Arda Cup Football 2011

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Standings:



(1) secured first seed
(2) secured second seed
(q) qualified for the knockout stage; seeding undetermined
(x) eliminated

Power Ranking:



Greatest gain:

• +16 Himring
• +15 Minas Morgul
• +14 Dunharrow
• +12 Lothlórien

Greatest loss:

• -14 The Downer
• -13 Beleriand
• -11 Gondor
• -9 Gondolin

The Power Ranking is based on the aggregate of offensive and defensive ranking--the lower the aggregate, the higher the rank. Ties are broken by a) win-draw-loss-record; b) goal differential; and c) goals scored.

The offensive ranking is based on the goals scored by the teams throughout the matches. Ties are broken by a) greater number of shots made on target; b) greater number of shots made; and c) lowest aggregate of defensive ranking of the other three teams in the group.

The defensive ranking is based on the goals allowed by the teams throughout the matches. Ties are broken by a) least number of shots allowed on target; b) least amount of shots allowed; and c) lowest aggregate of offensive ranking of the other three teams in the group.

Phantasy Numbers:

GOALS + ASSISTS
3+2
Túrin (Doriath)

3+0
Ancalagon (Angband)
Hador (Hithlum)
Arien (Valinor)

2+3
Maeglin (Anfauglith)

2+1
Thuringwethil (Angband)
Gothmog (Anfauglith)
Curufin (Hithlum)
Glorfindel (Eregion)
Elros (Westernesse)
Legolas (Lothlórien)
Bombadil (The Forest)

2+0
Azog (Misty Mts)
Smaug (Wilderland)
Scatha (Wliderland)
Aragorn (Eriador)
Brytta (Dunharrow)
NerWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)
Húrin (Doriath)

1+2
Sauron (Wilderland)
Fëanor (Lothlórien)
Míriel (Valinor)

0+3
Beleg (Doriath)

GOALKEEPER - SAVES
12 saves
1. Elrond (Eregion) 12/12 - 100.0%

11 saves
2. Fram (Anduin) 11/14 - 78.6%
3. Orodreth (Tirion) 11/16 - 68.8%

10 saves
4. Aldor (Dunharrow) 10/13 - 76.9%
5. Imlach (Hithlum) 10/18 - 55.6%

9 saves
6. Huan (Doriath) 9/10 - 90.0%
7. Ohtar (Barad-dûr) 9/13 - 69.2%
8. Tuor (Mithrim) 9/15 - 60.0%

GOALKEEPER - SAVE %
100.0%
1. Elrond (Eregion) - 12/12
2. ShastaWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth) - 6/6
3. Tar-Atanamir (Westernesse) - 6/6
.
4. Huan (Doriath) 9/10 - 90/0%
5. Caradhras (Misty Mts) 7/8 - 87.5%
6. Galadriel (Lothlórien) 6/7 - 85.7%
7. Grimbeorn (Wilderland) 5/6 - 83.3%
8. Ungoliant (Angband) 8/10 - 80.0%

YELLOW CARDS
2 yellow cards
Amrod (Himring)
NilpWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)
Orophin (Anduin)
Durin (Anduin)
Thorin (Esgaroth)
Great Goblin (Misty Mts)
Scatha (Wilderland)
Balrog #4 (Anfauglith)
Azaghâl (Anfauglith)
Nazgûl #1 (Barad-dûr)
Elrohir (Eregion)
Tom (Eriador)
Skinbark (The Forest)
GaladWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)
Telchar (Beleriand)
Galdor (Gondolin)
Castamir (Minas Morgul)
Éowyn (Minas Tirith)

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Group A
Match of interest: Himring vs Tirion

The fight for second place of this group. Both have a goal difference of zero, but if they tie, Tirion goes through with more goals scored. Tirion is better offensively (9th compared to Himring's 16th) but Himring is better defensively (14th vs 27th for Tirion). Himring is ranked higher over-all in the ArdaCup.com Power Ranking (13th vs 18th for Tirion). Aredhel (Tirion) have been in all three Arda Cup finals games, winning two of them, but Fingon and Maedhros (Himring) have been finalists twice already, with Maedhros winning once.

Phantasy match: Doriath vs Shire-Bree United

Shire-Bree United will most likely get shut out, and Doriath might do target practice in SBU's side of the pitch. And since Doriath's already qualified (and poised to face Minas Morgul in the Round of 16), it's a good investment to have Doriath players in your team.

Group B
Match of interest: Wilderland vs Misty Mts

Misty Mts might still end up missing the next round, their impressive performance to date notwithstanding. Both are fairly strong defensive teams (Wilderland's 4th, Misty Mts 6th), but Wilderland has a stronger attack (4th vs 13th for Misty Mts).

Phantasy match: Anduin vs Esgaroth

Esgaroth has one of the weakest defences in the whole tourney, and Anduin has already scored a goal against the resilient Misty Mts defence. Anduin might not make it to the knock-out stage--and even if they do, don't expect them to go far, especially since they'd be up against one of the Blessed Realm teams. Still, if you have a star to spare, Beorn (Anduin) just might light up the score chart.

Group C
Match of interest: Angband vs Anfauglith

Two strong offensive teams (Anfauglith's 2nd, Angband 3rd) vying for the top spot of the group (and avoiding a date with cup contender Westernesse for the next round). Maeglin (Anfauglith) and Ancalagon (Angband) are beasts on the attack, and Thuringwethil (Angband) and Gothmog (Anfauglith) are not far behind them. Almost half of Anfauglith's team were from last year's championship team, and Fingolfin has been in all Arda Cup finals matches.

Phantasy match:

For more secure slots, get any of the scorers from Angband/Anfauglith. In the other match, The Downer's porous defences means Hithlum's potent attack (ranked 10th) is likely to do big damage, but since they've already been eliminated, you'll have to replace them once the next round comes.

Group D
Match of interest: Barad-dûr vs Gondor

This could very well be the battle for 2nd place in this group. Both teams are almost evenly matched (Gondor is ranked just one notch higher in offence, defence, and over-all), so a draw is likely, which means Eriador still has a shot at 2nd, provided Eregion doesn't run them over, and if Barad-dûr and Gondor don't make a lot of goals against each other.

Phantasy match:

There's some risk in grabbing Eregion's defensive line-up for this round, since Eriador will do its best not to be shut out. However, Elrond (Eregion) is still a wall; and since they'll most likely meet The Forest in the next round), Eregion picks are safe picks for at least two more rounds.

Group E
Match of interest: The Forest vs Nargothrond

This is The Forest's chance to make it to the next round, and there's hardly any better chance to be offered to them: Nargothrond is dismal in the pitch (1 goal made, 5 goals allowed even in this weak group). But The Forest's defence is not up to snuff, so a rampaging Glaurung (Nargothrond) may still make a contest out of this.

Phantasy match: Tol-in-Gaurhoth vs Mordor

A TiG shut-out of Mordor is likely, and TiG goals more so. Tol-in-Gaurhoth will face the 2nd of Group D (Gondor, Barad-dûr, or Eriador) in the next round. They're unlikely to lose to any of them, so TiG players in your phantasy line-up are a safe long-term investment.

Group F
Match of interest/Phantasy match:

Allegations of possible match-fixing notwithstanding, we'll almost certainly see Westernesse and Tol Eressëa winning their matches and walking out of this group. Both teams would most probably hold their opponents to zero goals, and Westernesse shooters would not be denied. More Westernesse, less Tol Eressëa, though, since Westernesse is more likely to go further into the tourney, despite their impending match-up against the 2nd of C (Angband or Anfauglith).

Group G
Match of interest/Phantasy match: Pelóri vs Valinor

The battle for this group's 1st seed (and not having to meet Wilderland in the next round), this match will be one to watch. Valinor's sizzling attack is not likely to be shut out by even the Mountains of Defence. Pelóri is more likely to be shut out, but probably not. Pelóri still might not make it to the next round, so this is a crucial match for them--win, or at least don't get slaughtered (and hope Beleriand doesn't decimate Gondolin).

Group H
Match of interest/Phantasy match:

Lothlórien would not let Dunharrow score. Minas Morgul will take a lot of shots, and the anemic Minas Tirith defences would be unlikely to hold them back. Minas Morgul might even shut the Tower of Guard out.

[Nogrod]

The final round of group play is approaching! Here are the latest takes on the last games by the AKM


Group A

Doriath vs Shire-Bree United

Doriath is on fire this year and Shire-Bree Utd. has no chance to qualify. There is no question which team will win, but there is a question though if Doriath will play too relaxedly to just save energies for the play-offs – for even if they lose they will qualify, and it would take a real bashing for them to be dropped on the second place of this group.

Shire-Bree has only their honour to sell here, but there’s little to sell this time around: with a goal-scoring percentage of 3,7% they are the second worst this time around. And having Butterbur saving 53,3% of the shots it’s hard to see a surprise here, even if Doriath played loosely.

Himring vs Tirion

The real killer match! Other one will qualify, the other will be left into the group-stage. And there is a clear difference between the teams: Tirion has a more effective attack while Himring’s defenses are a bit stronger.

The AKM goes for Tirion to win the game. The forwards and attacking midfielders of Tirion like Finwë, Aredhel, Finrod Felagund, Mahtan and Finarfin, backed by Aulë himself and Caranthir in defense and Orodreth on goal just look so much stronger than Himring, even if they have the Silmaril-bearer Maedhros the tall or his good friend Fingon the Valiant on their ranks. They have a few decent helpers in their team but not enough to beat Tirion.


Group B

Anduin vs Esgaroth

Anduin will give their best on this match switching to full attack as their only chance to qualify rests on them winning and the Misty Mts. losing their game against Wilderland - and even in that situation there is a 4-goal gap to tie up…

Esgaroth is probably the single worst team in the tournament and it would be a miracle if Anduin lost. But whether Anduin reaches a win big enough against the proud dwellers of areas around Lake Town is another question.

A tough better might go for some of the forwards or attacking midfielders of Anduin this round… well a daring one could do that.

Misty Mts vs Wilderland

Wilderland has secured their qualification and they would hate to meet Valinor on the first stage of the play-offs. Knowing Sauron’s capability of looking towards greater goals for himself instead of being nice to possible allies it looks clear Wilderland will not be aiding Misty Mts., at least too much. It’s the classic Sauron vs. Saruman game here where no-one bets their money on Saruman.

Misty Mts. needs a point to qualify for sure and a small defeat would most probably be enough against Wilderland. So they might go for a draw to begin with and try to defend like crazy for it. So a lot depends on how vane Sauron is and how much better contenders against Valinor he thinks Misty Mts. in comparison to Andui; for sure Misty Mts. would wear them down a lot more than Anduin? So maybe we’re not seeing the beating the numbers would propose?


Group C

Hithlum vs The Downer

The two teams have no chance of qualifying so it’s up to the honour of the teams at stake. It’s hard to see any honour in team Downer but Celegorm, Curufin and Hador should make a feast of goals just to retain their dignity.

Hithlum beats them 6-0 just for the sake of it. Phantasy-point betters: notice this! Unless Celegorm and Curufin get mad and will not play…

Angband vs Angfauglith

Both teams have qualified but there is a lot at stake here. It’s the question of principle (even if inside team Anfaughlith the principle might be a different one as regards a player) as both teams are going truly for the final.

But even more importantly, the problem is that the winner of the group has a road paved for the semis at least while the loser would need to face Westernesse on the first play-off round – if clearing that T-I-G on the next one… and then most probably Valinor – or a team that would have won it!

So even if the prospect of meeting Doriath in the semis is not that appealing, it is a much more an easier way than needing to go through all those strong teams the other side of the table has to offer for the second team of the group.

The teams will clash in earnest and with full effort. Both teams score well, but there is a marked difference: Anfaughlith has a problem at their goal: Huor has been just a bad goalie this season, to put it bluntly (50% saving ratio) while Ungoliant has been decently good record (80%). Then again Maeglin has been phenomenal this year and Gothmog has not trailed that far behind him; but Ancalagon and Thuringwethil have been strong as well – and if Tilion or Morgoth rise to the occasion… well then Anfaughlith is in trouble.


Group D

Barad-Dur vs Gondor

This is a tough one. Both teams played 2-2 against Eriador (Eriador with 2 points now in contrast to their 1 point, but facing Eregion in the last match) and lost to Eregion 0-2. So both teams have a chance to qualify if Eregion does not lose.
The two teams are quite tied in the stats. Barad Dûr is a slight favourite to win (scoring percentge 9,1% vs. 8,3% / goalie’s saving percentage 69,2% vs. 66,7%), but the diffrences are marginal.

So in the end it is the question whether Gil-Galad and Isildur can get the odd bunch of the Mouth, Fellbeasts, Cirdan and others to play together or whether Eorl can get his troops with Arwen, Eldacar and Echtelion to rally behind him.
The AKM predicts Barad Dûr will win the game – unless it is a draw.

Eregion vs Eriador

Elrond has a great respect to Aragorn and Araphor, not to talk of the other kings of the north, and they have already won the group. So will Eregion play to the full or will they just play it easy to keep their energies to the play-offs?

One thing we know for sure is that Eregion will not be too happy to admit a goal as Elrond’s saving percentage shows a pure 100% right now, and they see no reason to change that. But it must be added team Eriador would be such a nicer team to qualify with them than Baras Dûr…

So does this spell a 0-0? Hopefully not.



Groups E-H to follow tomorrow...

[Galadriel55]

“Not a bad idea for a team” is what we thought before the start of the games. However, this was proven otherwise. We sent a man to find out exactly what is going on in that team, and what was the reason for their fate.

Reporter:Mister Butterbur, would you please tell us what stopped you from saving the 4 goals – especially Caranthir’s?

Butterbur: I only slowed down to ask him if he would like to stay at my inn for a night or two. My inn is good as ever, and the ale did not get worse (bless Gandalf for putting a good word on it)! You know, four of my teammates here have been there, they can tell you all about it. Now where was I? Of course, about Master Caranthir! I asked him what rooms would he prefer, and on which floor, if he would like to stay at my Pony, because, as you know, if he would like to stay, he has to choose a room…

Reporter: Mister Pippin, how do you feel about getting a (-1) Phantasy point?

Pippin: The referee was biased against our folks (the Ruffian!). He just didn’t recognize me as a knight of Gondor and one of King Elessar’s men.

Reporter: Mister Harry Goatleaf, can you please enlighten us about what you were doing during the game?

Harry: Why, I’m the gatekeeper! I was guarding the gates! Now don’t tell me that that’s ol’ Butterbur’s job. He’s always at his Pony, busy up to his ears – some one has to guard the gates!

Reporter: And Mister Merry, sir, what were your contributions?

Merry: I was blowing my horn. That really got a cheer from the crowd, if anything.

Reporter: Mister Gerontius, why is it that such an admirable Thain did not get any Phantasy points?

Gerontius: Well, there’s a reason I’m called “Old Took”!

Reporter: Mister Bandobras, how do you feel about assisting the only goal your team scored?

Bandobras: Ha! That was nothing! After golf, football is a joke!

Reporter: Mister Frodo, why was there such a lack of enthusiasm from you?

Frodo: I tried to save the Shire-Bree United, but it hasn’t been saved… and you didn’t even notice the attempt!!!

Pony Bill, Fatty Lumpkin, and Mr. Ferny refused to say anything, but we found out that instead of kicking the ball Bill kicked his namesake.

Reporter: Mister Samwise, sir, how is it so that you got a yellow card?

Samwise: I saw Ferny quarreling with my beloved Pony, so I threw an apple at him.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

13/16 for the second round! Getting there! (But TTN got all but one of their predictions correct. Blast. Ah, well, that's now just a +2 difference between journalistic integrity and biased sportswriting! )

Group stage round 3 predictions:

GROUP A
Doriath vs Shire-Bree United
Tirion vs Himring

YOU CANNOT DENY THE RIGHTFUL HIGH-KING!!! ALL HAIL FINWË!!!

Oh, who am I kidding? I hated them back in 2008, when they eliminated the team of a certain someone. I'm rooting for them now cos that certain someone's with them. Go, blond Noldorin Cave-Elf!

GROUP B
Wilderland vs Misty Mts
Anduin vs Esgaroth

So yeah, on one hand you have two dragons and a Maia on the attack, but on the other hand you have a mountain between the goalposts. The only Maia attested to have defeated a land feature was Eönwë, when he pwned (accidentally) the continent of Beleriand. Sadly (or, rather, happily), Sauron is no Eönwë. Well, it's not like Misty Mts can score either; before the Balrog and the Wizard and the Orc meet the son of a bear-man manning the Wilderland goal, they have to go through a Warg first. A Warg. Tough luck, mates.

GROUP C
Angband vs Anfauglith
Hithlum vs The Downer

His hopeless challenge dauntless cried
Fingolfin there: 'Come, open wide,
dark king, your ghastly brazen doors!
Come forth, whom earth and heaven abhors!
Come forth, O monstruous craven lord,
and fight with thine own hand and sword,
thou wielder of hosts of banded thralls,
thou tyrant leaguered with strong walls,
thou foe of Gods and elvish race!
I wait thee here. Come! Show thy face!'

Perhaps one of the most awaited rematches in the history of Ea. Actually, it's a re-rematch: Morgoth barely won round 1, way back in the FA (First Age) cup, before football became an organised sport (swords and maces were legal back then, and nobody bothered with a formation, or indeed the ball); and Fingolfin won round 2 just last year. Once again, it's gonna be epic (and Fingolfin is gonna win again.) The only cloudy lining in this silvery match-up is that both are defenders, so we won't get to see much action between them.

GROUP D
Eregion vs Eriador
Barad-dûr vs Gondor

It's no secret why Eregion is also known as Hollin, the land of Holly. I've heard, 'Holly ****, how did Elrond save that?' too many times already. And we're bound to hear it some more.

GROUP E
Tol-in-Gaurhoth vs Mordor
The Forest vs Nargothrond

Bombadil sighting in the second round! Will we see him again? And again?? (If you know what I mean.)

GROUP F
Westernesse vs Númenor
Tol Eressëa vs Mithrim

Ar-Pharazôn! If you eliminate Numenor I'll dip you in gold and sell you as a piñata! And don't you test me!

GROUP G
Valinor vs Pelóri
Gondolin vs Beleriand

'Arien! Sign this photo--oh, no! It's burning!!! Okay, let me take a picture of you instead--argh, my eyes! I'm blind!!!'

GROUP H
Lothlórien vs Dunharrow
Minas Morgul vs Minas Tirith

C'mon, Minas Tirith! You've beat these guys before. Oh, wait--you had the help of the rest of Gondor back then. Plus Rohan. Blast.

[Boromir88]

GROUP - ROUND 3 PREDICTION
BoroLXXXIII, Two Towers Network

Oh my, that was quite nearly a perfect round. The scores were still not up to par, (closer than in round 1 though) but 15 of 16 outcomes predicted correctly. The only fault was Misty Mts wound up with a draw against Anduin, instead of besting them. I wish I had this same amount of success picking phantasy players. I swapped out Araphor for Eorl, and Legolas for the B-W. What was I thinking!? Hopefully, I don't peak too soon, because if I falter with my predictions, than I'm going to be in big time trouble.

Fortunately my predictions never fall apart, but as the cream rises to the top and they start playing eachother in a vicious and spectacular final 16, win or go home playoffs, the games will get harder and harder to call.

(All the best color commentary to be editted back in tomorrow. I decided to try to tempt the magic internet pixies, and as I had the post typed and ready, klapooey, connection went dead. )

Group A
Doriath vs Shire-Bree United - No contest here, Doriath will be well on their way to sweeping the group in the most dominating fashion ever seen. It would be silly to not have a few Doriath players on your teams, but the questions are which ones? If you're near the leaders and wish to stay in striking distance, you're probably better off taking Turin, before falling behind further. However, if you're already a good distance behind and looking to catch up, it doesn't do much good adding the same players the leaders have. So, it may be better taking some of the Doriath players not picked up as much, like Beleg, Eol, and Melian. You may fall behind more if Turin keeps up on his rampage, but you're at a point where you have to think about catching up, if it's possible (and it is still possible ).
Doriath wins 3-0

Himring vs Tirion - One of the premier games of the round, winner moves on, loser goes home. A draw and Tirion advances, although this game won't end in a draw, simply because Maedhros, Fingon and Maglor won't allow it. They will come out determined to leave it all out on the pitch, as we like to call it. Save nothing let, and leave with no regrets. Question is will the treacherous Easterlings be playing with the same passion or flat out bail on Maedhros in the face of adversity as they have done so many times before?
Tirion wins 3-2

Group B
Anduin vs Esgaroth - Esgaroth has been atrocious yes, but I think they match up better with Anduin and not the rough/heavy-hitting Sauron and Saruman run teams. Anduin will certainly not blow out the scoreboard against anyone. So like this game will end 2-1 in favor of Anduin, and even with the win it won't be enough goals to knock off Misty Mts. But, I'm actually going to go out on a bit of a limb and say Esgaroth gets the draw. They have to be better than what they've shown so far, right? I mean really, they have to.
Draw 2-2

Misty Mts vs Wilderland - Another big game with a lot of factors on the line. Although, I think the hype and competitiveness will be over-sold on ths one by Sauron and Saruman. It will overhyped for publicity and profit purposes, but won't be much of a contest to be honest. 1 Balrog against 1 dragon and I would take the Balrog. But 1 Balrog and a gimmick wizard against 2 dragons, 2 wizards, and Sauron? Gimme Wilderland.
Wilderland wins 3-1

Group C
Hithlum vs The Downer - The Downer has shown absolutely zilch interest in actually playing the game. How they got a spot in the final 32 is beyond me, despite how interesting and whacko their characters are. And despite this, Hithlum's defense is so porous, without even trying The Downer can put up 2 goals on them. Problem is, Hithlum can score more, even in a game that means nothing.
Hithlum wins 4-2

Angband vs Angfauglith - Now this is a game which can not be over-hyped, it is going to be one of the great battles of the ages. Could very well be a championship caliber game, and we get to see it in group play! Statistics and gameplay all point to Angband winning this one, but I've picked Angfauglith to win the whole thing, and this group. And I'm sticking to that until they're eliminated!
Angfauglith wins 2-1

Group D
Barad-dur vs Gondor - This match will impact how the teams play in the 2nd match a lot. Everything shows that these 2 will fight to a draw, which means Eriador can relax a bit and just not lose by more than 2 goals to Eregion. However, I can't see what Eorl's and Eldacar's problems are, they have been multiple goal-scorers in every Arda Cup, except NOW. It's all about what you've done for me now, and I suspect these boys know that. They're due for a break out game, or at least they better have one NOW, or they'll be shipped out of Gondor double-quick.
Gondor wins 3-2

Eregion vs Eriador - This one could end in a draw, but that will do Eriador nothing if either Gondor or Barad-dur win. Even against the Vala defenses, these Eriador players know how to score, and I think they're just good enough to finally beat the impenetrable wall of Elrond. They can't do it twice though, I'm not sure anyone is that good. Eriador only has themselves to blame if they don't advance though, should have taken care of business against Barad-dur or Gondor and they didn't.
Eregion wins 2-1

Group E
Mordor vs Tol In Gaurhoth - All the questions are going to be will the wolves allow the orcs and Mordorians to go through with them over the more annoying Bombadillians? Wolves won't care about this game, but they won't care about orc feelings either.
TIG wins 2-0

Nargothrond vs The Forest - This one is hard to say, because so many times before when I've picked Bombadil's team and thought his star quality is enough to get into the playoffs, he skips off to a field of lilies. I think this year might be slightly different, if only for the fact that the Ents are good defenders and shutdown when riled from slumber, plus Nargothrond is a joke.
The Forest wins 3-2

Group F
Mithrim vs Tol Eressea - Not much to see here, move along, eventhough this is an important game to win for Tol Eressea. I can't see how Mithrim can score on Ulmo's defense, and Ulmo will probably get the lone goal of the match too.
Tol Eressea wins 1-0

Numenor vs Westernesse - I don't care what AKM wants to speculate, Wesernesse will not tank this game to allow Numenor to qualify. They forget these Westernesse players met in secret to form their own super-team, combining the best of Numenor with the best of Gondor. Numenor's not going to take being cast aways by the primadonna's lightly, they'll come out wanting to beat them. But all that means is Westernesse will put the Numenoreans in their rightful place, as spit-shiners for Ar-Pharazon's golden boots.
Westernesse wins 2-0

Group G
Beleriand vs Gondolin - No surprising comeback in store for the scrappy Beleriand team. Their draw against Pelori was an awesome story, but they've since come back to earth and now everyone's waiting when Gondolin will actually come to play at all?
Draw 1-1

Pelori vs Valinor - Here's an interesting one, considering all the storylines with Tulkas running off to forget his own team. Will Manwe put his rebelling brother in his place? Not likely. As long as you're not Morgoth or Feanor, Manwe basically stays hands off and lets members of his club do what they want. In this case Tulkas' aggressiviness will always win out over the boring conservativeness of Manwe, at least in the game of soccer, not always the case in the fate of Arda.
Valinor wins 2-1

Group H
Minas Morgul vs Minas Tirith - Minas Tirith will play better than what they'v shown, because there is no love loss when playing Minas Morgul. But talents not there to seriously make this a thrilling rivalry, sorry but it's not. Where is the Witch-King? Where is Castamir? And where is the Queen? Are all fair questions and quite right. They'll have a break out performance against their weaker foes.
Minas Morgul wins 4-2

Dunharrow vs Lothlorien - Dunharrow's given a much better effort than the Helm's Deep teams of the past, but sorry boys, not good enough to beat Lothlorien and advance. Not with Feanor dominating as he is, and Legolas and Boromir adding their contributions. Not with the defense playing as good as it is, and Galadriel truly raising her performances. Keep playing like this, and the Golden Woods may finally have a real winner to brag about.
Lothlorien wins 2-0

[Nogrod]

Group E

Mordor vs Tol In Gaurhoth

The werevolwes are already through to the play-offs and they have been playing a bit sloppy at times when there is nothing at stake for them; but on the other hand one would think Mordor would be an opponent they’d like to beat just for the fun of it. If they get into it there is no way Mordor will prevail, so in the end it’s the attitude of the T-I-G that will decide the outcome of the match.

