring you some more elaborate statitistics & speculation on them when our "group by group" -analysis is published in the next few days.


In the following ranking-list you have all the teams ranked first of all into five different ranking-categories (which we have used to determine the toughness or easyness of their schedule - the end-result of course has been modified). Before a team name there is the ranking + the former ranking by the AKM in parentheses. After the team there is the letter for the group the team plays in.

Rank 1 (The Favourites)
1. (1.) FC Valinor (D)
2. (2.) Real Valinor (D)
3. (5.) Valimar (E)
4. (3.) AC Beleriand (G)

Rank 2 (The Contenders)
5. (10.) Angband (A)
6. (7.) Tirion (D)
7. (8.) The Sea (E)
8. (4.) Eriador (B)
9. (9.) Wilderland (C)
10. (6.) Armenelos (D)
11. (16.) Anduin (C)
12. (11.) Erebor (C)
13. (13.) Anfaughlith (G)

Rank 3 (Can challenge a good team)
14. (14.) Imladris (F)
15. (15.) Nargothrond (G)
16. (12.) Rohan (F)
17. (17.) Doriath (G)
18. (17.) Hithlum (E)
19. (19) Gondolin (B)

Rank 4 (Decent teams on a good day)
20. (21.) Misty Mts. (F)
21. (25.) The Havens (E)
22. (24.) Isengard (F)
23. (27.) Arnor (B)
24. (22.) Tol In Gaurhoth (A)
25. (23.) Shire-Bree Utd. (A)
26. (28.) Inter Beleriand (B)
27. (20.) Gondor (H)

Rank 5 (The Left-overs)
28. (30.) Mordor (H)
29. (26.) Minas Tirith (H)
30. (31.) Barad Dûr (H)
31. (29.) Dwarves Utd. (C)
32. (32.) The Downer (A)
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Old 04-25-2012, 04:47 PM   #79
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Anduin took on Imladris in what was to be one of the final friendly matches before the tournament began in earnest. And, to be frank, the first half of this game was pretty boring. It appeared the time of year was making Grimbeorn sluggish – he barely moved during the first half of the game. On the other side, Elladan could be seen juggling the ball at nearly every opportunity simply for practice, judging this game to be not worthwhile.

In the second half, though, he did stir himself to put the ball into the net courtesy of a strong punt from Arwen (later, a reporter heard her say she aimed at Elladan’s head deliberately, to wake him up.) However, this roused the Anduin team to play full-bore, and eleven minutes later Boromir II juked away from his defenders and equalized the game. Now Grimbeorn had had time to fully shake off his grogginess and rejoin the game, and it was the mighty bear himself that scored Anduin’s second goal in order to secure his team the win.

Anduin 2-1 Imladris
tot shots 12-10
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*49, 0-1 Elladan (Arwen)
*60, 1-1 Boromir II (Fram)
*81, 2-1 Grimbeorn (Haldir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Lenwe, Frumgar
*Imladris- Aranarth



Foul play abounded in the friendly between the physical teams of Erebor and Misty Mountains (who, in particular, has a history of using their brawn rather more than their brains.) Again, in what seems to have become a pattern, the objective of actually putting the ball into the net seemed to be sidelined for most of the game – shots were taken when possible, but it seemed both teams were more interested in getting a piece of their opponents. The crafty elf Rumil assisted both Misty Mountains goals, but was never carded for the sly fouls he committed against Dain. Enraged, Dain went straight after Rumil, but received his second yellow of the match and was sent off the field. Chief Wolf soon followed, thanks to a nasty bite he gave Gwaihir (who responded with a mighty wing buffet and received his own yellow for his trouble), and both teams finished out the game at a tie.