Mordor on the other hand needs points desperately to qualify and they will give their best. Is it enough against the werewolves is another question entirely.

Starting from same points before the final round with The Forest who have a lot weaker opponent against them doesn’t promise well for the Mordor side, but it is clear they will fight.

Nargothrond vs The Forest

Nargothrond has been unquestioningly one of the major disappointments this year. Somehow Beor the Old, Glaurung and Finduilas have not been able to pull their act together – which looked at from certain angle is not that surprising. But against such an unpredictable team as The Forest one can’t throw away the chance they might surprise. The stress is on the word ‘might’.

The Forest has a decent chance to qualify. Their goal difference is two goals minus whereas Mordor is at even, but T-I-G has won both their earlier matches 3-0, and in that case even a draw would do for them.

The question is then more or less only about Tom Bombadill and his willingness to get interested in the game. As a positive sign one could note that Bombadill stayed quite focused in their earlier game against Mordor gathering a nice 2+1. With Tom leading his team the ents can play decent football and Thranduil, Saeros and River Woman can actually score as well.

The AKM would not wish to bet on the outcome of this group, but if it was forced to do that, it would bet on The Forest to qualify.


Group F

Mithrim vs Tol Eressëa

Tuor and his bunch of men have only theoretical chances of qualifying as they would have to win Tol Eressëa with three goals. Seeing that Númenor wasn’t able to score against Tol Eressëa at all and even Westernesse had to settle with only two goals against them it looks like a mission impossible, not the least because Mithrim has managed to score only one goal in their first two matches themselves. So very much an uphill struggle for Mithrim.

Tol Eressëa has one of the most solid defences of the tournament and even if Uinen and Elwing have been all but flashing, they should be able to score once or twice to win the match comfortably. With a win from Mithrim they would be strong candidates to qualify with a win over Númenor in their pocket as well. But it will not be in their hands.

Númenor vs Westernesse

Practically Númenor needs to win Westernesse to qualify as the chances for Tol Eressëa to fall against Mithrim are slim indeed. But is there any believable chance they could do it? An honest answer to the question would have to be no. But this time there is a slight “but” involved in the form of brotherly love.

If Westernesse lets Númenor win the game they could help team Númenor to qualify over Tol Eressëa. Now Ar Pharazôn denied that possibility with quite strong words, but then again Elros is the captain of the team and calls the shots.

Even if the AKM wants to remind readers of this possibility, it would not be betting on it itself. Even if the Westernesse players from Númenor loved their brothers and sisters and held the glory of Númenor dear, it’s hard to see them acting unsportsmanlikely like that – or willing to lose to anyone in the first place, even to their kin.


Group G

Beleriand vs Gondolin

The air of group G has been quite bitter after the scandal of the Nogrodian dwarves and it is extremely hard to predict what will follow. If Valinor allows Pelori even one point it will be totally insignificant what happens in the match between Beleriand and Gondolin. But that will not be known to the teams as they will be meeting before the Valier-teams match-up.

If both teams would play it seriously and with full effort one would need to say it would be a very close game to call with Beleriand maybe slight favourites.

But a few “buts” enter here. First of all Gondolin has no chance to qualify any more, how will that affect their game? Secondly, it seems at least some folks at Gondolin feel for the team Beleriand and are quite upset with the way the issue with the dwarves has been handled; so would they go as far as to help Beleriand to give it back to Manwë by losing big-time as it doesn’t matter to them success-wise? And would that happen, would it in turn affect the late game and how team Valinor plays?

Be that as it may, one of the big question around this year’s tournament still is, what went wrong in Gondolin? They lost a lot of the best talent there is but gained more or less as much. Still they have lost their chances of qualifying already after the two first rounds of group-play. Many fingers do point towards Turgon – some even say it’s not the first time Turgon has been fore-warned and he has not paid heed to the imminent disaster…

Pelori vs Valinor

Many say Manwë’s teams play the dull and opponent-friendly game caring more about defense than offense – and more about good relations between them and the opponents than going for it big time. And this year’s tournament seems to have proven those many right once again. In the friendlies they won every match they played – with one goal difference!

And they have continued that strategy also in the group-phase – although Beleriand managed a last minute equaliser messing it up one time. So the question becomes, how good they really are, can they challenge the very strong-looking Valinor side if the competition will be real? Or is Manwë planning to compensate the Belerianders for the wrong-doing he deemed necessary?

But as said in the earlier review, Pelori needs only one point to qualify which means they need a draw – unless Beleriand doesn’t win with at least two goals, which they will know when their game begins…

Even if the issue has been speculated here and there, it is hard to see Tulkas giving in an inch to help his brother to qualify. He set up his team to show he liked different football and the game between the two should be the showcase for him to hammer it in his way is the better one.

So it’s up to how good and how willing the Pelori actually are.


Group H

Minas Morgul vs Minas Tirith

Minas Morgul needs only to beat the weakest side of the group to make their qualification most probable. And the bigger numbers they score, the more probable the qualification (the chance of Dunharrow to beat Lothlórien is relatively non-existent, but in case that would happen the probability of them beating lady Galadriel’s team big time is more or less zero). So expect Minas Morgul to go for scoring, even if that hasn’t been their strongest weapon thus far.

There is one big question that is on everybody’s lips when speaking of team Minas Morgul, and that is, what has happened to the Witch King? He has been one of the most effective scorers every year thus far, and he hasn’t always had a great host of talent around him to score by himself. But somehow he is not playing up to his level. Nowhere near!

Some claim he has said feeling a bit thin lately, but some others claim he’s just been taking it easy the first two matches and will blast a hat-trick against Minas Tirith – would there be a better team against which to wake up for him?

If the supporters of the Minas Tirith team are counted off, it’s hard to see any sane person betting on them on this match (whether Minas Tirith supporters can be said to be a sane bunch in the first place is another matter we will not dwell into here). Eomer and Faramir haven’t gotten anything done and Eowyn has made herself noticed only with two yellow cards.

Dunharrow vs Lothlórien

Dunharrow and Lothlórien were both real disappointments during the friendlies but have shown a bit more effective side of their teams in the group-play. But there is a marked difference in the quality of the teams still. The battlehardened Rohanians have shown some stamina but less flair. Sadly, even if lady Galadriel could pity them Fëanor will not.

What comes to Lothlórien, it is interesting to see that after all that row during the friendlies they have really pulled themselves together in the group phase. The 3-0 win over Minas Tirith was quite promising indeed, and Legolas is just hot! If Fëanor finds his silmaril-boot, they could seriously talk about being competitive semifinalists.

And it’s not only that the team has started working better, but Galadriel has also shown – after a few disappointing years – that she is a quality keeper who can win games.

So it’s looking bright for Lothlórien and less so for Dunharrow.

[Nogrod]

The AKM has collected a few stats for you to enjoy and to pay heed to...



The most effective scoring teams = percentage of (goals made / shots overall)

Angband 22,6% (7/31)
Anfaughlith 21,9% (7/32)
Doriath 21,2% (7/33)
Westernesse 20,7% (6/29)
Hithlum 20% (5/25)

The worst scoring teams = percentage of (goals made / shots overall)

Esgaroth 0% (0/18)
Shire-Bree Utd. 3,7% (1/27)
Nargothrond 5% (1/20)
The Downer 5% (1/20)
Minas Tirith 5,3% (1/19)



The shooters = shots on goal (shots overall)

Doriath 19(33)
Tol-In-Gaurhoth 16(33)
Wilderland 16(33)
Anfaughlith 16(32)

The worst to shoot = shots on goal (shots overall)

Mithrim 6(15)
Esgaroth 6(18)
The Downer 6(20)
Tol Eressëa 7(15)
Gondolin 7(18)
Nargothrond 7(20)



The tightest defenses = shots on goal allowed (shots overall allowed)

Westernesse 6(14)
Tol-In-Gaurhoth 6(16)
Wilderland 6(17)
Númenor 7(16)
Lothórien 7(17)
Pelori 7(18)

The weakest defenses = shots on goal allowed (shots overall allowed)

Hithlum 18(36)
Tirion 16(34)
Mithrim 15(30)
Shire-Bree Utd. 15(28)
Anduin 14(27)



Best goalies = saving percentage (goals allowed / total shots against)

Elrond of Eregion 100% (0/12)
Shastawolf of Tol-In-Gaurhoth 100% (0/6)
Tar Atanamir of Westernesse 100% (0/6)
Huan of Doriath 90% (1/10)
Caradhras of Misty Mts. 87,5% (1/8)
Galadriel of Lothlórien 85,7% (1/7)

Worst goalies = saving percentage (goals allowed / total shots against)

Brand of Esgaroth 46,2% (7/13)
Huor of Anfaughlith 50% (4/8)
Butterbur of Shire-Bree Utd. 53,3% (7/15)
King Bus of The Downer 53,8% (6/13)
Imlach of Hithlum 55,6% (8/18)

[Nogrod]

Group A

It was going to be a thrilling evening at the Ever-Cold Arena. The crowds would be served a great appetizer looking how the dashing stars of the nearby woods showed their skills against the half-sized weirdo’s of another time and place, and then as a main course, there would be the nerve-wrecking fight for a place in the qualifiers between the home-team and their main rivals in brotherhood. The night-game was an absolute cracker: both teams were on even points and both had an even goal difference, so it would be solely the outcome of the game that would decide matters, no third parties involved, no fear for other matches to influence the outcome. Just a game of the year for the fans – not only the home-side fans, but also for the loads of Tirion-supporters who packed almost a nice fourth of the stadium to cheer for their team.


~*~


But there was an afternoon game before the big event – and the seats were sold out even there as everyone wished to see the great heroes of Doriath – local media had already named them champions of this year’s Arda Cup – not the least the thick crowds from Doriath itself who filled almost one third of the seats eager to see the “homeboys” play one more time at their hoods.

It must be admitted that the hobbits were brave and did their best, and it felt like they gained some new friends from the crowds who were just admiring the persistence of the little folk. But the difference in the quality of the teams was just too wide for them to have any say with the outcome.

The hobbits came to the game full of energy and they took every shot they could make but Melian’s Girdle forced them away from the best shots and most of their efforts ended in shots way off target. Although Bandobras Took managed to hit the post once giving Huan some food for thought. But Doriath scored their first goal already on the 14th minute – and when they made it 2-0 just ten minutes later the hobbits saw the name of the game as Doriath had started to possess the ball, more or less closing the opportunities from the hobbits to even try a shot.

Thingol’s 3-0 just before the half-time was surely one of the greatest free-kicks given in this tournament thus far. Harry had tackled Luthien about ten meters from the left corner of the box and Doriath was given a free-kick. Instead of Túrin, Húrin or Beleg who normally took the free-kicks, Thingol called for a chance to shoot one for a change. And what a shot it was! The swerve of it was just stupendous!

Looked later in slow-motion one can see the ball going past the wall of Shire-Bree defenders and looking like it was going a few meters off the goal, but just after passing the wall the ball takes a twisted swerve towards the goal. Butterbur reacts and dives towards the post – but the ball swerves much more he could have anticipated and goes in the middle of the goal while Butterbur is diving down to the post.

Shire-Bree Utd. showed a brave face on the second half and went for it as well as they could but Doriath just shut their few chances off and mainly just possessed the ball with clearly no purpose of making the numbers too cruel.

Huan and Carcaroth were getting bored as the second half grew older and they had little or nothing to do. So to the surprise of all, after one of the rare hobbit-attacks on the second half, Huan got the ball and decided to wish to play as well. Passing it to Carcaroth they started advancing – lending the ball only to each other. Thingol and Melian were upset at first but then just decided to fall back to take the places of their goalie and the lowest defender, letting the canines have their fun.

And they seemed to have a lot of fun. Huan dribbled like a professional forward and Carcaroth scared the ponies out of their wits (if they had any). Finally Huan took the shot from the corner of the box, and hit the post! The rebound fell to the feet of Húrin who instinctively shot it to the back of the net. After the game he was sorry about it as he thought either Huan or Carcaroth would have deserved the goal, but he blamed his reflexes.

So Doriath won 4-0 with almost a walking pace. It was not just one or two newspapers which raised the question after the game whether there were too many teams competing in the Arda Cup as the differences on the quality were that huge between some teams.

In the post-group press conference the media was interested in hearing Bandobras’ and Frodo’s views on how they felt, and did they admit the disaster their team was this year? But against the expectations they were quite calm and positive.

Bandobras Took: "We’ll have another United team next time, for sure. Some more of local talent that have played elsewhere should be introduced, but by and by, that’s it. Hobbits are tougher than they look and this was just… well, a practice. We stood against the wolves back then and these laddies destroyed that blasted Ring, need I say more about what we are made off?"

Frodo: "It wasn’t our brightest moment but we’ll pull our act together the next year. And you know, we’ve had some guests playing for our team in previous years and some of them have enjoyed their time with us… so maybe we could hire a few feet to aid us the next year?"


Doriath 4-0 Shire-Bree United
tot shots 16-12
on target 9-2
GOALS:
*14, 1-0 Beleg (Melian)
*24, 2-0 Túrin (Eöl)
*38, 3-0 Elwë
*71, 4-0 Húrin (Huan)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Doriath- Húrin
*Shire-Bree- Ferny, Pippin



Too big differences or no, the crowds were entertained to the fullest and the real drama was only just going to unfold in front of their eyes. It was the home team against Tirion, and the winner would take it all and qualify. The loser would have nothing. The nasty thing for the home-team supporters was that in a case of a draw Tirion would be advancing to the play-offs as they had scored more… but this was about winning or losing, not playing for a draw.

There were a lot of hugs and kisses in the pitch before the game started – some of the players clearly wanted to remind the fans that even if it was a game of life and death the most important thing was being good and caring of each other. Thus Fingon and Aredhel gave each other a warm embrace kissing each other to the cheek, while all the sons of Fëanor went for a group-hug, the three of them pushing Caranthir around in a friendly manner. And in the end Finarfin and all the grandchildren of Finwë gathered around him to receive his blessing. The other elves and easterlings were not looking too happy to follow the example of Finwë’s family but were decent enough to shake hands together.

And then, the game was on!

It started very much evenly as had been anticipated. They were very much even teams even if Tirion played a more offensive game while the home team was a bit more conservative facing the game from defense onwards. With Tirion slightly outdoing Himring in possession the homeside fans were biting their nails. The suspense!

But then the home-crowds just exploded. Himring had been building an attack for a change and suddenly Maedhros saw the chance. With a split-second decision he glanced at his cousin, made a short run forwards when his brother Caranthir who was defending against him had been expecting a pass and was reaching for it to a wrong direction. Aulë charged on Maedhros to fill the gap, but he passed the ball behind the stupefied poet Elemmirë just in time and reached Fingon perfectly behind the now torn defenses. And The Valiant scored!

Himring was on the lead! The crowds were going crazy.

The game went on with both teams battling it out for real, even if Tirion had stepped their game maybe a level, or a half level, upwards. The crowds were nervous and excited. But just before the fans of the home team thought they’d have the relief of a half-time going there with a one goal lead, father and son forced some really bitter medicine down their throats.

Finarfin got a nice pass from Aulë and made a huge run forwards the right side of the pitch. About ten meters from the edge of the pitch he was about to be taken up by Amrod and Amras trailing him like wolves, but he made a pass into the middle at the exact right moment before the brothers were on him – and Finrod slided to the pass past Uldor and scored. It was indeed even for the half-time.

The second half was much alike to the first: intensive fighting, scoring opportunities spread quite evenly, Tirion holding the ball and attacking a bit more but not much, neither team willing to give in an inch… And it still was a fair match: only three cards were given and in a game as intensive as this was, that’s amazingly few.

About twenty minutes to the second half the home crowds went nuts again. And it was the elf people thought was the best talented after his father, Maedhros, who scored with a cool header from a corner given by Fingon and headed to him by Borthond.

The home-crowd was counting minutes in feverish anticipation: they would qualify, they would, only twenty minutes to go, only fifteen to go…

And then it came. The equalizer built beautifully by the grandpa himself, and Aredhel was no rookie to fail when given a chance. With a nice bluff she made Amrod charge the wrong way and scored easily from a close range. It was even with only ten minutes to go. And Himring needed to win the game.

The home team threw forwards all it dared to but there was no reward for their efforts. The game ended in a draw and Tirion was qualifying. After a rollercoaster ride the fans had had, the Himring supporters felt very ill and sad while the Tirion supporters loved the whole world right now.

After the game it was natural Maedhros and Fingon were not too talkative because of the disappointment, but the press was pressing on them about their future plans.

Maedhros: "We’re no brothers by birth, just cousins, but we’re brothers by fate and love and blood. Whatever becomes, we’ll face it together."

Fingon: "Exactly. We’ve braved greater opponents than football squads together and there is no intention we would go separate ways. But we’d surely like to sign into a more competitive side next year…"

Maedhros: "Even if we only got out of the play-offs by the number of goals we made... it was that close I'd remind you."

Fingon: "Yeah, close. We didn't do badly. But next year we're going to score more."


Himring 2-2 Tirion
tot shots 12-15
on target 5-7
GOALS:
*23, 1-0 Fingon (Maedhros)
*40, 1-1 Finrod (Finarfin)
*66, 2-1 Maedhros (Borthond)
*79, 2-2 Aredhel (Finwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Himring- Ulfast, Amrod
*Tirion- Mahtan


Final results, Group A

Doriath 9p. 11-1 (+10)
Tirion 4p. 7-7(+-0)

Himring 4p. 5-5(+-0)
Shire-Bree 0p. 1-11(-10)


Doriath will meet the runners up from group H and Tirion will meet the winner of Group H in the first round of play-offs.

[Nogrod]

Group F

The Númenorians gathered into the Armenelos Stadium for the last time this year filling the benches as soon as the gates were opened. Wineskins were passed from hand to hand as all the savoury snacks, tapas, pies, salted almonds and pistachios, nuts and figs, all that food the Númenoreans loved. And on this third day of the games also the visitors from Beleriand and Tol Eressëa were starting to blend in enjoying the festive athmosphere and the local habits of having a several-hour pic-nic at the stadium before the games began. But even if the general mood was light and playful, even congenial, there was nervousness and fears mixed with high hopes and excitement bubbling under.

Hithlum had been relegated already but how well would they stand up against the mighty Ulmo and his Maiar and the great elves? The Númenorians prayed for grandfather Tuor´s squad to somehow find a new gear and beat Tol Eressëa, or at least force them to a draw – and they laid their hopes strongly on TolEressëa’s bad track record in scoring (only one goal in two matches), hoping they would not find a cure for that defect in their team. The Tol Eressëa supporters were naturally afraid of just that and praying for the exact opposite; that the female trio of Earwen, Elwing and Uinen would find their game and start to deliver like the powerhouse of Miriel, Nerdanel and Arien does for team Valinor in Group G.

What comes to the match between Númenor and Westernesse, it seemed the islanders had started to separate more strongly into two groups. The one party thought team Westernesse should let team Númenor win to give them chances of qualifying as in that way both Númenorian teams could make their way to the play-offs. That tactical defeat should be done for the greater glory of Númenor, they argued. The others naturally argued the opposite: to them losing willingly was not only degrading and un-Númenorian, but also a very bad omen predicting troubles to team Westernesse – which in the eyes of most people belonging to this latter party represented the height of Númenorian strength, honor and greatness. If Westernesse played a sloppy game now, how would they find their top gear in the next match in the play-offs against Anfaughlith or Angband where both the stakes and the quality of the opponent were so much higher?


~*~

The first match was a game between two defensive teams – even if a glance at Mithrim’s goals allowed column couldn’t tell that to a casual reader. But to the honour of team Mithrim one must admit they didn’t seem to have come to the pitch only to kick the ball around as they had nothing to gain in this match, but they seemed to be playing seriously, playing for their honour if for nothing else. Some of course noted that Tuor might have rallied his team around him in the lockers to play not only for their honour but also for his grandchildren.

Be it as it may, Mithrim was playing well and the game looked pretty even in the beginning. But the very thing the homecrowd feared the most happened anyway at the 25th minute. Tol Eressëa got a corner and Ulmo himself came up to aid with it. Uinen delivered the corner as usual, but not into the front of the goal where most players were packed, but diagonally backwards to the middle where Lindo stood totally unguarded about 25 meters from the goal. The defense reacted to this new situation which gave Ulmo just enough room to jump for it (meaning Brodda let go of his shirt turning to look where the ball was). With a wisely timed pass Lindo found Ulmo’s head rising the highest in front of the goal – and Ulmo scored.

And then it was the time for the famous Tol Eressëa lockdown play the Númenoreans had learned so bitterly to hate on round 1. So everytime they lost the control of the ball, they hastily grouped all their players under the ball so MIthrim was always facing all ten players and the goalie in front of them. It was like a wall of defense never showing a weak spot. It didn’t give Tol Eressëa too many chances to score themselves either, but they were at the lead and that was enough for them. It was not beautiful, but it sure was effective, once again.

Like the last time, parts of the crowds started booing to Tol Eressëa on the second half as they found their tactics both boring and unfair, but the football aficionados knew better: it was admirable and cool how they cut every Mithrim lines of passing, how they took away the time and space from Mithrim attack after they had gotten to the midfield, how they managed to always find someone to guard any forwards of Mithrim trying some unpredictable runs, well just how total and overwhelming it was. TolEressëa’s lockdown play was just superb, and no wonder as the mastermind behind it was none less than Ulmo himself.

And the crowd hadn’t seen all yet. The Tol Eressëa forwards had made a few individual efforts on running it forwards but after a crude mistake by Aerin at midfield Uinen managed to cut her pass and sent it forwards to Earwen who got Elwing with her into the sudden change of tempo. Together they zigzagged the defenses down unawares and Earwen scored into the empty goal as they had fooled Tuor big time in the end.

That was more like what the Tol Eressëa supporters wished to see and they praised their ladies in standing ovation. The Númenorians were impressed by the performance, but at the same time they realized the chances of team Númenor were getting ever slimmer.

And that was how it ended: Tol Eressëa got a secure 2-0 victory and took a huge step towards qualifying.

Let’s hear what Tuor had to say in the post-game press-conference:

“Well, of course I’m disappointed. And I do think that some of the criticism towards me has been to the point – even if it hasn’t always been fair. Yes, I may have taken this post a bit hastily thinking gathering players you just know could make for a team while forming a team seems to require so much more. Also I think I have not been the best man to lead other men and women as all of my life I have lived with elves. So that would be a natural direction to me the next year… maybe playing with my dear Idril and well, Eärendil, that would be a dream come true… my father in law, oh that would be great, or Glorfindel, Voronwë, or Gelmir and Arminas… you know. I do miss my elven family and friends.”


Mithrim 0-2 Tol Eressea
tot shots 10-11
on target 3-5
GOALS:
*25, 0-1 Ulmo (Lindo)
*74, 0-2 Earwen (Elwing)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Mithrim- Aerin
*TolEressea- Voronwe, Osse


Tol Eressëa’s confident victory over Mithrim had forced team Númenor into a situation where a three goal win was required from them if they wished to qualify. Would Westernesse ever submit to that? Any sensible answer to that would have to be no. The supporters of team Númenor knew it deep down in their hearts even if they wished to think it was possible.

From the first minutes it was clear both teams were into it for real and the crowd was served some real quality football with both teams keeping a balanced formation all the time while showing some really nice combinations in building the attacks, some flashing individual talent in attack and defense, and sacrifying defending (with Númenor having a free kick from 18 meters both Elros and Ar Pharazôn took their places in the wall exposing themselves to the cannon-blast of Ar Gimilzôr).

Both teams played for their pride, but Númenor also needed the win, a big win, and thus they were slightly dominating the field the first twenty minutes or so. But Westernesse never gave in and slowly the tables were turned and Westernesse started having the edge while team Númenor got somewhat exhausted from the effort.

So when Tar Minastir hammered the ball in from a neat freeing pass by Elros just about five minutes before the half-time, no one was actually surprised. Westernesse was in the lead, and looking at what was going on in the field, they truly earned it.

The second half started with Númenor giving it yet again a spirited effort and gaining the control of the game for a short while but little by little the more physical and talented Westernesse-players turned the game once more into their advantage. At sixtieth minute Westernesse scored untypically for them from a quick counter-attack. Númenor had managed to make a decent build-up for an attack and was passing the ball around Westernesse’s box when Tar Telperion cut the pass from Vardamir to Tar Miriel and sent in far away to the offense. The two lowest defenders were guarding Elros and Ar Pharazôn – and the ball was coming some ten meters left of them. But seeing that Ar Adunakhôr was rushing forwards as well the two made a nice trick: they ran diagonally towards the ball looking like they were both trying to cut it’s flight. Tar Calmacil and Tar Ciryatan were forced to reckon with the dangerous forwards and rushed after them… while Ar Adunakhôr sneaked forwards beside them. When Elros and Ar Pharazôn shut the defenders away Ar Adunakhôr was free to run with the ball. Silmariën had no change against the rushing Ar Adunakhôr – and it was 2-0 with half an hour of the play left.

But that goal actually broke the backbone of team Númenor. With a quick count they realized they would have to score five goals in the last half an hour to qualify. That truth was slowly emerging in the minds of their most fervent supporters as well. There was no way team Númenor would qualify. And there wasn’t. Westernesse took it a bit easier the rest of the game but it was clear Númenor wasn’t making a maximum effort either. And so the game ended with 2-0 to Westernesse and the Númenorians cheered for the clear group-winners even if half of them felt betrayed and sour about team Númenor’s fate at the same time. Why couldn’t Elros and Ar Pharazôn yield for once to get two Númenorian teams into the play-offs? It had to be the Gondorians’ fault. Those cousins were to blame for this!

There were actually a few incidents during the following night at some tavernas where Númenor supporters got into heated debate with Gondorian supporters of Westernesse, but the King’s Men dealt with any bar-fights swiftly and effectively dragging all rebel-rousers into custody. No one died and just a handful needed checking at Armenelos Central Hospital.

The press was ready to eat team Númenor representatives alive in the post-group press-conference. Was Númenorian talent so thin that they needed Gondorians to succeed, what was done wrong as they didn’t qualify? What next?

Tar Ancalimon: “I should be one who has seen what becomes when the Númenorians get divided into two rivaling parties… It is sad and we need to learn from our mistakes.”

Tar Miriel: “Well, from my POV forcing unions is no better…”

Tar Ciryatan: “We should build peace as we build our ships, together and with no ire: with respect and mastery of the skills.”

Tar Miriel: “And I do have confidential knowledge from my husband *grits teeth* that there will be no team Westernesse next year, whatever they achieve this year.”

Tar Ciryatan: “We’ll pull our act together the next year.”

Tar Ancalimon: “That maybe a fool’s hope, but Númenor will prevail any year. This time it’s not us but Westernesse, next year, who knows. But Númenor will produce a quality team every year contending for the championship. Mark my words.”


Númenor 0-2 Westernesse
tot shots 9-12
on target 3-6
GOALS:
*39, 0-1 Tar Minastir (Elros)
*60, 0-2 Ar Adunakhôr (Tar Telperion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Numenor- Tar Meneldur, Tar Elendil
*Westernesse- Ar Pharazôn


Final results, Group F

Westernesse 9p. 8-0(+8)
Tol Eressëa 6p. 3-2(+1)

Númenor 3p. 2-4(-2)
Mithrim 0p. 1-8(-7)


Westernesse will meet the runners up from group C and Tol Eressëa the winners of group C.

[the phantom]

Group C

Without any doubt the late night match at Angfauglith was the big one, Angband versus Angfauglith- both title contenders and already guaranteed to go into the playoffs. And yet the stadium was filled to capacity to view the evening battle between Hithlum and The Downer.

A few men and elves of Hithlum were there as were supporters of Celegorm and Curufin, but most of the crowd was made up of Angband orcs that had adopted The Downer as a new favorite. Their love of villainy and vile behaviors had won over all of Morgoth's creatures, and even Morgoth himself, who commented only yesterday that if only he didn't have to play he would show up in support of the trouble-maker Downers.

And to start the game the crowd was not disappointed, as The Downer came out actually playing for real for the first time, and with Hithlum rather flat and depressed with no hope of qualifying The Downer soon gained the edge, with Alien showing he could do more than just eat things and throw up, redirecting a nice ball from Hookbill for the 1-0 lead. Not long after, Lalwende MP decided to launch an investigation into Hithlum's defense, and found it guilty of playing uninspired ball. Their punishment- falling behind 2-0.

Some of Hithlum looked content to fold, but Hador would have none of it. He still had pride and wanted everyone to know that they had been eliminated only because of how tough the group was. And he also inspired the Sons of Feanor, reminding them that if they could not score against the bottom team in the group their offensive debut may be considered a failure.

Their newfound intensity slowly spread through their squad, and just before halftime it paid off as Hador himself headed in a nice feed from Curufin. Hithlum stayed with it after the half, but The Downer started getting quite rough with them and held them at bay, as the refs (perhaps influenced by the crowd) were letting defenders get away with a lot.

But as the minutes ticked away The Downer got more and more carried away and soon the refs couldn't help but hand out some cards- Hookbill was caught with a knife in his hand, and Morsul was spotted throwing evil mayonnaise into the eyes of the Hithlum players. But it really came crashing down at minute 71 when Alien was handed his second card for trying to stuff Lorgan into a microwave he'd carried onto the field.

With a man advantage Hithlum really started putting the pressure on King Bus between the posts, and at minute 78 Celegorm gained the equalizer. And not content to stop with momentum going their direction, Hithlum made their fans applaud yet again with but a few minutes left in the contest. It was Celegorm again, this time assisted by his brother.

As time expired The Downer for the first time appeared aware that they had lost a match, but they didn't sound particularly disappointed in the post game interviews. Saucepan Man had this to say: "We're only just learning to play this game, so we had no expectations at all. We'll be back next year and a bit more polished." When asked about cutting down on penalties committed by his team, he laughed. "It's who we are. We have fun, and don't like rules much. I mean- obviously we should try and be more clever with our rule breaking so we aren't caught, but change our character? Nah."

In the other locker room there was more disappointment, but still high levels of optimism for next season. Celegorm and Curufin: "This was a very tough group. What a pity- we feel we were good enough to qualify. But on the bright side I think we proved we can play offense, and against the best defenses. We're very grateful to captain Hador for giving us the opportunity to do this, but next year we'll probably be looking to play with more familiar faces on more familiar ground."

Captain Hador was of a similar feeling. "Yes, we really thought we were good enough to be in the playoffs, but it just didn't work out. Celegorm and Curufin were great to play with- they're very competitive, and I think they've created some demand for their services next season. During this off-season I really need to get to work early with recruiting and get some of my fine house that is playing elsewhere to join me here."

Hithlum 3-2 The Downer
tot shots 20-14
on target 9-6
GOALS:
*17, 0-1 Alien (Hookbill)
*30, 0-2 Lalwende (Peter Hampton)
*43, 1-2 Hador (Curufin)
*78, 2-2 Celegorm (Galdor)
*86, 3-2 Celegorm (Curufin)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Gundor, Lorgan, Galdor
*Downer- Burnt Bert, Hookbill, Alien, John Fillis, Morsul
RED CARDS:
*Downer- Alien (71, second yellow)

As the first match had started as the sun was already setting, night was well underway when the final match of Group C finally prepared to kick off. With normal teams Fingolfin and company might've complained that their own home committee was catering to the scheduling of Angband, but with three Balrogs on his own side vying for the support of Angband fans he didn't really mind.

From the moment the contest started the fans were treated to some excellent football. Thuringwethil and Telvildo on one side and Gwindor and Maeglin on the other showed some quality flash and flare, always a danger to go the distance on a quick attack, but the Balrogs on both defenses were experienced and great athletes themselves, and always managed to do just enough to stave off the goals- squeezing their opponents out of bounds, slightly deflecting passes, kicking balls past the endlines, and so on.

Finally one of the attacks broke through as the first half neared its end. Angband carefully built up the pressure in Angfauglith's half with excellent passing, working it back to their defenders when necessary, who pushed closer and closer. Finally Morgoth made a pinpoint strike to Thuringwethil just inside the box and then, instead of redirecting it at the goal, she sent it across towards the right post perfectly for Tilion who rose up and headed it home.

Knowing that they were set to qualify no matter the result, most of the Angfauglith fans didn't mind applauding lightly, as it had been a fine play. But as the second half began it was clear the players on the field weren't content to qualify- both wished to win and avoid playing the Group F winner, which would nearly certainly be an on-fire Westernesse squad. Angfauglith started bringing the pressure up more aggressively than ever, but this nearly proved their undoing as Angband's midfield outclassed them and stole possession for a quick counter. Thankfully for Angfauglith Rochallor dashed back quick enough to make Telvildo's shot a tough one and Huor grabbed it to preserve the one goal deficit.

But there was no such luck to be had a minute later as again the Angband midfield stole it away. This time it was Ulfang and he boomed it straight down at the goal. Ancalagon winged off immediately at full speed and, just barely before the ball arrived, as per the rules, he touched all four feet to the ground and boomed it in with a crack of his tail for the 2-0 lead!

Many of the upper-deck Angfauglith fans complained that he had contacted the ball while still officially airborne, but the refs had gotten it right and there was nothing to complain about.

But Fingolfin was much too determined a battler to roll over and die, and Angfauglith continued to fight against an increasingly defensive Angband. At minute 70 Angband's midfield again set up the fast break, but Morgoth ordered them to slow it up and eat clock with possession, trusting that Angband could limit Angfauglith to two goals or less. But minutes later it looked like he may have regretted his decision not to go for more as Maeglin made a brilliant run along the end line to force the defense over and he sent the ball perfectly between two of them to the mighty Gothmog who rose above the field and headed it down to cut things to a single goal!

A minute later and they were deep with possession again, but a Gwindor pass back to the defense was disrupted by an anticipating Tilion and suddenly he was past the back defender on the right side and running free with Ancalagon in the middle of the field, Thuringwethil closing from the opposite side, and both squads hot on their heels! Huor looked quite worried as they rushed towards him, but Tilion was forced to give it up as the trusty warhorse Rochallor caught him, and Tilion's pass was barely behind Ancalagon, and in that split second he had to stop, the blurred figure of Fingolfin flashed in front of the mighty dragon and stole it.

Instantly Fingolfin slid to a stop keeping the ball behind him and boomed it back down at the Angband net. The defense of Angband was all caught dashing the wrong way, and the ball bounced and split right between Drauglin and one of the Balrogs, and hot behind the ball was Ecthelion, who seemed to have been the only person on the field not wrong-footed. Ungoliant cursed and readied herself as the elf lord charged into the box uncontested, made her best guess and jumped.

But the lord of Gondolin was not to be denied, booming it the opposite direction and low, and all the Angfauglith supporters screamed. It was tied, and they had a few minutes left to win the group!

Morgoth bellowed to his defenders not to be caught pressing forward for any reason, and told his forwards that defense was their first priority, going so far as to place the quick and speedy Thuringwethil on duty covering Maeglin, and asking Telvildo to shadow Gwindor, while he bodied up against his old general Lord Gothmog.

Angfauglith gave it their best effort, but they just couldn't get it to their forwards, and had to settle for drives from the defenders, all of which went off target or never even made it through the mess between them and the goal. As the final horn sounded the Angband fans celebrated wildly. They had won the group! But Angfauglith held their heads high as well, knowing they had just played even with one of the powers of Arda Cup. They felt ready for anything.

Angband 2-2 Angfauglith
tot shots 12-15
on target 6-7
GOALS:
*37, 1-0 Tilion (Thuringwethil)
*59, 2-0 Ancalagon (Ulfang)
*76, 2-1 Gothmog (Maeglin)
*82, 2-2 Ecthelion (Fingolfin)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Balrog #2, Tilion
*Angfauglith- Balrog #5, Gwindor, Balrog #4

Final Results: Group C

Angband 7 pts 9-4 (+5)
Angfauglith 7pts 9-6 (+3)

Hithlum 3 pts 8-10 (-2)
The Downer 0 pts 3-9 (-6)

Angband will meet the runner-up from Group F in the playoffs, while Angfauglith will play the Group F winner.

[Boromir88]

Group B

Match 5 - Anduin vs Esgaroth
It was a cloudy day at Gladden Fields but for the Anduin supporters in the crowd, they were not going to let the weather prevent them from coming to the stadium and supporting their team. Even if Anduin needed to clear Esgaroth confidently and hope Wilderland could beat the Misty Mts by at least 2 goals in order to have a chance of advance. Fram, took a few questions before the game, "Yes, our fate is not completely in our hands, but we can't concern ourselves with the late match. If we don't beat the task in front of us, then we're out no matter what happens in the late game. We are focused on winning Esgaroth, we have to be."

Anduin was also in desperate need of goals, so the crowd was expecting heavy pressure by Anduin, and hopefully several goals to applaud. They would sure have the majority of the crowd behind them, as less than 1/5th seemed to have the Esgaroth colors and banner. And Esgaroth was likely to even have less support, since the Dwarves who had come with King Dain, were now getting behind Durin. If their team was eliminated, then better to have Anduin with the great Durin go through, then have to see the vile orcs and their Balrog.

The first 45 was completely dominated by Anduin. They were passing it all around Esgaroth's half the field and while Esgaroth would do just enough to clear the ball away before anything dangerous materialized, they could not build any attacks of their own. So, as Anduin kept working for opportunities, Esgaroth was just trying to hold out indefinitely. You always pay when trying to hold out indefinitely, and it was no shock to see Anduin get on the board first.

Leod received a pass from Durin and no one knew if Leod was just trying a speculative long ball to test Brand or if it was a serious attempt on goal. Not even Brand knew, as he was caught napping on Leod's long-bomb projectile, giving Anduin a 1-0 lead. No one could seem to answer what Brand's struggles were, was he playing injured? Did he just not have any confidence after a poor friendly performance? Was he not happy goal-keeping? Whatever it was, it is the worst showing of any GK in Arda history, and Brand is much better than this.

Anduin was still in need of goals though, so they kept attacking, and again Esgaroth was having trouble trying to keep possession to build attacks of their own. In the 35th minute, Leod was involved in the scorig again, this time Moneybags knew he was about to take a shot and was able to get in front for the block. But the ball squirted away from the Esgaroth defender, and Earnil shot a screamer to the top post that Brand honestly had no chance to stop.

It was intermission and the Anduin fans were getting drunk (but still remaining about as civil as drunk fans can be). "If we can get another goal or two, and keep Esgaroth off the sheet, we just may be able to pull this off!" And they were right, if Esgaroth conceded defeat and just folded, than Misty Mts would be under a lot of pressure in the night match.

But it turns out that there was still a scrap of dignity and fire in Esgaroth, particularly the Men of Dale who wanted to show they would not hand over the match so easily. Maybe with a 2-goal lead the Anduin team decided to relax some, but Esgaroth was now able to keep most of the action in the Anduin half now. And in the 62 minute Girion showed he still has quality, by threading a pass between the two Elven defenders to Bard, who kept his shot on the ground and it squeezed under Fram's arm.

It was a 1-goal game again, and the few Esgaroth faithful cheered the goal. Although one would have to say there was more sarcasm to the cheers than approval of their team's performance. And the Anduin faithful knew that 1-goal probably would not be good enough to advance, but once Fram tightened his defense and Anduin started getting control of the game again the crowd began urging their team on again.

Leod was playing like a man posessed and determined to give his team the best hopes of advancing. With 15 minutes remaining Leod gave Anduin a 2-goal lead again. You woud think after the game he had so far, there would be closer defending on him, but he was released free by Telumehtar and pounded it into the net. Anduin was looking to furthering their lead even more, but it was not to be thisnight. With only few minutes remaining Leod found Earnil with a pass, Brand was clearly beaten on the play, but Earnil shot it wide! And so it ended a 3-1 victory for Anduin, and they would be anxiously anticipating the end of the Wilderland - Misty Mts game.

The team from the Long Lake had been eliminated before their last match, and afterwards Girion and Dain talked about their horrid showing in this years Arda tournament and started looking ahead to next year:

Girion: "We are disgusted by how we've played these 3 games as all our fans are just to be disgusted as well. Yes we lost a lot of our star talent from last year, but there is no excuse. None. It was a bad team effort all around."

Dain: "We did not try hard enough in the off season to keep our best talent from Dale and Erebor on the team and hastily tried to fill holes. There will be a lot of changes, especially at the mid-field where we were dominated in all three games. But the Dwarves of Erebor have always stood firm with their Dale allies. We do not throw aside friendships at the first sign of struggle. I and any dwarf who chooses to follow, will be back with Girion next year."

The Esgaroth Esquire: You've mentioned changes at the mid-field, what about at GK? Surely you can't keep Brand back there with the performance he gave this year?

Girion: "Brand is loyal and valiant. Something was effecting him, but it's a personal matter and he's played through it. But you ask a fair question and I will discuss with him about a possible change in re-joining me in the midfield. In whatever capacity it is, I do not want to lose Brand."

Some things answered, but only more quesions will be asked. With the cotinued stress about the mid-field, we can only assume that Girion is going to rebuild that area, so that could mean bye-bye to the spiders. And what of Dain's statement about "any dwarf who chooses to follow [him]." Are some of the Dwarves not as enthusiastic about Girion's leadership and looking to move on else where if there is a sweeter deal?

Anduin 3-1 Esgaroth
tot shots 13-13
on target 6-4
GOALS:
*19, 1-0 Leod (Durin)
*35, 2-0 Earnil (Leod)
*62, 2-1 Bard (Girion)
*75, 3-1 Leod (Telumehtar)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Orophin, Telumehtar
*Esgaroth- Tomnoddy, Dain, Balin

Match 6 - Misty Mts vs Wilderland
With the 3-1 win by Anduin, Misty Mts did have a bit of breathing room, but they could not melt down and in the past the team has been notable for some big meltdowns. A 1-goal loss and they would still be through, a 2-goal loss and it would go down to a shootout between them and Anduin. A 3-goal loss was simly unacceptable and some may have been fearful of what evil could be awoken underneath the mountains if Misty Mts did lose by 3!

But as we talk of as it's assumed Wilderland would beat the Misty Mts, Saruman was singing quite a different tune; rallying his goblins out of Moria and propping up his rock-solid GK. Saruman would have everyone believing Misty Mts would win and steal the group away from Wilderland, as it would take an effort even beyond the will of Sauron to beat his new, shiny keeper. But, while a win, draw, or loss Wilderland was already through to the knockout stage, Sauron was not going to concede his grip of 1st place in Group B.

The stadium was jammed full of orcs and nameless, gnawing critters, who hid underneath he grand stands from the sun that was beginning to set. There was even a few dragons present, and one of peculiar interest was spotted, Glaurung who was there to watch Scatha and Smaug. Certainly the rumors and speculation would start, since Glaurung had trouble landing with a team in the off-season was h trying to make nice with Sauron or his former dragon-buddies for next year?

Had both teams not performed well so far, and both not be in good position to advance things between the orc factions may have gotten more violent. But thankfully there were only a few minor rows and taunts about which was the stronger, the Red Eye or the White Hand. There was also a small section of Anduin fans, with the team of the Great River present, watching, waiting, and fully supporting the Wilderland.