Erebor 2-2 Misty Mts
tot shots 15-15
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*13, 1-0 Smaug (Bard)
*30, 1-1 Durin’s Bane (Rumil)
*44, 1-2 Narvi (Rumil)
*57, 2-2 Thranduil (Dain)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Erebor- Nazgul #7, Gwaihir, Meneldor, Dain, Smaug
*Misty- Azog, Chief Wolf, Bert, Orophin, William
RED CARDS:
Erebor- Dain (63, second yellow)
Misty- Chief Wolf (66, second yellow)



The most exciting thing about the Gondor/Rohan friendly was the explosive start, as both teams had apparently decided to treat this game just like a real, tournament-style play. Not very many shots were taken (8 for Gondor, 10 for Rohan), but the ball changed hands (or, rather, feet, or hooves, or what have you) like lightning, never remaining in possession of one team for very long. A little over half an hour in, Anarion fired off a shot at the Rohan goal, but Felarof intercepted it with a well-timed rear, coming down on top of the ball. The pressure Felarof’s hoof applied to the ball popped it into the sky and across the pitch, nearly going into the net of the Gondor goal. However, it bounced off the crossbar and back onto the field, where Eomer picked off the clean goal.

Rohan pulled back their offense a bit after that, letting Gondor try to equalize. And equalize they did, in the second half, as Anarion tried again and Falastur caught the rebounding ball square with a high knee, firing it into the back of the net. After that, the game exploded into full-bore play again, but both teams’ defenses held firm and the game ended in a tie.


Gondor 1-1 Rohan
tot shots 8-10
on target 3-5
GOALS:
*37, 0-1 Eomer (Felarof)
*65, 1-1 Falastur (Anarion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Calimehtar
*Rohan- Shadowfax, Eomer
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Old 04-25-2012, 08:03 PM   #80
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Pipe ArdaCup.com Stats Report #4: Before the Tournament Proper

For this edition of ArdaCup.com Stats Report, we go into an in-depth analysis of the status of the groups heading into the tournament proper.

Power Rank:



Greatest gain:
  • +10 Isengard
  • +9 Anduin
  • +7 Valimar
Greatest loss:
  • -14 Tol-in-Gaurhoth
  • -11 Mordor
  • -10 Imladris

The Power Ranking is based on the aggregate of offensive and defensive ranking, combined with the adjusted goal difference rank of each team. The listed offensive and defensive rankings are from the actual numbers by the teams, and not adjusted. Ties are broken by a) win-draw-loss record; and b) goal difference.

The offensive ranking is based on the goals scored throughout the friendly matches. Ties are broken by a) greater number of shots made on target; and b) greater number of shots made.

The defensive ranking is based on the goals allowed throughout the friendly matches. Ties are broken by a) least number of shots allowed on target; and b) least amount of shots allowed.

Please note that the above ranking is based on the four rounds of friendly matches played by the teams, and does not reflect actual tournament performance.


Top individual performers:

GOALS + ASSISTS

7+2
Finwë (Tirion)

5+3
Curufin (FC Valinor)
Húrin (Hithlum)
Gwindor (Nargothrond)

5+2
Bombadil (Shire-Bree United)

5+1
Túrin (Hithlum)
Glaurung (Nargothrond)

5+0
Arien (Real Valinor)
Sauron (Barad-dûr)

4+3
Míriel (Real Valinor)

4+2
Gothmog (Gondolin)

4+1
Aegnor (The Havens)

4+0
Maeglin (Gondolin)
Eönwë (Tirion)
Argon (FC Valinor)
Durin's Bane (Misty Mts)

3+4
Aredhel (Tirion)

3+3
Oromë (Wilderland)

3+2
Strider (Shire-Bree United)
Eärendil (The Havens)

3+1
Tar-Minastir (The Sea)
Saruman (Isengard)

2+4
Elwë (Wilderland)

2+3
Galadriel (Wilderland)
Tar-Ancalimon (Armenelos)
Yavanna (FC Valinor)
Nienor (Hithlum)
Finrod (Nargothrond)

1+5
Barrow-Wight (Shire-Bree United)

GOALKEEPING
  1. 92.31% - 12/13 - Manwe (Valimar)
  2. 92.31% - 12/13 - Ungoliant (Anfauglith)
  3. 87.50% - 14/16 - Marach (AC Beleriand)
  4. 86.67% - 13/15 - Elrond (Eriador)
  5. 85.71% - 18/21 - Elros (Imladris)
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