Sauron was quick o try and get even tighter control of 1st place in the group, and show Saruman that he was still inferior. And so Wilderland began with a flurry of shots. The Misty Mts defenders were doing their best to disrupt, without drawing cards, knowing they could not afford a player being sent off, or this could turn into a nightmare.

First Smaug and Scatha tried it, but their shots were stopped cold (literally!). Then Khamul tried it and his shot was pushed aside. Then Sauron himself tried the Mountain and his attempt was stopped. Saruman was right to brag about his Spirit, and maybe it was too powerful for even Sauron!

After Sauron's shot was stopped, with a mighty gust of wind Caradhras threw the ball out to Narvi. The Misty Mts also had a skilled attack, and were finally able to get pressure off their defense, which was thankful for the much needed break after 30 minutes of constant Wilderland attacks. Now was the Misty Mts turn to see what damage they could cause on the Wilderland defense and their keeper, Grimbeorn.

The Azog, Saruman, and Durin's Bane combo was too hot to handle and in the 41st minute Durin's Bane rocketed a shot that was heading straight towards Grimbeorn. It looked like Grimbeorn was going to stop it, but at the very last instant Saruman stuck his leg out to deflect it, and it was too late for Grimbeorn to adjust. Misty Mts would go into the half with a 1-0 lead! A result that would see them in 1st place, and Wilderland in second. The Moria orcs were singing songs of praise for Saruman the White. Saruman the Wise. Saruman the Great. The orcs under Sauron just muttered and grumbled.

As the 2nd half began, it was clear Sauron was not going conceding the game without a fight. And like the 1st half, Wilderland was keeping the pressure on. With the lead, the Misty Mts defenders started getting more aggressive though, not as fearful to lose a player early and thus began drawing cards.

After Landroval's foul, latching onto Smaug's tail, Wilderland was awarded a free kick. Sauron figured now was a time they needed a goal and brought every attacking player up front. Khamul usually takes the corners and free kicks, but this time Pallando came up and Khamul was on the front line with the dragons and Sauron. When Pallando delivered a pass into the congested box, Khamul had scared off his Chief Wolf(pup) defender and headed it in. The will of the mountain had been beaten and Wilderland was level.

Much to the surprise of the Misty Mts crowd, Sauron kept pressing the attack. A 1-1 result would still assure Sauron's team 1st place, so why was he pressuring with this much intensity? And in the 77th minute, Sauron passed the ball to Scatha, and with a mighty whip of its tail, it was a 2-1 lead for Wilderland. What a display of sheer power, it looked as though the Caradhras spirit had it stopped with one of it's strong blasts of ice, but it ripped right through the ice.

The Anduin fans were now more alert, another goal by Wilderland would mean it would go down to a shootout, between their team and the Misty Mts for runner up in the group! However, to their first confusion, and then anger, they figured out the treachery at work. With 13 minutes remaining, it appeared Sauron and Saruman had reached an unspoken arrangement. Sauron was displeased with Saruman's arrogance in the pre-game, and with Misty Mts having the lead in the 1st half. Sauron had wanted to prove to Saruman, that he was still the Mightiest. And he displayed his dominance by pushing all out for the win, but once grabbing the lead, that was it. As long as Saruman folded, and didn't show any desire to equalize the match, Sauron would call it off, and thus allow Saruman's team to advance as well.

Thus after 70+ minutes of some of the most exciting football yet seen in this years cup, the last 10 minutes was a complete dud. Saruman did not want to test Sauron's grace, and Sauron was content that he taught Saruman his lesson. Don't try to challenge him again.

*~*~*

That result would mean the Misty Mts was going through to the knockout rounds, while Anduin team would be going home. They clearly showed disappointment in their eyes when the Misty Mts crowd swarmed onto the field to celebrate with their team, but Fram and the other leaders of Anduin were keeping their heads held high. They had not been embarrassed by anyone in this group, and if they could have held out another 10 minutes against Wilderland than they'd be the ones going through. 1-goal, Misty Mts gave up 1 less goal, that was all the difference.

Fram: "For being a spur of the moment idea between a group of friends at a late night gathering, I thought we put on a good show to build on for next year. Obviously our goal at the start of the tournament was to go through to the round of 16, but we have the right spirit and mentality within the team. Now we just need to get an earlier start recruiting, there's a lot of talent to be found along the Great River."

Leod: "There's no reason we can't be back with a greater Anduin team next year. I will do all that I can in Rhovanion and we are lacking royalty amongst the Rohirrim."

Fram: "Indeed and we can even expand our efforts beyond what we were able to do this year. With how late recruiting started, Earnil, Beorn, and I stayed basically within our own lands, but we can definitely go father north and south to get players. There is a lot of untapped talent in the ancient haven of Pelargir."

Misty Mts 1-2 Wilderland
tot shots 13-16
on target 5-8
GOALS:
*41, 1-0 Saruman (DBane)
*62, 1-1 Khamul (Pallando)
*77, 1-2 Scatha (Sauron)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Misty Mts- Saruman, Azog, Landroval, William
*Wilderland- Smaug, Great Warg, Alatar

Final Results: Group B
Wilderland 9p. 8-2(+6)
Misty Mts 4p. 5-3(+2)

Anduin 4p. 5-4(+1)
Esgaroth 0p. 1-10(-9)

Wilderland will face the runner-up of Group G. Misty Mts will play the winner of Group G.

[the phantom]

Group E

The fans of Mordor and Tol in Gaurhoth were in a foul temper after they discovered that the opening match of Round 3, their match, would be played at 5 PM. "This just proves that the host committee has been attempting to sabotage we baddie teams from the start!"

NogWolf agreed with his opponents on the point. "It's a well known fact that our squads prefer late matches, but in the first two round when matched up against the good teams they forced us to play our games at 11 AM or 3 PM. Now suddenly when it doesn't matter any more they're starting games at more usual times- 5 PM and 9 PM."

Though the squads were unified in their displeasure, it was unlikely there would be any sort of good feelings between the players on the field. Mordor needed a win to clinch a spot in the playoffs, as did TIG. It was possible that both could advance with a loss depending on the outcome of the second game, but neither was willing to leave things to chance.

The Werewolves started hectic and furious in front of the half-empty stadium, playing at a breakneck pace that took the crowd by surprise, and shocked the orcs on the field as well. In the opening four minutes they gained two nice opportunities, but Silent Watcher turned one aside and the other went flying past the post. NogWolf shouted to his squad that they needed to focus their will better to defeat the mental energy of the keeper, but while the Wolves collected themselves Nazgul #4 stole the ball away and sent it down to the rest of the Nazgul and Shelob, who had kept their heads during the entire ordeal.

TIG was unusually slow reacting- their fury had blinded them just a bit, and Nazgul #7 and #6 and Shelob were left facing only KuruWolf while NilpWolf and SkipWolf and the midfield raced to chase them down. Knowing what a rare opportunity it was Nazgul #6 refused to slow up to allow his teammates to join him more fully but instead rushed straight in against KuruWolf and the keeper.

KuruWolf played things well and didn't buy the ball fake and there was a terrific collision! It wasn't clear how it happened, but in the tangle of flailing limbs the ball popped over high towards the right post. ShastaWolf lunged for it, trying to beat the onrushing Nazgul #7 to it, but both arrived at the same time and the ball ricocheted off the keeper's hands, off the Nazgul's head, and straight back and slightly left onto the waiting head of the trailing Shelob who bumped it to the other side, giving the defense no chance to stop it.

The small group of Mordor orcs shouted and banged their noisemakers in approval. Only five minutes in and they were on the board again the vaunted Werewolves of Tol In Gaurhoth! Perhaps the Werewolves had only skated by the other teams because they were able to intimidate them. Mordor wouldn't let that happen to them.

But unfortunately for Mordor Tol In Gaurhoth was more than just scary- they were also fast and strong, and now they were plain furious. Only three minutes later NogWolf leveled the game with a thunderous volley off a Nerwen feed, and five minutes after that NogWolf turned assister, drawing the defense and sending it back to GwathWolf who put in a laser drive for the lead.

The Werewolves calmed down somewhat after gaining the lead, settling down to a more possession based game. But they still remained scoring threats, with InzilWolf going just wide off a corner and NogWolf nearly getting on the sheet again after PhantomWolf released him to face Silent Watcher and Gollum.

Finally at 35 minutes Mordor couldn't dodge the bullet any longer, as SallyWolf headed in a typically nice PhantomWolf corner, and Tol In Gaurhoth had a two goal cushion to be guaranteed first place in the group. Their Wight and Wolf supporters broke out the "Group E Champ" t-shirts they had overconfidently ordered and started chanting "Playoff bound!". OddWight and GreenWight struck up a merry tune on their instruments and soon it was a full fledged party in the seats.

Mordor ignored the activity and doggedly tried to push forward and claw back into the game, but NogWolf had his squad on full Wolf-to-Orc pressure mode and Mordor could barely get it across midfield.

At the start of the second half Mordor came out rested, but the initial push yielded only a couple long prayers and a lob of a drive that ShastaWolf caught easily, and soon Mordor found themselves trying to build from their own half again. The Orcs were just exhausted, and Shelob was barely moving. Only the Nazgul were still the least bit effective, being immune to tiring and bruising as they were, but four players isn't nearly enough to play with.

As the minutes ticked away it was clear that it wasn't happening, and that Tol In Gaurhoth would be sweeping the group. Recognizing this and knowing that if any more scores were going to happen it would be by the Werewolves, the Nazgul admitted defeat and shook with NogWolf effectively ending the game then and there.

The Orcs weren't pleased with the result, but understood that they'd been beaten. Their hopes now rested on Nargothrond in the evening match. Could they defeat the home side and release Mordor through to the playoffs?

Mordor 1-3 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 9-15
on target 3-8
GOALS:
*5, 1-0 Shelob (Nazgul #7)
*8, 1-1 NogWolf (NerWolf)
*13, 1-2 GwathWolf (NogWolf)
*35, 1-3 SallyWolf (PhantomWolf)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Mordor- Nazgul #4, Shelob
*TIG- KuruWolf, NogWolf, SallyWolf

The Huorns and Hobbits were out in force for the evening extravaganza. With the loss by Mordor in the early match Bombadil, Treebeard, and The Forest now held their fate in their own twiggy hands.

But they were facing an opponent that still had something to play for. Mordor and The Forest were both sitting at 3 points and -2 differential (Mordor at 5-7), meaning that a 4-2 victory by Nargothrond would put them in a tie for second, while a three-goal victory would place them alone in second, as would a two-goal win scoring more than four goals. It would be difficult- but it wasn't impossible.

As the game kicked off to a constant humming and trumpeting of the thousands of Huorns in the stands, Bombadil and company looked sharp, dominating possession with their midfield and passing expertly up front. Within 20 minutes Bombadil himself put the home team ahead, and the humming of the Huorns increased in volume.

It became downright deafening at just under a half hour as Quickbeam snapped his springy leg with thunderous force into the ball and sent it screaming in past a helpless Barahir. At the 36 minute mark the Hobbits had to grab napkins and tear off pieces of their clothing to shove in their ears, as the Huorns and Ents hoomed their approval at Bombadil's continued fine play- this time feeding Thranduil expertly.

The tree-folk and Hobbits began singing in earnest during halftime and continued into the second half, where they gladly looked on as their squad pulled back and defended their lead. Surely they could keep the less than adept Nargothrond offense from putting up more than three goals.

And it certainly looked to be true at first, but an angry Glaurung whipped up his helpers on the other end and finally struck off a pass from Beor to close it to two. But the Forest didn't look too worried- there was less than twenty minutes left, however at the 86th minute things got just a bit scarier when Glaurung struck again, this time receiving it from Finduilas.

But Bombadil shrugged it off, as he knew there was not enough time for Nargothrond to score twice more, and right he was. The Forest was through to the playoffs!

Nargothrond 2-3 The Forest
tot shots 12-15
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*17, 0-1 Bombadil (Thranduil)
*29, 0-2 Quickbeam (RiverWoman)
*36, 0-3 Thranduil (Bombadil)
*71, 1-3 Glaurung (Beor)
*86, 2-3 Glaurung (Finduilas)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Nargothrond- Beor, Gelmir, Mim
*Forest- Saeros, Haleth

The eliminated squads, Mordor and Nargothrond, were quite displeased about their plight, and their players had quite a lot to say after the games. The Nazgul of Mordor were particularly displeased with their orc teammates- specifically naming Radbug and Snaga as weak links, and stating that Mordor would be back next year in a more formidable form.

Finduilas sounded confident that the proud realm of Nargothrond would be back and better the following year, and hopefully with its usual leaders Finrod and Orodreth, as she simply didn't feel comfortable taking their place.

Final Results, Group E

Tol In Gaurhoth 9 pts 9-1 (+8)
The Forest 6 pts 6-7 (-1)

Mordor 3 pts 5-7 (-2)
Nargothrond 0 pts 3-8 (-5)

After sweeping the group Tol In Gaurhoth will play the runner up from Group D in the first round of the playoffs, while The Forest will take on the Group D winner.

[Boromir88]

Group D

Match 5 - Barad-Dur vs Gondor
Barad-Dur and Gondor began the day behind Eriador in the standings, but were aware that wasn't a huge obstacle. Both teams in the early match believed if they could win this one, they were going to leap-frog Eriador in 2nd place.

The Ost-in-Edhil stadium was mostly full, but filled mostly with locals from Eregion who had no strong allegiances to either team. They were just hoping to see a good match where there were playoffs on the line. Although stronger sympathies appeared to be for Barad-Dur since Gil Galad was still a beloved hero in the area. And they were appreciative of the fact that he was keeping a tight control over the team, not letting The Mouth and his crew get away with their usual sinister shenanigans. The Gondorians were less appreciative of King Isildur, however. How could he play under the banner of their greatest enemy? Sauron gone or not, it was a slap in the face to the proud realm of Men (or so the Gondorians thought).

Barad-Dur started in their normal defensive style, as Gondor came out pressing. It must be said though, The Mouth and his fellows were banging up the Gondorian attackers, appearing to test the ref to see how much roughing up they could get away with. It was working for Barad Dur though, the rough play wasn't effecting the stout Gondorians physically, but it was getting under their skin, frustrating them.

Eorl was taken down in the box, and felt for sure he deserved a penalty kick, but the ref wasn't interested. And when Eorl mocked whether the referee had left his cards in a different pair of pants. The ref showed that he had not forgotten his cards, and booked Eorl for protesting. Gondor was losing composure, that was quite uncharacterstic of them, and it was costly. Since after Eorl was shown a yellow, Barad-Dur was launching one of their quick counter attacks. Isildur was stretching the field wide, trying to draw defenders and open up room in the Gondor box. He crossed it in to Gil Galad, who controlled the pass masterfully and with one touch rolled it into the goal.

Gondor was pressing again, trying to take advantage if Barad-Dur was relaxing a bit too much after getting the lead. Gondor could have, and probably should have equalized in the next 10 minutes had it not been for a heroic effort by Ohtar between the posts. And in the 27th minute Arwen tried to pass it to Eorl, inside the box, but it was cut off and headed away nicely by Anarion. Barad-Dur started the counter again, and this time The Mouth forward too, giving Barad-Dur the advantage in numbers. Gil-Galad and Cirdan were covered, and one Boromir I stepped forward to challenge Isildur, it really was a simple matter of finding the open player, The Mouth who then beat Ecthelion II.

Through the 1st half, Gondor was controlling most of the posession, and most of the shooting, deservedly or not though, they found themselves down 0-2 after 45 minutes. And that's all that mattered. They had allowed Barad-Dur to frustrate them and had become unglued. Even if they could regroup during the break, Gondor fans were biting their nails off, knowing how difficult an 0-2 defecit is to come back from, especially when they really needed the win as a draw would likely not be enough points. While Barad-Dur had seemingly worked out all their inner tensions, as the last few games the baddies have shown good spirit and willingness to play for Gil Galad.

The scripts for the 2nd half was easy to predict. Gondor needed goals and quickly so they came out with more fury than ever before, and with a 2-goal lead Barad Dur would be concentrating all their efforts on defense. Gil Galad was keeping all 11-players behind the ball and Gondor kept pushing them further back, making Barad-dur defend deeper and deeper. There was still no answer for Ohtar's parade of saves, he was playing like he had a real mission or purpose. Perhaps proving to his lord, Isildur, and his team that he was a worthy, dependable goal keeper?

After just about 20 minutes had gone by in the 2nd though, Gondor found the goal they so desperately were searching for. The goal wasn't any accomplishment of brilliance, nor a mistake by Ohtar. It was more or less luck (or unluck if you look from Ohtar's perspective). Since all 11 of Barad-Dur players had been pushed back to defend, it was a jumbled mess in front of Ohtar. Arwen lobbed one into the box, and Eorl got a foot too it, but it was blocked by Gothmog II. After some ping-ponging around, and a failure by Barad Dur to clear the ball away from their goal, it deflected off Eldacar last. Nevertheless, a goal is a goal. It counted and Gondor had reduced the defecit to 1.

Ohtar shared some quick words with his master and it seemed Isildur agreed. They needed to stretch the field a bit and not let everyone slowly get pushed back in front of Ohtar. And it was relatively easy for Barad-Dur to keep most the action at the mid-field and occasionally put pressure on Gondor's defense. Since the intense play by Godor's attackers to start the half had taken a toll on their legs, and it was showing in the tiredness of their faces as well.

These matches are a long grind and so they seemed like they were trying to wear the clock down more than wearing themselves out, and making sure they had enough energy to deal with any of Gondor's attacks that might materialize. So, while Barad-durs shooting was nothing to be mavel at, they were at least forcing Gondor into playing defense and not letting them concentrate all efforts on equalizing.

But as it was closing down the final stretch, Gondor needed goals and began playing more risky. Barad-dur was being forced onto their back heels though as Gondor was relentless. With only a few minutes left Arwen broke free from her Nazgul defender, she was into the box, with only Ohtar left to beat. Lo! Ohtar made a kick save and it was a b-e-a-u'teh. Barad-Dur controlled it for the final seconds, holding on for the win. Gondor was eliminated while the Dark Tower would go through if Eriador could not win Eregion.

After their elimination from the tournament, Gondor secretly shuffled out of the locker room, trying to avoid the media circus outside. Arwen briefly stopped just to comment that the grief of elimination was still too near and would not be taking any questions at this time. After their qualification last year, this must have been a bitter pill for the Gondorians to swallow, and hope they can be back next year with a strong vengeance.

Barad-Dur 2-1 Gondor
tot shots 14-14
on target 5-8
GOALS:
*16, 1-0 Gil-galad (Isildur)
*27, 2-0 Mouth (Isildur)
*64, 2-1 Eldacar (Eorl)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Barad-Dur- Gothmog II, Mouth, Fellbeast #2
*Gondor- Felarof, Narmacil, Eorl

Match 6 - Eregion vs Eriador
Eriador's only hope now is to beat Eregion and with the form Eregion has shown the first two games this seemed like it would be beyond the powers of the rangers. Even if Eregion had nothing left to play for, already being assured of winning the group, Elrond took great pride in keeping his goal clean and was likely not to throw away goals to allow one team to qualify over another. Still if Eregion was to be beaten, now would be the best time, since they were likely to let up and take it easy.

It was a very slow start to the game, the Rangers were trying to take the initiative but found it extremely difficult against the defense Elrond arranged. The Elves were well versed and prepared for the tactics of Rangers, but Arvedui was equally prepared. With Eriador having just the extra bit of motivation and desperation they slowly started taking over the game.

Their attempts were bearing no goals however. Eriador was not given the time nor space to get off a real quality shot. And in order to beat Elrond, it had to be quality of the very highest. His positioning was perfect every time and whatever shot did make it through the defense, Elrond had easily covered.

Then in the 25th minute, disaster for the Rangers. The Barrow-wight was not intimidating any of the Elven defenders and the Wight had it stolen by Celebrimbor from right under his cold feet. Eregion began their counter attack and much had been made of Earendil's poor performance through 2 games. He was a high price signing, who was expected to fill a hole Elrond's teams always lacked, scoring. But thus far only had 1 assist. The cynics were silenced and the Eregion fans burst into song when Earendil got his first goal for his new team. Arvedui had no chance.

The Rangers were down, but not knocked out and just as quickly as they had fallen behind, they showed Eregion they were not ready to pack their bags just yet. Eregion had a terrible lapse of focus after grabbing the lead, celebrating too early and thinking ahead to their playoff match, instead of the current match? Whatever the case, Araphor got open in the box, after receiving a pass from Aragorn, Asfaloth was the closest defender, but couldn't close down in time. Araphor shot a snipe that Elrond got his fingertips too, but it wasn't enough to deflect the ball off it's tragectory. Araphor's shot scraped the paint off the left post and it was in. Elrond's perfect save percentage was snapped, and after he grabbed the ball from back of the net he gave his defenders a stern glare as if to say "Let's go, keep your head in the game."

It was positive Eriador was able to equalize that quickly, but they would still need another goal, and scoring on Elrond again was judged to be beyond the power of the Rangers. If the first Eregion goal was a disaster, the 2nd was heart break. 10 minutes after Eriador was able to equalize, this time Lindir intercepted a pass and sent it on to Earendil. Earendil broke away from his marker and hammered another shot beyond Arvedui's reach. Now there were no questions as to why Elrond wanted his father on the team in the hearts of the Eregion supporters.

Eriador went into the half looking dejected and their wills broken. There was still a half to be played, but Elrond had never conceded 3 goals in a match, ever. It seemed as though Eriador had already conceded defeat, and without their same determination the 2nd half was a drag. The rangers were only going through the motions now, and Elrond was happy to just let the score stand.

There was another goal in the 64th minute, but it was quite accidental. Elladan ballooned the ball up into the air, Arvedui had come out of his goal to try to snatch it out of the air. However, Bert was trying to jog backwards to head it away, but he tripped over his own feet and knocked ito Arvedui. The ball was bouncing towards the goal line and Amlaith couldn't reach it before it was over the line.

The match ended with no further action. Eriador would be going home with Gondor, while the Eregion fans could spend the next few days celebrating. They won the group and would take on The Forest, and that meant there would be another game played in the beautiful stadium at Ost-in-Edhil in front of Eregion's passionate fans.

*~*~*

Eriador's captains were not going to run back with their tails between their legs however, they were far too noble for that.

Aragorn: "We knew it would be a tough challenge once Barad-Dur knocked out Gondor in the first match but we are better than what we showed tonight. We had our chances, but should have done better, not only in this game but in the others as well."

Arvedui: "I know after our success last year this must be a major let down to our loyal fans. We have had a plan in mind for the last few years, but didn't quite have the finances to get the deal done this year. We promise there will be a new and exciting look to this squad next year and hope our fans have not lost confidence in us."

Eregion 3-1 Eriador
tot shots 13-16
on target 6-7
GOALS:
*25, 1-0 Earendil (Glorfindel)
*28, 1-1 Araphor (Aragorn)
*38, 2-1 Earendil (Lindir)
*64, 3-1 Elladan (Glorfindel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Eregion- Asfaloth
*Eriador- Bert, Aranarth

Final Results: Group D
Eregion 9p. 7-1(+6)
Barad-Dur 4p. 4-5 (-1)

Eriador 2p. 5-7(-2)
Gondor 1p. 3-6(-3)

Eregion will play The Forest in Round 1, while Barad-Dur will face Tol In Gaurhoth.

[Boromir88]

Group H

Match 5 - Minas Morgul vs Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith had the ever slightest chance of advancing still, even though no one was betting on their chances to do so. Minas Morgul was currently tied with Dunharrow for second, and would be under the enormous expectation to put down their enemy for good, while Dunharrow would have the more difficult task of having to play Lothlorien.

The stadium was loud and the tension was thick before kick-off. Faramir, Imrahil, Eowyn they were well aware they had not played up to form, but they have also faced the evil of the Witch-King before and had succeeded. So, perhaps a bloody and ancient rivalry was enough to awaken their team to a greater effort. There was actually more Rohirrim in the stands than Minas Tirithians, not only because the Rohirrim greatly desired the defeat of Minas Morgul, but many of their own heroes such as Eomer, Eowyn, and Cirion were playing for Minas Tirith as well. But as we had seen in the first 2 rounds, Minas Morgul had been unleashed and travelled to Dunharrow. It was a great atmosphere for a game, as there were the Minas Morgul fans and then everyone else, rooting against them. There was no room to plead neutrality in this match.

Unfortunately, the players on the field did not like eachother either and their actions only seemed to rile the fans into acting on their violent thoughts. The game was an absolute blood bath as 2 players were each sent off and Gamling and Theoden's royal guard had their hands full securing the stadium. Many in the crowd had to be forcibly removed as there seemed to be a brawl in the stands that took place every 5 minutes. Minas Morgul griped that their fans were shown the exit far quicker and for less heinous acts than the Minas Tirith sections.

Thankfully, no one was killed, at least within the Dunharrow compound (MEFA is checking into the accounts of deaths outside the stadium and whether it was football related). But the numbers seemed to support the Minas Morgul argument as, of those who reported injuries: 24 were Minas Morgul fans, 28 were not. So, the number of injured were pretty even, but the number of ejections were not: 246 Minas Morgul fans were kicked out of the stadium, compared to 11 people supporting Minas Tirith.

But enough of the politics of crowd control, as there was still an important game that needed to be played and what a game it would be!

Eowyn opened the scoring for Minas Tirith in the 21st minute, she had been having a terrible performance, but was able to rise to the occassion today, in front of her home fans who still adored their Shieldmaiden.

However, the Witch-King seemed to take Eowyn scoring the goal, personally. He was not going to be out down by the Lady of Rohan again. So, in a combination of skill, power, and fear the Witch-King worked the ball nicely with the wannabe-King and Minas Morgul was equal. When the Witch-King shot it, he let out a terrible screech, the Minas Tirith defenders trying to clog up the box suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Cirion did his best to save it, but really he had no chance, not with the force the Witch-King had struck on that one.

Would giving up the equalizing goal so close to the end of the half demoralize Minas Tirith? As surrending late goals has a tendancy to do? For they had been playing well in this one, so far. There was still honor and strength out of the great fortress of Gondor, and were not playing at all like many of the pundits had anticipated.

And only 5 minutes into the 2nd, the pundits appeared right as Minas Tirith was becoming unhinged. Denethor II had been jawing with Castamir through out the game. Castamir had been heard taunting that he was surprised the see Denethor get his bum off the throne for once And Castamir had heard there was a beacon close by that Denethor could climb and light himself on after he took the throne of Gondor. Denethor shoved Castamir to the ground. Even if Denethor was provoked into the foul, the ref had no other choice, it was a yellow to Denethor. His second of the match, and Minas Tirith would now be a man short with nearly 40 minutes still left.

It did not take long for Minas Morgul to capitilize on the guile of Castamir. 7 minutes after Denethor had been sent off Herumor banged one in, off a beautiful pass from the King Dead. The mountains began to shake from the stomping, cheering, and celebrations of Minas Morgul. They had the 1-man advantage, and now a 1-goal lead, so it was only a matter of time before the pathetic Minas Tirithians would be crushed.

However, shortly after Minas Morgul took the lead, fortunes would begin to turn against them. When you are facing a hated enemy, you don't always think with the clearest head. Such was the case for the Witch-King who wanted to completely humiliate his opponents. It was costly, as the Witch-King pushed his full team forward, Faramir stepped in to intercept and quickly passed the ball on to Eomer. Eomer was all alone and racing straight on towards Earnur. Angamaite was behind and decided he had to stop Eomer by taking him out from the back. It was a yellow for Angamaite, his second, and now he was sent off.

It was now 10 on 10 and truthfully the ref could have sent off more, but there was still over 25 minutes to play and he appeared to just say no more. If the two teams wanted to leave the field, hobbled, bruised, and bloodied that was their choice, he wasn't going to turn this into a 7 on 7 game.

Even with the advantage gone, a 2-1 victory was not going to be good enough for the Witch-King. How could he return to Minas Morgul with honor, only barely beating his weakling enemies? So, he came at Minas Tirith with even more fury. His aggression would be his undoing as Cirion was stopping everything that came at him this time. And when Cirion saw the back line of Minas Morgul draw further up to attack, Cirion caught Beruthiel's shot, he passed it out wide to Imrahil. The Minas Morgul defenders all tried desperately to run back as Eomer, Tarondor, Eowyn, and Faramir were all breaking forward. They did manage to get back, but did not have time to get their defense set, and the confusion led to Tarondar knocking in the equalizer.

With 15 minutes left in the match, the Witch-King finally appeared to wisen up, and suck up his pride. As a draw might not be the most desired result, if he were to actually lose to Minas Tirith and put their playoff chance at risk, he would never be able to return to Minas Morgul with honor (if there is such a thing as honor in Mordor?)

Minas Tirith had really nothing to lose and were going straight up for the win, which greatly pleased the crowd. The final 15 was filled with tension, excitement, and watching Minas Morgul truly be on the ropes desperately trying to hold on to the 1 point. However, there would be no winning goal, as unlike other GKs, Earnur has appeared to step up his game after his poor friendlies. Minas Morgul barely hung on, but they did and for the time being were sitting in 2nd with 4 pts, while Dunharrow was at 3, and Minas Tirith would be going home.

*~*~*

Minas Tirith did manage to come away with a point, and against Minas Morgul which should appease their fanbase somewhat. But if the reaction of the Minas Tirith fans after the game was indicative of the headlines in tomorrow's papers back in Gondor, then Minas Tirith was facing a PR nightmare.

Hurin of the Keys: I had been given leave from my gate duties so I could come and watch the games here. Being the Warden of Keys is pretty boring since there's been a declaration of peace, but I gotta tell you, I should have just stayed at the gate if I knew I'd be forced to watch this disaster. Yeah, we managed to draw in the last one, but big deal. Where are the great ship kings, Falastur and Hyarmendacil? Where is the faithful Steward, Mardil? Or our greatest generals, Earnil and the Boromir's? They're all playing for other teams, and it sickens me to see the leaders of this team apparently not even try to go after them, or keep them here. Their names our legendary, and can't get behind this team until I start seeing some of these names playing again for the White Tree and towered-City.

Minas Morgul 2-2 Minas Tirith
tot shots 17-14
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*21, 0-1 Eowyn (Imrahil)
*42, 1-1 Witch King (Castamir)
*58, 2-1 Herumor (King Dead)
*75, 2-2 Tarondar (Eomer)
YELLOW CARDS:
*MMorgul- Beruthiel, Angamaite, Castamir, Fuinur, Nazgul #3
*MTirith- Denethor II, Eomer, Beregond, Grimbold, Firefoot
RED CARDS:
*MMorgul- Angamaite (63, second yellow)
*MTirith- Denethor II (51, second yellow)

Match 6 - Dunharrow vs Lothlorien
After the violence displayed in the earlier game, it was a completely opposite atmosphere for the 2nd. The Lothlorien supporters were greatly outnumbered in the stands, but with no known quarrels, the Rohirrim respected them. And were also pleased to host a team with Feanor, they had not seen a star of Feanor's skill in Rohan before. Likewise, Lothlorien appreciated their hosts. There was a certain gritiness to Dunharrow that people just loved to see in a team. Clearly, not the most talented players, but they would play you fair and straight up, a worthy opponent to be up against.

There was so much kindness and love-mongering the couple thousand Minas Morgul fans who stayed to watch as this game would mean something in Minas Morgul's fate actually wound up leaving before first kick. "It's nauseating" grumbled Gorthakh. "It wouldn't surprise me if Lothlorien allowed Dunharrow to win 1-0, just to keep our team out."

Minas Morgul was not surprised then, when at the start, Dunharrow was the team pressuring and Lothlorien was more or less just letting them have the ball. "See I told you!" snarled Shaktor, another Minas Morgul supporter who then promptly got up and left.

Despite letting Dunharrow hold on to possession, they were having a terrible time trying to create good chances. Gandalf was a true wizard back in the defense and Shadowfax was tireless. Most of Dunharrow's shots to begin the game had went sailing harmlessly off target, and no trouble to Galadriel.

Around the 20 minute mark, Dunharrow was not used to keeping up offensive pressure for long, Helm and the attacking mid-fielders were showing signs of slowing down. Then Lothlorien had actually started to build their own attacks. It was rather surprising, since Galadriel is known for being stubbornly defensive minded and only looking for counters. But now they were taking control of possession, holding the ball and forming an actual, consistent offense, led by Feanor. And in the 33rd minute, Legolas is not known for his long-distance precision for no reason. There was an open shooting lane , and Aldor wasn't in the best of position having his view blocked by the tall Boromir. It still took a lot of skill and accuracy for Legolas to squeeze it through the tight crowd and keep the ball down just enough to sneak it under the top cross bar.

The Rohirrim were silent, Lothlorien was in no interest to hand the game to them, so how were they going to manage 2 goals when they were playing wise? The Minas Morgul fans, who were now all at the local watering holes were pleasantly surprised. Maybe Galadriel and Lothlorien were not as bad as they thought? And they were always awed by Feanor's skill, who's Hithlum team played theirs a few Arda cups ago.

The 2nd half whistle blew, and Dunharrow again tried pushing for a goal, but the Lothlorien defense was having none of it today. They were completely shutting down Dunharrow. In like a virtual replay of the 1st period, Lothlorien began getting more control of the possession.

In the 72nd minute, they were awarded a corner kick, and what was this, Gimli was taking it? But he's a defensive mid-fielder and is never involved in the offense? And Celeborn too!? Was Lothlorien just trying to show off now or something? With far better success than anyone anticipated, Gimli sent in a beautiful cross from the corner that Celeborn headed in, giving Lothlorien a 2 goal lead now.

And after that goal the game really slowed down as when Lothlorien had the ball they just kicked it around, winding down the time. If Dunharrow had it, they were still making an effort, but nothing. Without the motivation, you weren't going to beat Gandalf's masterful defense nor Galadriel's determination.

Before heading into the showers (since Galadriel always waited for all the males to be done first anyway) she stayed on the field to comment about the game.

Galadriel: We decided now was a good time to try a few different things, to see if we could execute. Making it out of the group stage is one thing, but advancing deep into the playoffs is a completely different challenge. Feanor has been there before and it would be unwise for us to not listen to his experience. I thought now would be a good opportunity to try out his ideas on a possession game and building a controlled offense, in a real game situation.

What about the corner-kick taken by Gimli, will we see more of that later?

Galadriel: Most likely not, that was just for fun if we could afford it. My husband was a striker last year, and has always had some creative offensive ideas. I thought we could use him better in defense this year, but to let him go up for that play if he wanted to. Gimli is an excellent defender, and that means he also has a powerful boot. I admit I was surprised that he delivered that good of a corner, but I doubt I'll use him again in those situations for the playoffs.

Galadriel listening to Feanor and talking about her players having 'fun?' Is this the real Galadriel and if they were playing as relaxed and confident as they have through the group stages, opponents beware, they are serious contenders for the trophy.

*~*~*

Unlike some other teams who had to take a journey home, the Dunharrow team, as the hosts, really could not run and hide. They needed to stay home and face the questions over their elimination from the local media.

Theoden: Listen. "Our fate was in our hands in the final match of the group. We were just up against a better team, and it's really that simple."

Aldor: "There's a lot of positives to take from this team, but in order to compete and get better we need to bring back some old names. Honestly. There is absolutely no reason Eorl should not be with us, and the great mearas for that matter too. We were at our most competitive with them on the defense and Eorl leading the attack."

Theoden: "Aldor's right. It seems to me that Eorl needs to be reminded, while he made an oath to ride to Gondor's aid whenever he was called upon, that this oath is non-binding in football. He needs to return and play for his people."

Dunharrow 0-2 Lothlorien
tot shots 15-14
on target 4-8
GOALS:
*33, 0-1 Legolas (Feanor)
*72, 0-2 Celeborn (Gimli)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Dunharrow- Snowmane, Folca
*Lothlorien- Shadowfax

Final Results: Group H
Lothlorien 9p. 7-1(+6)
Minas Morgul 4p. 5-5(0)

Dunharrow 3p. 3-5(-2)
Minas Tirith 1p. 3-7(-4)

Lothlorien will go to their enchanted forest to play Tirion. Minas Morgul will take the long journey to Doriath.

[Nogrod]

Group G


Before the final games at Valmar it was clear that Valinor was through to the knock-out phase and Gondolin’s story would end this year into the group-play. But Beleriand and Pelori were still contending for the other qualifying post – and actually, if Pelori would win Valinor they would claim the number one seat of the group and avoid meeting Doriath on the second round of qualifiers although then most probably forced to meet Westernesse on the next. Most pros agreed the position on the upper quarter was the tougher one for Group G, but it was not an uncontested belief. Be that as it may, it’s obvious there are no easy games reaching final four, or even eight, and winning the championship would require the team to win every game after the group-rounds.


~*~


Many Gondolian players and supporters had shown openly their dismay over the Nogrodian-issue and voiced their support to both the players and fans of team Beleriand, but that didn’t seem to affect their willingness to play against them seriously, even if they had no chance of qualifying themselves. But looking at the poor performance of team Gondolin this year it is understandable they didn’t want to return home with only lost games under their belt and be compared to teams like Shire-Bree Utd. or Mithrim.

And they played a very entertaining and even game – rekindling the discussion some media had entertained before the group-phase of whether this group was just too strong compared to many others and whether they both would had qualified in other groups – leading to the discussion about Manwë’s role once again pulling the strings behind the curtains to his whims. Whatever the case, both teams showed a lot of talent and fighting spirit – and with the fate of the second qualifier at stake the audiences were given a treat indeed.

Gondolin went into the lead on 24th minute when Salgant’s big shot hit the woodworks and Turgon shoved the rebound in from close range. But Beleriand equalized before the half-time with Aegnor’s great run on the flank and crossing that found Belegund’s head from between the Gondolian defenders.

The second half was no less exciting as both teams fought seriously for the win. Due to the differences in strategies Gondolin seemed to have more of the possession and it actually created a few more quality-shots, but Beleriand was always dangerous when it got the ball and had it’s fair share of scoring-chances.

But after some few nice opportunities on both sides of the pitch it was Gondolin who took the lead again with Egalmoth scoring his first goal of the tournament from an ingenious single-performance by Idril who had been getting warmer game by game – but to both it applied they had performed well under the level that had been anticipated from them.

Getting the lead again half an hour before the end Gondolin dropped back a bit flexibly strengthening the defenses on the cost of their attacking power. With some more room to breathe in the midfield Beleriand went for it with all they dared. Even if they were forced to meet a few really frightening counter-attacking by Gondolin, the tactics eventually paid off and a fair ten minutes before the final whistle the game was even once again. After a strong pressure around Gondolin’s box Nellas finally found a gap from between the defenders and Marach made a rightly timed run for it while Nellas, who was very much used to work with men, delivered. And Marach scored with a kingly shot the leader of men should.

Beleriand was deliberately after one more goal the last ten minutes, but Gondolin heightened their defenses and started pressing the Beleriand forwards and midfielders again shutting them off from any decent scoring-positions while making quick counter-attacks in hopes of scoring themselves, but also for keeping the Beleriand defenses on full alert.


The game ended a draw. It was a disappointment to Gondolin, but to Belerianders it was a huge disappointment. Somehow they had believed in their qualification all the time. Forcing Pelori to a draw had really heightened their spirits and even if they were hard-pressed also in this game they still thought they had what it takes to qualify from this tough a group. But it was no to them this time.

The feelings were quite mixed in the post-game press-conference where the representatives of both teams were questioned by the media. Marach was adamant about the talent and skills of his team and actually blamed both the AFA- and hosting-organisations. “We would have qualified in almost any other group. And we will be demanding a public inquiry into what happened with those dwarves coming innocently to support our team. That you can understand has stressed the players as we haven’t been able to get rid of the feeling the local authorities have something against us – or at least something against us having a fair chance in the competition.”

When asked whether he had nothing to blame himself for, he first denied there being anything, but after some pressing he was willing to admit they could try to get into the recruiting business earlier the next year to get a bit more of the huge Beleriand talent brought into their team as well.

When asked about the dwarves he had this to say: “Well, they are naturally upset and feel wronged, almost attacked upon personally, and they will not leave these lands with any warm memories. And they are determined the case should be studied and those responsible punished, how high that chain of wrongdoers might go. But I’m afraid you’re not going to see Telchar and Gamil Zirak representing team Beleriand the next year as they seem to be having something on the works they’re not willing to disclose of quite yet. But I don’t know anything more about it.”

Turgon on the other hand seemed much less self-confident, and at times he looked more like confused facing the critical questions.

The AKM: “It seems that not only many fans of Gondolin but even some of the players are asking whether they backed the wrong house this year. Many seem to be yarning back to Maeglin and Aredhel to lead the team. What is your take on these views?”

Turgon: “Well… well, I can’t know what other people think or be responsible for them… That might be the view of some, but you must ask them.”

Gondolin Evening Standard: “Are you going to cling on the captaincy or are you ready to give up on your own initiative?”

Turgon: “Deals are always affairs between two sides and I think it is premature to jump into any conclusions now… but, erm… well I can see such a future where I’d need to reconsider my place in the tournament.”

Beleriand 2-2 Gondolin
tot shots 13-14
on target 5-7
GOALS:
*24, 0-1 Turgon (Salgant)
*40, 1-1 Belegund (Aegnor)
*60, 1-2 Egalmoth (Idril)
*77, 2-2 Marach (Nellas)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Beleriand- Telchar, Daeron, Angrod
*Gondolin- Meleth, Salgant, Thorondor



With the afternoon game ending as a draw both Valinorian teams were through to the knock-out phase. That in turn focused the dynamics of the late game into the battle-out between Manwë and Tulkas; the battle between conservative defensive football vs. a more flaring, attacking style of the game. Some commentators even talked about the stakes been a lot higher this way than they would have been if it had been “only” a question of qualifying.

Everyone knows the Valier have and have had some disagreements between them, but through history they have always been quite good in handling the media hiding most inner rifts away from the public. And you all have probably heard those rumors about the compilers of Valaquenta sentenced to solitary confinement at some remote location to the farthest west of the West – or even to the abyss by some rumors. But here the rift was open and public. Tulkas had challenged Manwë stealing part of his team with him and openly announcing he’d play different, and he’d play better; not contending himself to play one goal wins deliberatively as to keep things calm and friendly. And now with nothing else to play for the game was clearly reduced (or elevated, actually) to a contest between the superpowers and their different ideologies – on a Valar scale, like it was no row over different views of say Gondorians and Rohanians, or the orcs of Orthanc vs. the orc of Sauron.

And what a classic the audiences witnessed in Valmar that evening! If you have a frend who says he doesn’t understand why football is such a great sport by some people, get the official dvd/Blue Ray from the AFA-licenced dealer nearest to you and show him this game. If your friend doesn’t become a football fan the AFA will be returning half of the purchase price to you!

Now the game would have been great just because of the highest possible quality of the players on the field (resulting in some most dashing individual & team performances seen in this year’s tournament) and the stakes the teams were playing (which could be sensed in the field with both teams playing every situation to the end with stamina – but also as the unceasing attentiveness and nervousness of the crowds creating the athmophere to the game). But it had yet another facet that originated from purely tactical issues, but which really set this game alight. And that was, that both of the teams wanted to possess the ball, to have it with their team, to build up great combination-attacks with chains of quick passing. And they normally had it their way as they normally dominated the field with their individual skills and tactical wisdom many other teams lacked. But now they had more or less an equal opponent who was not ready to give in an inch. “The ball was fought over more fiercely than the Silmarils in the past” – like Hunter U. Nogson put it in his tweet.

But there was also a tactical difference between the teams – which actually did a lot to affect the outcome of the game. Pelori plays a defensive and conservative game which means they have the philosophy of “defense first” – and thus attack rather with longer preparation and longer chains of passing taking care always they have their back secured if they happen to lose the ball at some stage of the build-up. Valinor on the on the other hand plays balanced game where they do not wish to either send everyone up or pull everyone down, but want to maintain a balanced spread of players throughout the field at all times – which enables them to do some flashingly fast turn-overs sending the ball from their own box to the opponent’s box with three or four mid-ranged passes in a question of seconds in the best situation – or to exert a really tiring pressure to the opponent’s build-up being spread evenly on all areas of the pitch and thus giving the opponent no free-rides while they advance.

But yes, the game itself. As many had anticipated, team Valinor came into the game with furious energy while Pelori played more coolly – which didn’t mean they played it sloppily or passively, had they done either, Valinor would have scored immediately. But with tough defensing they managed to suffocate the Valinor attacks time by time again. Then again, when Pelori gained the control of the ball the Valinor-players were immediately on them and Pelori’s slow build-ups were challenged left and right all over the field until the ball was stolen and Valinor went for it with 110% energy again only to bang their heads on the toughest defense.

That is the basic view of half one. Which gives one just a rough outline of the overall dynamics of the half. But what performances! What fighting! Nerdanel and Miriel threatened the Pelori defenses a few times slipping off the pressure – but one time it was Manwë who stretched to a fabulous save, another time it was the post (which didn’t stretch) that denied them a goal. Arien’s free-kick from 20 meters went just a few inches wide in a situation where Manwë was clearly late, while Yavanna’s genius high-shot over Manwë, who had come a bit too long way forwards from his goal when Namo lost the ball, landed on the roof of the goal.

But Pelori had their chances as well. Quite early on the game Pelori were building a pressure when Lórien seduced both Tulkas and Vairë to him and fooled them with the last second pass to Eönwë – who missed the goal just barely left to shoot from a totally open place. Varda forced Ingwë to a few spectacular saves on the first half from some neat build-ups of the whole offense of Pelori – the last one of them Ingwë managed to tip away with his fingertips just barely as the ball hit the post then and went over the line.

The following corner-kick produced the first goal of the match. Eönwë gave the corner sending the ball into the crowded center in front of the goal. Indis got her head on it and headed it forwards… but it landed straight on Nienna’s feet 25 meters from the goal. The rush in front of the goal got out of order for a moment, the defenders looking for the nearest target they should tie down as Pelori attackers were trying to relocate - and Nienna looked like she was going to return the ball back into the front of the goal for a header. But she didn’t. Instead, Oromë made a run away from the goal and towards Nienna who saw his sudden move and passed the ball towards him – and Oromë performed a wonderful turn-around kick from full speed getting both the defenses and Ingwë by surprise. It happened like in two seconds of which on the latter second the defenses realized what was happening but by then they had no time to react. And the shot was perfect; to the upper left corner of the goal far out of reach for Ingwë. Just four minutes before the half-time Pelori had taken the lead!

The second half began with more or less the same. Oftentimes when football commentators write this sentence they actually mean “it was soo boring the second half as well”. But not this time! It was exactly the similar kind of action packed, beautiful, hair-raising, talented, tough… you name your superlatives-game like the first half.

But the tactical imbalance between the teams some keenest eyes might have noticed on the first half started to show more openly on the second half. So while Pelori had everyone defending when Valinor was attacking – even Eönwë and Varda were seen tackling the opponents deep down in their half of the pitch – Tulkas kept on with his balanced spread of players. And that lead to nasty situations the few times when Valinor was not able to break the Pelori passing-game as then the defenses were easily outnumbered as Nerdanel, Miriel and Arien were especially told not to run to the help of them – and even Yavanna and Olwë were strongly discouraged by Tulkas to meddle in the affairs lower their places in the field. And from one just this kind of situation Pelori made it 2-0.

With some quick passing from about 30 meters to the box Pelori managed to create a 4 against 3 situation. Oromë and Ilmarë took with them a defender each (Tulkas was especially following Oromë after his goal and Ilmarë made a fake diagonal run forcing Vairë to trail him) thus leaving Eönwë and Varda together against Indis – and Lórien played the ball fast to the two who with a few touches got behind her. Varda served and Eönwë hammered the ball in from a few yards right of the penalty spot leaving Ingwë no chance.

That was so unexpectable! Pelori was leading 2-0 less than half an hour to go! The crowds had seen an even game, they had seen Pelori going 1-0, they had seen all that had happened on the second half… but if you had asked a random spectator, who would score next, 70% would have said Valinor. But was not what happened.

Anyway, Valinor started a unforeseen fight back. They had almost half an hour – and they went for it with all they had. There were only few major attacks built up carefully by Pelori during the rest of the game. Valinor players were just all over the place cutting any lines of passing from the Pelori if Manwë’s team managed to steal the ball for a moment – and getting the ball back to the team Valinor, in a wink of an eye they were on full attack again. But the Pelori defense was tougher the crowds had ever seen.

Many football aficionados use the term “Manwë’s defense”. It means a defense so thick and tough the opponent has no way of getting through. Now this had to be “Manwë’s defense 2.0”. For had there been any lesser team against Valinor that last half an hour Valinor could have scored ten goals or something. Nerdanel, Miriel and Arien were showing both their skills and dedication to the fullest with stupendous tricks with all the heel-passes, dribbles, fake-runs turning into real runs, switching of places… you call it. And Yavanna, Estë and Nessa were giving the defenses hard times as well.

If someone hadn’t noticed it yet, Tulkas’ team was a real female powerhouse! Especially in this game where Ingwë had allowed two goals (even if the execution of the shots had been of master-level), Tulkas and Vairë had not been able to shut out the Pelori offence everytime and Olwë had been quite invisible. But the ladies really made a show of the last half an hour.

And they scored on 79th minute. The goal had been “hanging in the air” for quite a time, but a fair ten minutes before the final whistle Arien, Miriel and Nerdanel found the right footmarks sawing the Pelori defense into pieces. In all fairness one would call for the rule a goal could have two passers put on record in football like in ice-hockey – but it’s such a conservative sports any such idea will take a thousand years to become reality – like video-checking or anything.

This time it was Arien who was left with no mark on her statistics even if she was an integral part of the goal both building up the situation in the first place and then on the decisive moment drawing both Nienna and Námo on her and passing the ball to the two others. That doesn’t mean Nerdanel’s trick freeing herself from Gwaihir wasn’t spectacular, or that Miriel’s shot when hard pressed by Nahar wasn’t pure genius; not the least as coming from between the legs of the mighty horse Manwë had no chance to see it coming and was totally out of the whole situation.

The last ten minutes were just the greatest thriller one could buy a ticket for. Valinor were pressing even harder for an equalizer and Pelori gathered all their players under the ball. Some even claim they saw Manwë having sweat-drops on his forehead which for a goalie were not so much from the physical exercise but the mental tension.

But Valinor ran out of time. They had two decent opportunities to score in the last ten minutes, but on the first one Gwaihir managed to divert the freeing pass by Nerdanel with the tip of his wing at the last moment and on another Arien dived just a few inches short of a pass from the flank by Yavanna.

Pelori won the game and the group. Manwë was smiling calmly but not too cordially not to outrage his brother any more. Tulkas was clearly enraged but held himself under control with all the brothers and sisters and Maiar and high-elves around.

But Manwë did approach his brother pulling off his Pelori jersey while he came closer, and offered his shirt to him willing to exchange it to his shirt, like the traditional football gesture goes showing the player who suggests the change appreciates you or holds you in a high esteem, or stresses your friendship over a heated game. In front of the tens of thousands Tulkas had no chance but to accept the offer and he pulled off his shirt as well and gave it to Manwë. The crowds cheered with the gesture of fairness and friendship, but it was clear that to Manwë Tulkas’ shirt would be a trophy of his victory over the brother who tried to rebel, but for Tulkas it would be a bitter reminder of his brother beating him. No surprise Tulkas didn’t pull Manwë’s shirt on him – and Manwë didn’t want to provoke him anymore and also left the stadium his torso naked only hanging Tulkas’ shirt in his arm.

A small incident was though recorded by the media when the teams walked out of the field and into the locker-rooms. For Nessa and Oromë chanced to come walking side by side. Then Oromë had looked at his sister with a smirk and asked: “Wasn’t your mighty husband of the opinion that one goal wins are boring?”

After that the accounts spread and no one knows for sure how it continued as they went into the tunnel leading into the lockers right there, but some media report that Nessa had hit her brother, while some others say she just ignored him; but there is also the story that Nessa had been quite upset calling her brother a traitor, and that had he just answered the call of Tulkas, things would be a lot better.


Tulkas never appeared to the after-game press-conference, but Manwë did, even he was sparing his words. Actually he only wished to make a statement. It was short, and went like this:

Manwë: “I’m not going to answer any questions tonight. But I will make a statement. I know there has been a lot of controversy over this group in general and there will be some of this game in particular. Now you are free to think about both of them as you like. It’s not our duty to be your thought-police. But we – and here I mean myself and the honourable defender of my squad, Mandos, Namo to some, – are the ones to interpret Eru’s vision and we are in charge of executing it. It is a heavy duty and it might go sometimes against what we would will ourselves, and we do feel burdened obeying the vision. But that’s what we have to do. I know this will not answer directly to the two questions you wish to ask from me, but to those of you wise enough, you’ll see I have come clean with it. Now thank you all for your interest, but this is it this time.”

Pelori 2-1 Valinor
tot shots 14-16
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*41, 1-0 Orome (Nienna)
*63, 2-0 Eonwe (Varda)
*79, 2-1 Miriel (Nerdanel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Pelori- Gwaihir, Nahar
*Valinor- Yavanna, Indis


Final results, Group G

Pelori 7p. 5-3(+2)
Valinor 6p. 7-4(+3)

Beleriand 2p. 4-6(-2)
Gondolin 1p. 4-7(-3)

Pelori will face the runners up from Group B and Valinor will meet the winners of group B.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Standings:



(1) secured first seed
(2) secured second seed
(x) eliminated

Bracket:



Power Ranking:



(Teams in bold are group leaders; teams in italics are eliminated.)

Greatest gain:

• +9 The Forest
• +7 Anduin
• +3 Barad-dûr, Hithlum
• +2 Tol Eressëa, Beleriand

Greatest loss:

• -9 Mordor
• -7 Númenor
• -5 Dunharrow
• -3 Gondor, Shire-Bree Utd

The Power Ranking is based on the aggregate of offensive and defensive ranking--the lower the aggregate, the higher the rank. Ties are broken by a) win-draw-loss-record; b) goal differential; and c) goals scored.

The offensive ranking is based on the goals scored by the teams throughout the matches. Ties are broken by a) greater number of shots made on target; b) greater number of shots made; and c) lowest aggregate of defensive ranking of the other three teams in the group.

The defensive ranking is based on the goals allowed by the teams throughout the matches. Ties are broken by a) least number of shots allowed on target; b) least amount of shots allowed; and c) lowest aggregate of offensive ranking of the other three teams in the group.

Phantasy Numbers:
(Players in italics are from eliminated teams.)

GOALS + ASSISTS
4+2
Túrin (Doriath)

4+0
Ancalagon (Angband)
Hador (Hithlum)

3+2
Bombadil (The Forest)

3+1
Gothmog (Anfauglith)
Legolas (Lothlórien)

3+0
Arien (Valinor)
Húrin (Doriath)
Scatha (Wliderland)
Glaurung (Nargothrond)

2+4
Maeglin (Anfauglith)

2+3
Curufin (Hithlum)
Glorfindel (Eregion)

2+2
Maedhros (Himring)
Thuringwethil (Angband)
Elros (Westernesse)
Celegorm (Hithlum)
Léod (Dunharrow)

1+3
Beleg (Doriath)
Sauron (Wilderland)
Fëanor (Lothlórien)

GOALKEEPER - SAVES
18 saves
1. Elrond (Eregion) 18/19 - 94.7%

16 saves
2. Ohtar (Barad-dûr) 16/21 - 76.2%
3. Aldor (Dunharrow) 16/21 - 76.2%

14 saves
4. Fram (Anduin) 14/18 - 77.8%
5. Orodreth (Tirion) 14/21 - 66.7%
6. Imlach (Hithlum) 14/24 - 58.3%

GOALKEEPER - SAVE %

1. Tar-Atanamir (Westernesse) 9/9 - 100.0%
2. Elrond (Eregion) 18/19 - 94.7%
3. Huan (Doriath) 11/12 - 91.7%
4. Galadriel (Lothlórien) 10/11 - 90.9%
5. ShastaWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth) 8/9 - 88.9%
6. Grimbeorn (Wilderland) 9/11 - 81.8%
7. Amandil (Tol Eressëa) 9/11 - 81.8%

YELLOW CARDS
3 yellow cards
Amrod (Himring)
Orophin (Anduin)
Balrog #4 (Anfauglith)
Alien (The Downer)
Castamir (Minas Morgul)
Angamaitë (Minas Morgul)
Denethor II (Minas Tirith)

[Boromir88]

OCTOFINALS - PREDICTIONS
BoroLXXXVIII, Two Towers Network

Round 3 saw somewhat of a drop off in accuracy from Round 2, but still feeling pretty good. Especially since my phantasy team picked up the sluggish start, and now with the playoffs starting, another comeback in the mix? I think so.

In a battle of journalistic integrity verses fanaticism, I must say that the Felagundian has it slightly better as far as their favorite teams remaining and the chances of those teams. The mood within the Two Tower's Broadcast is pretty depressed from the pathetic showing of their teams. Minas Tirith and Gondor were garbage and their players looked lifeless. Minas Morgul and Barad-dur managed to sneak in, but they're about to get blown out of the playoffs by the Doriath and Tol In Gaurhoth machines. Not looking sunny for The Two Towers Network of teams this year, that's for sure.

Still, there's a job to be done and since I have no choice but to be fair and objective, no one wants to miss this...

(For easy reading, after rating all the teams in offense, defense, and goal keeping, the team next to the category is the one we feel has the advantage in the match. So, Match 1, Doriath has the advantage in all 3. And "even" means we could not find any significant advantage/disadvantage between the teams matched up.

Match 1 - Minas Morgul at Doriath

OFF: Doriath

DEF: Doriath

GK: Doriath

Prediction: You get the picture right? Minas Morgul fans will travel to Dunharrow, but they won't make the trip all the way to Doriath just to see them get creamed. In every aspect of the game Doriath is furlongs ahead of the Tower of Sorcery, and there will be a huge home crowd advantage in Melian and Thingol's realm. 3-0 Doriath

Match 2 - Valinor at Wilderland

OFF: Even

DEF: Wilderland

GK: Wilderland

Prediction: It seems as if Wilderland will have the edge here, just based on the numbers (and they're staying at home). However, I think it wise to take into account the relative difficulty of the groups. Valinor was in a First Age loaded group, and also another Valar team, while Wilderland was in an all Third Age group and they had some bit of difficulty with it. Wilderland's only confident win was against Esgaroth, and everyone knows how low life that team was this year. Anduin and Misty Mts gave them some fits, which doesn't spell success against an angered Valinor team. It'll be a high scoring affair, and probably one of the better matches in this round. 3-2 Valinor

Match 3 - Tol Eressea at Angband

OFF: Angband

DEF: Tol Eressea

GK: Even

Prediction: Tol Eressea's got a stingy defense, but they're going to try to hold out indefinitely against Morgoth. And as Morgoth usually does, he'll just wear you down then knock you out in a swift stroke. Tol Eressea's attack will do absolutely nothing against Angband's defense. Amandil's given up 2 goals, Ungoliant 4 and that may be seen as a significant difference. But Amandil is protected more by Ulmo's defense, and Ungoliant had to face some of the tournaments deadliest boots in the group stage (Gothmog and Maeglin on Angfauglith. Hador, Curufin and Celegorm on Hithlum). If you think Ungoliant's going to be scared of Uinen, Elwing, and Earwen, think again. Angband wins 2-0

Match 4 - The Forest at Eregion

OFF: Eregion

DEF: Eregion

GK: Eregion

Prediction: Another one on paper that looks one-sided towards Eregion. Elrond is not known for a high-powered offense, but fact of the matter is they scored 7 goals compared to The Forest's 6. And I don't need to get into how much better defensively Eregion is, or how dominant Elrond is (the outright phantasy points leader so far. He's got 22 and this is simply unheard of that GK is leading in points!) Still, Elrond's teams have underperformed in the playoffs in the past, and you never know what magic Bombadil can conjure up. If anyone can put 2 goals passed Elrond, Bombadil can. Too bad that won't happen here. 2-0 Eregion

Match 5 - Barad Dur at Tol In Gaurhoth

OFF: TIG

DEF: TIG

GK: TIG

Prediction: This will be another massacre like Match 1. Barad-Dur's in here by luck and struggled to just make it out of a weak group. TIG's group wasn't particularly stronger, but they dominated it, plain and simple. 4-1 TIG

Match 6 - Angfauglith at Westernesse


OFF: Angfauglith

DEF: Westernesse

GK: Westernesse

Prediction: This is what we consider the marquee match of the round, it could easily be a championship battle. Westernesse will be favored, but we're going with Angfauglith and here's why. Angfauglith averaged 3 goals per game, in a group that had Angband. Westernesse hadn't surrendered a goal, but in case if you didn't notice no one in Group F could score (except Westerenesse). This will be Westernesse's and Tar Atanamir's first test of an offense with bite and fire too it, which is not good if you're defense is just getting it's first test at this stage. And Angfauglith's 6 goals given up is a bit mis leading. 1. They were in an offensively loaded group. 2. Fingolfin's defense only gave up 33 shots, and 14 on target, they're a nice defensive team. The problem was Huor's goal-tending, but in case you haven't seen Huor in the playoffs this guy won a championship last year, took Dor-Lomin to the quarter-finals the year before, and took Hithlum to 2nd place in '08 as a GK. Draw 2-2. Angfauglith wins shoot out 3-2

Match 7 - Misty Mts at Pelori

OFF: Even

DEF: Even

GK: Even

Prediction: Yup, this one is completely dead even. We've tried every single possible way to find an advantage somewhere, but there isn't one. Misty Mts 5 goals on 37 attempts. Pelori 5 goals on 38 attempts. Misty Mts gave up 3 goals on 36 attempts, Pelori conceded 3 goals on 34 attempts. Caradhras has a better save percentage than Manwe, but that's because he's had to save more shots. So, there may be a slight advantage there, but both GKs allowed in 3 goals, so we're not seeing any significant difference. The only advantage will be the match is being played in Valinor, and the Valar will likely be up to their usual tricks to give their team the biggest home advantage possible. This one goes into over time. 2-1 Pelori

Match 8 - Tirion at Lothlorien

OFF: Even

DEF: Lothlorien

GK: Lothlorien

Prediction: They scored the same amount of goals, on virtually the same chances. We'd give a slight edge to Tirion because they're more offensively oriented, but there's really no difference. The difference in the game is clearly the defense and goal keeping of Lothlorien is levels above Tirion's ability. Tirion may have been in a stronger group, but their defense leaks big time and Aule made a mistake replacing himself with Orodreth. It'll be interesting to see Feanor be reunited with his father, that'll be the main storyline going in. Coming out, it'll be Feanor has surpassed his father in skill. 2-1 Lothlorien

[Nogrod]

The performance of the qualified teams…



The effectiveness of scoring = percentage of (goals made / shots overall)

1. Doriath 22,4% (11/49)
2. Angband 20,9% (9/43)
3. Westernesse 19,5% (8/41)
4. Anfaughtlith 19,1% (9/47)
5. Eregion 18,9% (7/37)
6. Tol-In-Gaurhoth 18,8% (9/48)
7. Lothlórien 17,5% (7/40)
8. The Forest 16,7% (6/36)
9. Wilderland 16,3% (8/49)
10. Tirion 16,3% (7/43)
11. Minas Morgul 16,1% (5/31)
12. Valinor 14,9% (7/47)
13. Misty Mts. 13,5% (5/37)
14. Pelori 13,2% (5/38)
15. Tol Eressëa 11,5% (3/26)
16. Barad Dûr 11,1% (4/36)



The shooting activity = shots on goal (shots overall)

1. Doriath 28(49)
2. Wilderland 24(49)
3. Tol-In-Gaurhoth 24(48)
4. Anfaughlith 23(47)
5. Lothlórien 23(40)
6. Valinor 21(47)
7. Angband 21(43)
8. Tirion 21(43)
9. Westernesse 20(41)
10. Eregion 19(37)
11. Minas Morgul 19(31)
12. Pelori 17(38)
13. Misty Mts. 16(37)
14. The Forest 16(36)
15. Barad Dûr 16(36)
16. Tol Eressëa 12(26)



The tightness of the defense = shots on goal allowed (shots overall allowed)

1. Westernesse 9(23)
2. Tol-In-Gaurhoth 9(25)
3. Tol Eressëa 11(30)
3. Wilderland 11(30)
5. Lothlórien 11(32)
6. Doriath 12(36)
7. Pelori 13(34)
8. Anfaughlith 14(33)
9. Valinor 15(34)
10. Misty Mts. 16(36)
11. Minas Morgul 17(37)
12. Angband 17(39)
13. The Forest 18(41)
14. Eregion 19(40)
15. Barad Dûr 21(41)
16. Tirion 21(46)



Goalkeeping = saving percentage (goals allowed / shots on goal) + total shots saved

1. Tar Atanamir of Westernesse 100% (0/9) +9
2. Elrond of Eregion 94,7% (1/19) +18
3. Huan of Doriath 91,7% (1/12) +11
4. Galadriel of Lothlórien 90,9% (1/11) +10
5. Shastawolf of Tol-In-Gaurhoth 88,9% (1/9) +8
6. Amandil of Tol Eressëa 81,8% (2/11) +9
6. Grimbeorn of Wilderland 81,8% (2/11) +9
8. Caradhras of Misty Mts. 81,3% (3/16) +13
9. Manwë of Pelori 76,9% (3/13) +10
10. Ungoliant of Angband 76,5% (4/17) +13
11. Ohtar of Barad Dûr 76,2% (5/21) +16
12. Ingwë of Valinor 73,3% (4/15) +11
13. Eärnur of Minas Morgul 70,6% (5/17) +12
14. Orodreth of Tirion 66,7% (7/21) +14
15. Old Man Willow of The Forest 61,1% (7/18) +11
16. Huor of Anfaughlith 57,2% (6/14) +8

[Nogrod]

So the play-offs begin and the AKM will be right on the spot. We agree on many issues with TTN, but feel happy to disagree with a few as well. So here’s our take on the first round of knock-out matches.

The numbers after each team are:
points taken in the group phase
Goal difference (scored - allowed)
Scoring percentage (from total shots)
shots on goal / total shots
shots on goal allowed / total shots allowed
goalie's saving percentage



Minas Morgul at Doriath

Doriath 9 11-1 22,4% 28(49) – 12(36) 91,7%
Minas Morgul 4 5-5 16,1% 19(31) – 17(37) 70,6%

One can’t say group A was one of the toughest groups this year, but Doriath nevertheless dominated the group sovereignly. They have the most goals, most shots and the best scoring percentage of all the teams thus far in the tournament. To top that Huan is the third best goalie looking at the saving percentage and Doriath’s defence the sixth tightest. To be honest, right now they look one of the hottest teams around – and serious contenders for the Arda Cup this year. Minas Morgul on the other hand barely got themselves through group H which had Minas Tirith and Dunharrow in it! Looking at the stats Minas Morgul is clearly below the top ten, while Doriath is one of the strongest teams in the top three.

Doriath goes through.


Valinor at Wilderland

Wilderland 9 8-2 16,3% 24(49) –11(30) 81,8%
Valinor 6 7-4 14,9% 21(47) – 15(34) 73,3%

Here we agree with the TTN as well: the stats say WIlderland are the favourites, but Valinor will prevail. It looks like Sauron has played his cards the wrong way this year – and were the opponents anyone but a Valar-team we would have considered him having a chance. Not to talk that they will have an enraged Tulkas against them, and team Valinor’s slightly worse stats coming from a level or two tougher group. Let us make it more concrete: Wilderland won Anduin and Misty Mts. 2-1 while Valinor won Beleriand and Gondolin 3-1. It’s clear which team has played better. Also, the greatest difference between the teams in the stats comes from Wilderland beating the lousy Easgaroth 4-0 while in their third match Valinor was forced to bend to Pelori 1-2 after a huge game.

So we say bye-bye to the stats and say Valinor will qualify.


Tol Eressëa at Angband

Angband 7 9-4 20,9% 21(43) – 17(39) 76,5%
Tol Eressëa 6 3-2 11,5% 12(26) – 11(30) 81,8%

This will be much more heavily contested game than the two first ones. It looks like clear from the stats, but Tol Eressëa, like all Valinor-based teams, seem to be able to adjust their game and bring forth that extra gear when needed. TTN was quite up to the point asking whether Ungoliant would be afraid of Eärwen, Elwing or Uinen. But we must return the question: does anyone believe Ulmo with Ossë and Salmar will be afraid of Ancalagon, Thuringwethil or Tevildo? But even if it will be much tougher that the stats show, there are two things that make the scales lean on Angband’s favour: Tol Eressëa did lose to Westernesse quite straightforward 0-2 (so they can be beaten with a few goals) and the Moonman Tilion is a force that could unbalance even the Tol Eressëa defense – even if hasn’t been too flashing yet. (A wink here for the phantasy-players).

After a tough fight Angband will win.


The Forest at Eregion

Eregion 9 7-1 18,9% 19(37) – 19(40) 94,7%
The Forest 6 6-7 16,7% 16(36) – 18(41) 61,1%

Eregion look like the favourites in this one: Elrond is statswise clearly the toughest guy to beat at his goal in this tournament and Glorfindel is on fire, sharing the second place with Maeglin and Legolas on the phantasy-points (only two points behind the leaders Túrin and, well Elrond). But there is a greater but here the TTN allows there to be. And that is the extremely low quality of Group D – both on offense and on defense. So Eregion’s stats look far too good in comparison to their real level of play, and that means also Elrond’s spectacular saving’s percentage is based on a too light a testing thus far. And here we come to the issue TTN does acknowledge; if Bombadill is in the mood for it, The Forest will be scoring, and the question becomes how well do The Forest’s backlines work against Glorfindel, Eërendil and Elrond’s sons – and the defense has been the weakest part of The Forest thus far…

If Tom is serious about the game it will be o tough one, but Eregion has slightly better chances to win.


Barad Dûr at Tol-In-Gaurhoth

T-I-G 9 9-1 18,8% 24(48) – 9(25) 88,9%
Barad Dûr 4 4-5 11,1% 16(36) – 21(41) 76,2%

Gil Galad and Isildur made some bad decisions pre-tournament and are paying for them now. Without the lucky strike of being put into the shabby-group D they played in, they would have been left into the group-phase. It is clear they have no weapons to hold the hungry werewolves at bay. The werewolves score on a wide front and their defense is the second tightest thus far in the whole tournament – backed by Shastawolf with 88,9% savings. To be honest one has to say that T-I-G hasn’t met any really tough opposition yet, but Barad Dür should be a snack to them anyway.

T-I-G wins comfortably.


Anfaughlith at Westernesse

Westernesse 9 8-0 19,5% 20(41) –9(23) 100%
Anfaughlith 7 9-6 19,1% 23(47) – 14(33) 57,2%

We see where TTN is coming from calling this game for Anfaughlith, but we tend to disagree with them here a bit. It is true that group C was very much attack-oriented and group F was quite less so. Still we’d like to remind the readers that from the total of 9 shots on goal Tar Atanamir saved each and every one while from the 14 Huor faced he let in 6! Huor has been a steady achiever during the years but this year his game is totally lost: the saving percentage of 57,2% tells it all, it is the single worst from any team qualified (of all teams only Shire-Bree and Esgaroth had worse goalies). Now it is true Angaughlith has compensated that with a lot of shots and a lot of goals – but Westernesse has scored only one goal less in the three games and shot only three times less on goal (so one shot less in a game on average). As Anfaughlith’s defense isn’t the solidest rock this yuear it will mean Westernesse will shoot – and score. But Anfaughlith hasn’t met with as solid defense Westernesse has and it is questionable their scoring will continue at the same pace.

We still call this a close one, and agree with TTN that this will be one of the jewels of the round, but we’d bet it slightly more on Westernesse to get through from this.


Misty Mts. at Pelori

Pelori 7 5-3 13,2% 17(38) – 13(34) 76,9%
Misty Mts. 4 5-3 13,5% 16(37) – 16(36) 81,3%

We find it interesting TTN finds no difference between these teams and calls this an even game. We’d say there is a quality-difference of several classes here. Caradhras is a good, even if odd goalie and Durin’s Bane and Saruman with the trolls and goblins can threaten lesser souls, but we’re talking that team meeting Pelori led by Manwë himself. It seems TTN has totally disregarded the relative differences of the groups these two teams played in and the sovereignty of Manwë’s teams. So while Misty Mts. faced teams like Esgaroth and Anduin, Pelori faced Beleriand and Gondolin. And in the third match Misty Mts. lost to WIlderland while Pelori beat Valinor. So we see nothing unclear with this game…

Pelori wins (although here we agree with TTN, only with one goal, but not because it is a tight game, but because that’s the way Manwë likes to do it).


Tirion at Lothlórien

Lothlórien 9 7-1 17,5% 23(40) – 11(32) 90,9%
Tirion 4 7-7 16,3% 21(43) – 21(46) 66,7%

The case Fëanor is on everyone’s lips this year – like he is every year – but this time people are wondering about where he is. Only one goal and three passes in three games? It would be a lot to many a player but to Fëanor that is shockingly little. Happily for Lothlórien Legolas has taken the torch and scored while Fëanor has been in the shadows. Tirion has to throw in the trio Finwë, Finrod and Aredhel – and both teams seem to be as good on offence. The greatest difference seems to be in the defence where Lothlórien allows half the shots on goal than Tirion and Galadriel saves a third more of the shots Orodreth does. But then there is the famous “but”: Tirion’s group A had a lot more shooting and scoring talent than Lothlórien’s group H. But even that taken into account, it’s hard to see Lothlórien allowing too many goals, so it will up to Legolas – or possibly Fëanor waking up.

Lothlórien will win, not comfortably, but they will win.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

A1 Doriath vs H2 Minas Morgul

Minas Morgul's greatest achievement to date has been to score a goal against the famed defence of Galadriel, but they still lost that match 2-1. Now they're up against a defence just as unyielding (only 1 goal and 36 shots against (12 on target) in 3 games), but with a whole other level of offence (11 goals and 49 attempts (28 on target) in three games). The Tower of Sorcery will be hardly a road bump in the map drawn by Melian to the finals.

Doriath 4:0 Minas Morgul

B1 Wilderland vs G2 Valinor

Perhaps Sauron was considering himself lucky to have avoided running into the famed Mountains of Defence in their first playoff match, but in exchange they face a red-hot Valinor--which has, however, cooled a little in their last group stage match. This shall be a battle of fire-power against fire-power (no pun intended), two dragons and an offensive maestro on one side, and three of the best strikers in the game on the other. Wilderland's defence look better than Valinor's at first glance (2 goals against and 30 shots allowed (11 on target) in three games), but they have yet to face a team of Valinor's calibre, who plays a balanced possession game similar to them, and with the midfield skill to contest the ball from them, which means Valinor would take more shots against Grimbeorn than he has been accustomed to in the group stage, and Wilderland would have lesser scoring chances against Valinor than they have had so far.

Wilderland 2:3 Valinor

C1 Angband vs F2 Tol Eressea

Morgoth's defence looks worse than Ulmo's at first glance (4 goals against and 39 shots allowed (17 on target) in Angband's three games vs 2 goals against and 30 shots allowed (11 on target) in Tol Eressëa's three games), but one needs to remember that Angband came from a group of offensive powerhouses (29 goals scored in six games by Group C, the most goals as a group by a margin of 5), whereas Tol Eressëa has faced teams that lacked scoring prowess (14 goals scored in six games for Group F, the least by a margin of 4) save for Westernesse, who scored over half (8) of the group's total goals. Plus, Ungoliant was a top-tier goalkeeper from last year, and maintained a decent save rate (13/17 - 76.5%) even in the face of such offensive ferocity. Now a comparison of their defences look much more even, but a comparison of their offences is just overwhelmingly in Angband's favour--9 goals and 43 shots (21 on target) in three games for Angband, compared to 3 and 26 (12) for Tol Eressëa. One can use a similar argument as before, that Angband faced looser defences whereas Tol Eressëa had to face quality defences in Númenor and Westernesse. But Angband managing to score two goals against the Anfauglith backline (with last year's champion keeper Huor manning the goals) cannot be discounted, and Tol Eressëa dreadful shooting in the friendlies (1 goal and 34 shots (16 on target) in four games) should be remembered.

Angband 2:0 Tol Eressea

D1 Eregion vs E2 The Forest

This contest could be seen as one between Elrond and Tom Bombadil. If motivated, the star striker of The Forest could break through even the legendary defences of Eregion. If not, then Elrond's skill would be sufficient to turn away everything The Forest could throw at him. Eärendil has shown signs of life (2 goals in the last match), and Glorfindel remains a key contributor to the Eregion attack (2 goals and 3 assists), whereas The Forest's defence remains in a woeful state, 7 goals against, with 41 shots allowed (18 on target) in three games.

Eregion 2:0 The Forest

E1 Tol-in-Gaurhoth vs D2 Barad-dûr

This is almost a rematch of last year's group stage game. Almost. The Werewolves have grown in strength, and that of the Dark Tower has waned. ShastaWolf was a gem of a find for Tol-in-Gaurhoth, and NerWolf, GwathWolf, and NogWolf (with two goals each) spearhead their effective attack. Barad-dûr has gained Círdan, yes, but they have lost their offensive conductor Sauron in the off-season. They have done well enough in their group against teams not named Eregion, not letting more than two goals per game against the tested attack of Gondor and Eriador, as well as managing to get two goals against them. However, facing the suffocating defence (1 goal against and 25 shots allowed (9 on target) in three games) and the sizzling offence (9 goals and 48 shots (24 on target) in three games) of the Isle of Werewolves, such a performance would avail them little.

Tol-in-Gaurhoth 3:0 Barad-dûr

F1 Westernesse vs C2 Anfauglith

It is both a treat and a waste that we shall be witnessing a match between two cup contenders so early in the knockout stages. Westernesse remains the only spotless team in contention, managing three shutouts in three games. But they have yet to face a team with the offensive ferocity of Anfauglith: 9 goals and 47 shots (23 on target) in three games, including two against Ungoliant and Morgoth's Angband. Westernesse's frontline has been tested against quality defensive teams Tol Eressëa and Númenor and has not come out lacking (averaging 2 goals and 11 shots (5 on target) against the two teams), so anything less than perfect defensive execution is unlikely to deny them. Anfauglith's defence has been less than stellar so far (6 goals and 33 shots allowed (14 on target) in three games, the third worst in playoff teams), so they'd have to perform better offensively if they hope not to be knocked out too soon. Maeglin (2+4) and Gothmog (3+1) are sure to come out hot, but would that be enough?

Westernesse 3:2 Anfauglith

G1 Pelóri vs B2 Misty Mts

Normally the first thing we would consider about Manwë's team is not its skill (which it has in abundance), but its motivation. Since Misty Mts is a team half of baddies, composed partly of the foul creatures that dwell beneath the Hithaeglir, as well as Saruman the wayward Istar, perhaps the motivation is there. We just witnessed their thriller against Valinor in the last group stage match, and if they should decide to bring even half of that effort against Misty Mts, then Caradhras, for all his excellent performance so far, would be swept aside. And if Manwë retains his cool wits with him between the Pelóri goalposts, having faced the lethal trio of Arien, Míriel, and Nerdanel and yielding but once, then Azog, Saruman, and Durin's Bane would fail to faze him.

Pelóri 1:0 Misty Mts

H1 Lothlórien vs A2 Tirion

Tirion's offence (7 goals and 43 shots (21 on target) in three games) and Lothlórien's defence (1 goal against and 32 shots allowed (11 on target) in three games) look to be in parity, so the question of this match would be how much rope Galadriel is willing to give her offence. Fëanor is a striker of the highest quality, and Legolas and Boromir II have been there to provide offensive help to the fleet-footed Noldo. Orodreth has been struggling manning the Tirion goal, saving only two-thirds of the shots against him (14/21), but he was up against Doriath's ranked 1 offence and the tested best-friends combo of Himring, the two teams averaging 3 goals in 15 shots (8 on target) against Tirion's defence. Lothlórien has taken a little more than 13 shots per game (8 on target) in the group stages, so if the Lady of the Golden Wood gives free rein (or as much freedom as she would give) to her team's offence, then Tirion would be hard-pressed to make up for it by scoring on the other end. Finrod and his grandfather Finwë (2 goals and 1 assist each) has been doing well enough so far, but two-time champion forward Aredhel (1 goal and 2 assists) needs to wake up if she wishes to retain her finals appearance streak.

Lothlórien 3:2 Tirion

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

8/16 in the last round, that was terrible! Ah, well--that's still half correct, and TTN got just twelve, which still leaves a respectable gap between our styles of journalism.

Now, before I get to my predictions, I'd like to take this chance to CURSE WESTERNESSE FOR KNOCKING NÚMENOR OUT!!! You'll get your just desserts, you wait and see!

Round of 16 predictions:

A1 Doriath >>> H2 Minas Morgul

Túrin has battled Morgoth's forces during the height of his control of Beleriand with lesser help than his current squad. I'm sure he'll manage to beat this bunch of wannabes bad guys in his sleep. With one foot tied behind this back. (C'mon, Doriath! Tirion'll be waiting for you in the finals!)

B1 Wilderland <<< Valinor

Regarding their next match, Arien has been reputed to say, 'You bring dragons? Against me? Is this some manner of joke?' We agree, Arien. We agree.

C1 Angband >>> F2 Tol Eressëa

Let's see. On one hand we have the Iron Hell, on the other the Elf Boat Island thingy. So, yeah, totally obvious. (No offence, Ulmo, but, you have, you know, no offence. )

D1 Eregion > E2 The Forest

In the blue corner, we have Elrond's 'Holly' streak (broken at 18)! In the red corner, we have Bombadil's playing streak (2 games and counting)! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!

E1 Tol-in-Gaurhoth >>> D2 Barad-dûr

ShastaWolf's his usual psychic self, and the rest of the pack's just as sharp. After this match, it will indeed be Barad-dûr's Last Alliance.

F1 Westernesse <<< C2 Anfauglith

Ten - nil to Ard-galen!!! How's that for karma, golden boy?!?!

G1 Pelóri >>> B2 Misty Mts

Remember what I said in my last article, about Eönwë against a land feature? You know what's goin' down. That's right, a beatdown of cosmic proportions! (Sorry, Saruman, you're not big enough to make Manwë choke.)

H1 Lothlórien <<< A2 Tirion

Fun fact: Galadriel has never won in any contest against Finrod. Be it rock-paper-scissors, 2008 Arda Cup group stage matches, whatever. Even shiniest hair--Galadriel started using Finrod's shampoo after she lost to him. As for Fëanor? His father and father-in-law will give him a good hard lesson in how terrible life is. Should never have left Tirion, pal. (Well, at least you got your hair, harhar.)

[Nogrod]

Valinor at Wilderland


A Game of Wits and Physics


So this was it then. The Gladden Fields stadium stood now proudly in between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood and sucked in the sunlight from behind Mirkwood in the morning when the stadium was empty – and had an early twilight as the sun disappeared behind the mighty mountains towering in the west when the crowds started gathering into it. So when the game was beginning at 9 pm, it was already getting dark – Sauron had thought of everything people were able to realize on hindsight.

And when the sky at last turned into black just about the kick-off, the odd “blueish-greyish” lights that were turned on to light the stadium when the teams ran in to the field weren’t exactly welcoming for anyone with good intentions. It was, well, creepy to a human or a hobbit, but just cozy and welcoming for a warg, an orc, a dragon… and the wizards cared not about such little things as lighting. Sadly for Sauron’s possible schemings with the stadium, they were meeting no human or “later/east-elven” team this evening, but a team packed with Valar, Maiar and the very firstborn of the firstborn.

As group-winners Wilderland were going to host a knock-out game against a runner-up from another group – and it is easy to see Sauron didn’t exactly smile when he saw the picks for the groups and their order. And there were no sly tactics to be played on that front as they would meet anyway an opponent from group G having two of Valier-teams in it. So he had most probably just wished for luck to the two Beleriand-based teams while cursing how Manwë had his hand everywhere, even in the AFA board of directors. That had to have been a calculated move…

But here he was and there was nothing he could do about it. And the worst thing from Sauron’s POV was that he had to face Valinor; a team with tremendous attacking power, possession-bound and enforcing playing-style. Had Manwë and Tulkas a deal on this? If forced to face a Valinor-based team, he would have liked to challenge Manwë and his defensive and conservative game countering them with an all-out attack – but against all previews Pelori had beaten Valinor and well, the rest is history.

But Sauron never gives up and rises again like a phoenix from the dust – and he intended to do just that this time as well. His team had a flexible tactics and he was ready to use that as a weapon against the Valier led by Tulkas. And after looking through the dvd of the Pelori vs. Valinor –game for ten times he knew what to do.

The AKM managed to sneak a microphone into the Wilderland lockers just before the game and here’s what Sauron was telling his team:
“Okay, listen. They play fast and let the ball do the work with their even spreading along the pitch. We can exploit that, like Pelori did, by building up superior numbers in the attack. But that means we need to cut their passing-play. We need to cut-cut-cut! Do you understand? I want everyone to do whatever you can to cut any pass that comes anywhere near your place in the field. And that means you Smaug and Scatha as well: you can not afford to play the forward divas in this game, I want to see you sweat going after the passing-lines, do you hear me? Everyone runs for the passes like mad, do you understand? We are physical enough to outrun them, anyday. We’re strong, we’re relentless, we’re tough! Right? We’ll show those High Elves and Maiar and Valar what we are!

But be careful with the passes yourself – the first passes after a steal should be the safest ones: when we gain the ball, we don’t want to lend it back to them immediately and we need to build pressure safely gathering a superior attacking force against their defenses. That way we’ll score, and they will lose. So two styles: without the ball I need to see you running the heck out of your feet or wings, with the ball we build pressure with sense, aiming for an advance in numbers on their half of the pitch. Understood?”


~*~

From the fifty-thousand seats about 5000 were taken by the elves of the west (with some Valar and Maiar), another almost 10 000 were crowded by elves, men and dwarves of the surrounding areas – and the rest 35 000 were occupied by orcs, goblins, wargs, dragons… So when the dull blueish-greyish lighting went on with the teams coming forwards the feeling was, well, “intimidating” might do for a word here. The orcs and goblins were banging their drums and shields so loud it blocked one’s ears, the wargs were howling, the dragons were roaring – and they easily overpowered the few elven songs the smaller part of the crowd tried to put up against the general cacophony.

And it became an inferno just a few minutes into the game.

Like expected, Tulkas was infuriated and beat his team to some real attacking football. They clearly wished to close the game in the first minutes – such was the fury of Valinor coming forwards. But Wilderland players had listened good for what Sauron had said and especially the Maiar-wizards were very good in cutting the passes, and Sauron himself was running up and down the field pressing the Valinor players and calling others to follow his example – and soon enough Alatar cut a pass by Yavanna in the midfield and sent it safely to Pallando who was alongside her, who in turn realized Smaug was within his reach. Smaug took the high pass spreading his wings and brought it down from the heights and reeled it down just behind Indis and Vairë – seeing that Sauron was running there. And Sauron just smashed through the defenders and hammered the one-timer in from just inside the box with such velocity Ingwë had no chance to take it.

Only 7 minutes had been played and the home team was in the lead. And the crowds made such a noise it was probably heard as far as in Lothlórien.

Valinor continued with their style of play and actually managed to build a few decent attacks – but Wilderland had a few dangerous counters as well. And when 25th minute had passed Pallando cut a nice pass in the midfield again – turning it to Alatar this time. Alatar was pressed by Olwë, but he managed to dribble him out of the situation and to send in up to Sauron who made a brilliant one-touch turn-pass sending the ball towards the goal he had seen from the corner of his eye Smaug was flying into. And Smaug didn’t bother to land first but swept his tail from mid-air homing the ball with such a thunderous speed there was nothing the defenders or Ingwë could do.

There was a hoard of protests after the goal. Tulkas called for a red card to Smaug, Arien was especially heated and tried to argue with the referee only to be carded for that. The referee stood staunch on it: the linesman had seen Smaug had touched the ground with his left wing as he winged his tail and thus it was not against the rules and the goal stayed. You can just imagine the ear-piercing noise the home-crowds made during and after these procedures. Multiply it with a gazillion and then you’re near it. After 26 minutes of the Wilderland was leading 2-0!

If there would be time-outs in football, Tulkas would have taken one immediately, but now they had to stay cool for twenty minutes and not allow a goal more. So he yelled orders left and right, his head red from it: “Possession, possession! No hazard passes! Press but do not leave your place!” And Valinor managed to settle the game down for the rest of the first half with both teams having a few decent chances of scoring. But as the referee whistled the half-time, there was no mistaking. Wilderland was leading with two goals.


On the second half the crowds saw a more concentrated and aggressive team Valinor. Wilderland still managed to steal some passes and were able to build up a few nice attacks, but it was clear Valinor was now having the upper hand on the pitch. After 18 minutes of play into the second half Valinor was finally rewarded for their effort. With a quick turn-over Vairë sent the ball over half the field to Miriel who continued it with one-touch pass forwards to Arien who was running through the flank - and from a close angle she hammered the ball in from between the legs of Grimbeorn. The home fans protested and called it an off-side but the linesman stayed calm and kept his flag down.

After the Valinor goal Sauron rallied his team to a more aggressive counter-play trying to cut Valinor’s passes even more aggressively. It did help at first, but then it led to a few cards given to Wilderland players and when Pallando slided badly late over the ankle of Nerdanel and got carded, the things got grim for Wilderland.

It was only 8 minutes to the full time and Valinor got a free kick from 22 meters, around the left corner of Wilderland box. First it seemed Nerdanel was unable to continue with the game but biting her lip she nodded to the referee and expressed her wish to continue with the game. Seeing that determination, Tulkas asked her to give the free kick. She accepted, whispered something to Yavanna when no one paid attention and started to settle the ball.

The defensive wall was built, Grimbeorn yelled his advice to them, Miriel and Arien elbowed room in the the wall, the referee had to order the wall back and back again as they tried to advance tip-toeing forwards… the crowds were for once silent watching in nervousness… Olwë and Yavanna started running to different angles when Nerdanel started towards the ball. The wall was moving prematurely as they tend to move, but with three different lines of attack there was a spread in the wall. Suddenly Nerdanel made a full stop just before the ball and chipped it left towards advancing Yavanna who volleyed it from the run – and in just barely hitting the post. The game was drawn!


It meant overtime – and in the last instance a shoot-out.

The overtime began more or less like the second half: Valinor was slightly on top of it but Wilderland’s sudden cuts of their passing created some dangerous situations on the other end. But little by little it started to look like team Wilderland was wearing themselves off. They had run like madmen all the time and with the overtime taking it’s toll they were really tired. Valinor in turn had let the ball do most of the work and seemed to have energy-reserves still and the game was turning more and more towards the Wilderland goal. The homecrowds saw it and started a loud supporting row to boost their team. But it was not enough.

The Great Warg was just late of the situation with heavy feet and made a sliding tackle on Arien after she had already passed the ball forwards. It was a clear free-kick and a tougher referee would have shown him another yellow for that. But it was a free kick from the middle of the pitch, about 25 meters form the goal. Very dangerous indeed.

Arien insisted on taking it herself… and she hammered it in to the upper-right corner of the goal, plain and simple! 24 minutes overtime Wilderland was defeated. She was the hero of Valinor this day. Two goals and some real effort & bravery.

The home crowds were so disappointed with the goal they started throwing anything they had at their hands to the pitch: weapons, kitchenware, clothes, bottles, fast food wrappings, leaflets, fan-stuff, pebbles from the ground, you name it. The teams and referees tried to get into cover and dashed for the tunnel leading to the lockers but a few players got hit with a stray bottle or a pebble.

That was enough for Tulkas and he roared so loud it beat the noise of the thirty-thousand disappointed orcs making a fuzz. Arien starting to glow brightly was no little aid to that performance as the orcs and wargs tried to get away from the brightness of her. And when Vairë stood forth starting to silently mumble something about the fate, the home crowds just ran away in panic.

There would be some consequences of that incident. That much is clear. But because of it, there was no after game press conference. And only the AKM was able to steal one comment from Tulkas as he rushed into the tunnel more or less enraged.

The AKM: ”A comment?”

Tulkas: “Idiot!”

We’ll leave it open, whom did he mean…


Valinor 3-2 Wilderland (OT)
tot shots 17-16
on target 7-8
GOALS:
*7, 0-1 Sauron (Smaug)
*26, 0-2 Smaug (Sauron)
*63, 1-2 Arien (Miriel)
*82, 2-2 Yavanna (Nerdanel)
*24, 3-2 Arien
YELLOW CARDS:
*Valinor- Vaire, Arien
*Wilderland- Bolg, Great Warg, Scatha, Pallando


Valinor goes through to meet the winner from the game Doriath vs. Minas Morgul.

[the phantom]

Minas Morgul at Doriath

Doriath had played host to various group and playoff contests in recent years, but it wasn’t anything quite like this. Their first concerns had always been impressing visitors with the beauty of their underground arena and being gracious hosts, but this time it was a party, for their team was playing, and they were streaking out of the group stages with the best differential in the tournament!

Standing in the path to the quarterfinals was Minas Morgul, a team that there was no reason not to hate according to most of the Elves- other than their keeper Earnur, but surely there must be something wrong with him if he chose to play there, they figured.

A few hundred men, mostly from Umbar, travelled in support, and these were treated at least decently, for despite their leanings they bore themselves well for the most part, though their faces were often sneering.

The Orcs on the other hand- King Thingol had declared that they should be allowed to live at least, but they weren’t showed much kindness beyond that. Any Orc walking about Menegroth could count on being stopped and searched on nearly every block, as the rangers and wardens of Doriath were all dedicated to ensuring that there would not be a single weapon-carrying Orc within the stadium for the match nor in the pubs before, during, or after. “We don’t care that they’re here so much, but they can’t be trusted to keep the peace,” said one official.

But the trip from Mordor is a lengthy one, and not even five thousand total Orcs showed up to be harassed by the Doriath troops, making the policing job simpler than they had hoped for, and guaranteeing a substantial home field crowd. From pre-match interviews it was clear that the Witch King had noticed a lack of die-hard travelling fans, and had something to say about it.

“Apparently we weren’t thrilling enough in the group phase to get everyone on board... Apparently Doriath is so good that we don’t have a chance... And apparently most of our so-called fans are worthless!” he shouted at various media gathered for the pre-game press conference. “With these players and ME at the front, how could they bail on us and write us off?! And even were it hopeless- miracles can happen! Not to mention we’ve been playing our hardest for this squad. All teams ought to receive better support than this, just for the love of the game and for the pride of you homeland.”

His bitter words did nothing to change the makeup of the crowd, however, and the game kicked off with a nearly unified stadium singing the fight song of Doriath. Minas Morgul tuned it out though and pressed forward, taking the initiative against their foes who seemed perhaps nervous and over-pressured by expectations. Already in the first two minutes Beruthiel managed to release Castamir to the corner of the box, but lucky for the home team Carcharoth closed quickly enough to limit his angle to the far side and forced him to go near and Huan read things well and made the stop.

Not long after that some nice passing led to King Dead having room to try a drive to test Huan again, and the keeper barely got up and over for it, tipping its course up just enough to have it rebound out off the crossbar. The crowd was rather silent at this point, as things were not going as planned! But the rebound came out to Luthien who immediately sent it forward and to the side she was facing where Mablung was dashing, and the pass led him perfectly and he had green space ahead down the side. Turin and Hurin were charging down the middle with him, and only Nazgul #2, Angamaite, and Sangahyando were with them.

Mablung angled in as he approached the other end but instead of taking it closer he suddenly sent one into the far side of the box, for he had seen Turin peel from the middle towards that side and the defenders were late reacting being occupied looking at the ball and Hurin. Angamaite ran full out for the spot but the pass was over him and coming down exactly the right spot to allow the tall Turin an uncontested header. Earnur knew it was simply a guessing game, for with Turin’s power from that close a range there would be no time to see it and react. Spotting Nazgul #2 running in towards the post farthest from Turin, Earnur guessed near post. But the stern head of Turin sent it instead high to the far side of the middle, and too fast and near for Nazgul #2 to help, and the home team was in front!

The crowd fell back into their celebratory ways quick as lightning, and their confidence grew all the more. “Even if we’re outplayed we’ll win! Our keeper is just that good, and even with limited chances Turin’s just too dangerous!” But the Witch King and his side maintained their composure and picked up where they’d left off with their quality play, putting the pressure on yet again. Witch King himself put one over top of the goal, and at 20 minutes Castamir redirected a corner just wide. And then- Minas Morgul’s hopes were crushed yet again!

Elwe gained possession by the end line and sent it over to Luthien who sent it down the middle where Melian controlled it and turned past her defender with a burst of speed. Already streaking ahead of her was Beleg and Eol near the sides and Turin and Hurin in the middle and she followed in their wake. As the offense closed on the box everyone expected her to give it up and the defenders continued to concentrate on the forwards rather than the ball. Finally at 40 meters Fuinur and Herumor closed on her, but she faked a pass to freeze them and split them in a flash and then brought her foot back for real at the top of the box.

Eol flashed into the picture from the left going along the sideline and she chipped it to him high. The pass was perfect to beat the defenders but Earnur was coming and would surely snatch it or at least block it coming off of his head, as his arrival would be only microseconds late. But the creative craftsman Eol had the pass angle judged brilliantly and faked a header and pulled his head down and away from the net at the last instant, allowing the pass to buzz a fraction of an inch over him without contacting him at all, and the ball spun lazily beyond the reach of a shocked Earnur who could only watch it fall against the inside of the post and bounce into the goal for the 2-0 lead!

The crowd applauded and screamed loudly for Eol, appreciating the fine work he had done that would not show up on the stat sheet. There were many cheers for Melian as well- they were thrilled to see their defense organizing queen get a goal!

The first goal had not shaken Minas Morgul, but this one did. Awe was evident on the faces of many of their players. How could they defend a team when even their defenders were that skilled with the ball and so quick and offensively efficient? Play was under way again and Doriath now owned the ball, content to take their time with a two goal lead and the defense sagging off of them. But as the half was winding down Minas Morgul became more aggressive and Doriath moved to one touch passing and started moving it up and back more quickly to keep the defense running.

Then with five minutes left they got it to Eol in his corner and the defenders closed in to apply the pressure. Eol worked it sideways towards the net to draw the defense then sent it back out with his heel to a lonesome Mablung who immediately boomed one low towards the opposite side, curling into the box. It looked like it might get through without anyone touching it and the jerseys all flowed towards the opposite side, but Carcharoth dashed to the edge of the box and made a mighty leap into the air. The ball struck him firmly upon the back of his head and bounced down and back the way it came, where the only player that hadn’t gone off in the other direction, Beren, was waiting to meet it with a thunderous boot before it even touched the ground! Earnur managed only to get a couple fingertips on it and it was 3-0 Doriath!

During halftime the Orcs began filing out already- they could not watch any more. Many of the black Numenoreans stuck around, but looked quite depressed. The wood-Elves and men of Dor-Lomin on the other hand got the ale flowing and the food circulating as soon as the second half started and were already in post-game celebration mode, singing songs of victory. And they had good cause- for Doriath was owning possession yet again, and Minas Morgul could do little about it.

This went on for some time with Doriath taking some speculative drives when finally at minute 67 they went with full-on pressure and the crowd was rewarded with icing on top- a goal by Mablung fed by Turin, a reverse of the opening tally. Doriath had a commanding four goal lead! It was all but in the books!

Doriath treated the final 20 largely as a practice, kicking the ball away to Minas Morgul and allowing them to test their defense. The Witch King was enraged to be treated in such a fashion, but he was powerless to do anything about it, as his team could hardly manage more than distant snipes, as every player had a defender draped on him that he could not shake off.

Finally the refs declared it over, and Minas Morgul exited quickly, ashamed to be seen. But no one was paying the least bit of attention to them- all eyes were on the magnificent team from Doriath, who trotted off the field lazily acknowledging the cheers of the crowd as if they had done nothing to celebrate about. This was a confident bunch with high expectations of themselves, and the crowd loved it!

Doriath 4-0 Minas Morgul
tot shots 18-12
on target 9-4
GOALS:
*10, 1-0 Turin (Mablung)
*22, 2-0 Melian (Luthien)
*40, 3-0 Beren (Carcharoth)
*67, 4-0 Mablung (Turin)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Doriath- Carcharoth
*MMorgul- Fuinur, Beruthiel, Nazgul #2

Doriath advances to the quarterfinals to meet the winner of Valinor vs Wilderland.

[Nogrod]

Anfaughlith at Westernesse


The Brave Fight of the Undermanned Side


Before the first play-off game the people of Númenor had forgotten any possible rifts there had been between the supporters of team Númenor and team Westernesse Now Westernesse was their champion and the games would be held at the very same Armenelos Stadium, the Wembley of Arda.

In their usual way the Númenorians were confident their team would prevail whoever came against them, but Anfaughlith was one of the teams that did send some shivers into the backs of the Númenorians. The team had some really awe-inspiring players; like Gothmog lord of the Balrogs, the slayer of Fëanor, Fingon and Echtelion, with two others of his kin; but also Echtelion himself, the slayer of Gothmog in turn; and Maeglin the “sharp glance”; Fingolfin the “strongest of all”; Tuor’s father Huor; the mighty Gwindor…

Team Westernesse had more or less the top-stars of the island aided by the Gondorian lords from the days immemorial. But would it be enough against these heroes of the past? Some said an all-Númenorian team would have had better chances, but nonetheless the support of the home crowd was unreserved when the game came down upon them.

The old Armenelos Stadium took in about 60 000 spectators. The organisers had told twenty-thousand would go to Númenorians, another twenty-thousand to team Anfaughlith supporters and the last twenty-thousand would be up for grabs to anyone – and if there was not a full twenty-thousand coming to support Anfaughlith, they would sell the rest “at the door” to anyone willing to come in. That was accepted by the AFA authorities as it sounded like a fair deal – but in fact the Númenorians opened internet booking lines for those last twenty-thousand in Númenor and Gondor two days before opening them to every nation – and thus most of the seats were already taken when the selling opened for all, not to talk that all those “at the door” tickets went predominantly to Númenorians with their food baskets and wine skins queuing at the gates a fine five hours before the game while the hopeful football-tourists from outside Númenor were just having breakfast after having a nice night out.


~*~

So it was once again a feast and/of football at Armenelos Stadium, and the crowds were entertaining themselves with food and wine for hours before the game just to be together and to share the nice day-out. And with the tactics on the ticket-booth it was more than two thirds home-team supporters on the crowd – and they were enjoying themselves in the afternoon sunshine beside the towering presence of Meneltarma.

Anfaughlith came into the game with all the gusto their flaringly attacking game thus far should have predicted and the home team supporters had to bit their nails looking at the wave after another of dashing attacks by Anfaughlith, the Westernesse defenders having a hard time to push them back. And to the horror of the homeside-fans they scored after just 17 minutes of play. And what was the worst: Tar Atanamir was not infallible! He had to give in a goal! And only from the second shot of the game on target!

It was kind of a classic goal. After dribbling two midfielders Gwindor made a quick run on the left flank outrunning the defenders at first but when a few of them finally reached him a few meters from the corner-flag he sent a nice high pass into the middle – and Maeglin headed it in to the lower right corner of the goal despite Tar Palantir’s effort to deny him the header. Tar Atanamir had been following the situation at the left post so when the crossing came he was just too late – even if he dived bravely when he saw what was up.

After the goal Westernesse shifted into more aggressive tactics of cutting off the passing-lines and practically denied Anfaughlith from any major outbreaks on the first half. Gothmog had a few chances but the Balrog either sent the ball wide or into the hands of Tar Atanamir. But as the first half got older Westernesse started to gain the upper hand pulling their ranks together.

And they evened the game just before the half time! The dynamic duo Elros – Ar Pharazôn were at it again. This time Elros broke free dribbling Balrog #4 and went towards the goal from the edge of the box, but Rochallor galloped to shut him out. Just before Fingolfin’s best friend succeeded, Elros heeled the ball behind him and Ar Pharazôn was indeed trailing and shot the ball into the back of the net while Huor was still concentrating on Elros and Rochallor. The home crowds exploded with the equalizer and the songs suddenly caught the air and went on loud through the half time pause.

But even through their happiness, the home crowds realised there was another half to be played and just getting even was not enough – they had to win, as they thought their team would do, but Anfaughlith was just as tough an opponent the pessimists among the islanders had warned they would be.


The lay-Númenorians thought their team would just turn the game around on the second half, continuing from where they left in the end of the first half – but how wrong they were! Anfaughlith came to the second half with refreshed attacking-force and they really made the Westernesse defense to sweat. And to the horror of the hometeam fans they scored again after about fifteen minutes of play into the second half. Fingolfin got the ball passed neatly to him close by the post by his grand-daughter’s husband’s mother , and he was totally unguarded, and just passed the ball in as the rush was at the other end of the goal. Great pass by Rían and cool execution by Fingolfin while Gothmog, Maeglin, Ecthelion and others were making the fuzz elsewhere.

And Anfaughlith was not yet done. They kept attacking after the goal with even more energy: they had clearly decided to kill the hosts then and there, it was the time of their momentum. But neither would Westernesse give in – and with the ever-rising support of their home crowd they started pressing back. The last twenty minutes of the game were some of the most entertaining football this season’s games have had to offer: two highly skilled and attacking teams clashing against each other with full force!

At 63rd minute Maeglin hit the crossbar from 25 meters.

At 66th minute Ar Pharazôn’s shot from between the two balrogs went just an inch wide while Huor was decisively late.

At 67th minute Rochallor just ran over Ar Adunakhôr who was getting free from the defenders, hitting him into the back of his head with a hoof. That was unquestionably a straight red card and Ar Adunakhôr had to be carried outside the pitch to be looked after with the bleeding wound he got from the hit.

At 68th minute, from the ensuing free kick, Elros boomed a real cannon-shot a meter from the box only to be tipped away by Huor’s fingertips from the upper corner of the goal.

At 70th minute Gwindor and Echtelion made a nice wall-play setting Echtelion to a superb place to shoot, but at the last possible moment Elendil managed to slide the ball across the line.

At 74th minute Tar Telperion sent a long pass from the defense and Ar Pharazôn took the run for it but his shot was denied by Fingolfin forcing him out of balance.

At 75th minute the referee called for a free kick from Fingolfin’s error on midfield and Ar Adunakhôr re-entered the pitch with his head now bandaged. Elros took the free-kick fast when some of the Anfaughlith team members were still unawares. Ar Pharazôn received the ball and sent it forth immediately to Ar Adunakhôr who was running like mad towards the goal looking for a revenge. Balrog #4 shut his way but he turned around and passed the ball diagonally backwards to the feet of Tar Minastir who blasted the ball from top-speed into the back of the net. The game was even!

The goal was built by some flashing performances of the top-players, but also due to the confusion, both of Elros’ fast kick and Anfaughlith facing the undermanned situation for the first time in the game when Ar Adunakhôr was finally able to return to the field and Rochallor was out for good. So Maeglin yelled at his team to regroup and Gothmog wasn’t quiet either. Rían and Azaghál were giving orders to others as well – and Huor gave his advice shouting from his goal. It was a chaos.

There was still 15 minutes to go and Westernesse took the advantage of the chaos. With one player advantage and the defenses in disarray they started hammering attacks after another towards the Anfaughlith side and dominated the game – giving the opponents no chance of making a counter-play. Westernesse was now playing it’s best game thus far, sent flying by the chanting and cheering crowds who had now risen to their feet from excitement. Even Maeglin and Gothmog had drawn back to support the defense as they left only Gwindor to look for a happy turn-over attack a bit higher on the field.

It was now a game played on one end of the pitch only, but the time though was running short for Westernesse and their supporters, minute by minute. It was a thriller!

If Anfaughlith could stretch the game to overtime they’d have a chance talk their regrouping with one player disadvantage. It looked grim but given a chance to try and deal with it was all they asked – and all they played for the last minutes.

Four minutes to go: Elros boots a mighty shot from the edge of the box but it goes just wide.

Three minutes to go: Anfaughlith tries to do some counterplay only to be robbed of the ball in midfield by Hyermendacil – who gives it to Tar MInastir who in turn lends it to the flank to Ar Adunakhôr who’s centering just misses the head of Ar Pharazôn by an inch.

Two minutes to go: Ar Pharazôn gets the ball near the corner-flag and passes it towards the goal – and Elros reaches from between the two balrogs for a header… and he hits it… and it is… a GOOOOOOOOOL!!!!
Westernesse scores two minutes before full time against the undermanned Anfaughlith! The people go wild in the audience. It takes a minute or two for the referee to get the game started again after all the jubilation. But the game is over even if the ref. allows four minutes of extratime (Ar Adunakhôrs injury, some fakedly long wailing from Anfaughlith players gone down after contact with Westernesse players, the end jubilation…). There just wasn’t anything Anfaughlith could have done when Westernesse took on a high-pressure defense-mode after their lead, not the least for being underhanded.

The home team won after a real fight, but even if the star players exchanged shirts amiably after the game – Huor’s and Rían’s shirts were almost fought over by the Númenorians – the Anfaughlith fans were disappointed and cursed the referee, even if they knew his decision to send Rochallor off was a fair judgement.


Angfauglith 2-3 Westernesse
tot shots 15-16
on target 9-6
GOALS:
*17, 1-0 Maeglin (Gwindor)
*41, 1-1 Ar Pharazon (Elros)
*59, 2-1 Fingolfin (Rian)
*75, 2-2 Tar Minastir (Ar Adunakhor)
*88, 2-3 Elros (Ar Pharazon)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angfauglith- Azaghal, Gwindor, Balrog #5
*Westernesse- Tar Palantir, Malbeth
RED CARDS:
*Angfauglith- Rochallor (67, straight red)


Westernesse goes through to meet the winner from the game T-I-G vs. Barad Dûr.

[Boromir88]

The Forest at Eregion

The talk before the game at Eregion was mostly centered around none other than Bombadil. He had shown more interest in the games this year and than in the past. Many had speculated why and came up with just as many reasons as those wondering who Bombadil was. He was 'The Master', the Master of what though? The Master of the pitch? No one would dispute his skills, but Elrond and Eregion would have something to say to the newly appointed title for Bombadil.

There was a sliver of doubt in the hearts and minds of the Eregion fans though. Not only had they confidentally swept the group and were treated an extra delight by hosting another game in the beautiful Ost-in-Edhil Stadium, but Eregion had a better team effort than The Forest. There was no disputing this, when talking about The Master, there is always a sliver of a doubt.

Right before the match was ready to kick off, the Eregion fans reasoned that Bombadil's inspired play was due to not only playing in The Old Forest, but playing for his forest. So, how would his powers be outside his realm? And there was Elrond. Elrond was not going to allow a single player, no matter how good he was, beat them.

*~*~*

Elves, Men, Huorns, and even many Hobbits came to fill Ost-in-Edhil, and as the sun was setting the stadium was starting to let out it's radiant, warm, glow. Eregion were sure to be gracious hosts to The Forest, and the Ents appeared in good spirits, playing in the land of Holly. The stage was set, the atmosphere was intense, but welcoming, let the games begin.

It began with joyous songs from the Eregion crowd, urging their team on, but in the first few minutes the songs died down and they began to get nervous. Celebrimbor had no answer for Bombadil, and Eregion's defense was forced to it's back heels right at the start. It wasn't just Bombadil either, as Tom's singing eventually overtook the songs of the Eregion fans and Bombadil's teammates became inspired to push for the lead. Hey merry do! Hopalong me friends! Follow Bombadillo!

If the crowd was biting their nails and scratching their arms until they bled, you could not have seen it in Elrond's face. Despite Celebrimbor not being able to slow down Bombadil, Bombadil did not seem to have the extra gear to beat a GK like Elrond. They were foolish to doubt their Lord Elrond and with each calm, cool, professional save confidence was being restored in the home town fans.

For one of the rarest moments, Bombadil was beginning to show emotion and he was completely befuddled. Every match has defining turning points, which you usually don't find until after it's all over. This would be one of those defining moments. Bombadil judged with how stretched the Elven defense was getting, if The Forest swarmed and overwhelmed the area in front of Elrond, the great GK would eventually crack. The crowd began biting their nails, and getting nervous again, as The Forest was coming in an all out attack. Then in half a second, the silence turned into rioutous applause. Bombadil blasted a rocket towards the top right corner, but Elrond lept into the air to catch it! What a save!

When Elrond peculiarly passed the ball out to Asfaloth (normally Celebrimbor gets it), the Eregion team seemed to notice what their Lord did and what he wanted. The Forest team was caught forward, and Asfaloth is known for a mighty hoof. The great horse reared back and launched the ball into The Forest's half. No one was around Lindir when he collected it. The trees are a stiff defense, but sometimes too stiff, and when Celebrimbor rushed forward it was an easy 1-2 tap into the back of the net. The Old Willow was completely rooted and didn't even seem to give half an effort to save it.

Now the Elves, and Men close to Elves, in the stands were truly alive. They could not only breathe relief, but with the joy of leading 1-0 they could get back to their merry drinking and singing. Bombadil tried to make another push to get an equalizer, but with Eregion's defense calmed and gathered together, Eregion began getting the lions share of the possession in the later minutes of the half. Spectators were noticing, without saying a word Earendil appeared to be thanking his son and Celebrimbor for holding on and now it was time for Eregion's strikers to take control.

Breaking the treeish defense plus the stout Haleth was not an easy task. Still, it was The Forest's defense this time, which was getting pushed to the brink as they desperately wanted to just go into the half, keeping it a 1-goal defecit. Sadly, it was not to be. With 2 minutes remaining in the 1st, Glorfindel sniped a shot that Old Man Willow tried to swat away, but the ball bent around his branches and Eregion would walk into the lockers leading 2-0.

The 2nd half appeared to be a formality, as the life and spirit was sucked out of The Forest. How would they get 3 goals in 45 minutes off a goalie like Elrond? Bombadil gave it his best try to begin the half, but this time he could not sing his team into support. And even Bombadil was lacking the same lovably annoying tune to his rhymes. So, when Earendil capped off the scoring in the 68th minute, everyone knew that was the match (if they hadn't known that already).

Bombadil wasn't spotted in the remaining 20 minutes, but Elrond showed no desire to try another goal and simply held onto possession. It must be said that Tom showed a much greater interest in the games this cup, even if he'd be going out with a 3-0 defeat. It was just not enough to beat Elrond, when he's playing in front of his home crowd. A lot was made about Bombadil and The Barrow-wight parting ways, and now one has to wonder how long will it be before the Old tree is sent away to hibernate?

Eregion 3-0 The Forest
tot shots 15-12
on target 8-5
GOALS:
*24, 1-0 Celebrimbor (Lindir)
*43, 2-0 Glorfindel (Elrond)
*68, 3-0 Earendil (Elrohir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Eregion- Figwit
*The Forest- Haleth, Treebeard, Saeros

Eregion will advance to the quarter finals to play winner of Angband - Tol Eressea

[the phantom]

Tol Eressea at Angband

The Hells of Iron was no stranger to hosting football contests, and everyone assumed it would be business as usual for Morgoth’s football operations team, but it turned out that Angband did not wish to host in their home arena at all, but instead received permission to play their contest in the arena just south of Angband’s gates- Angfauglith, the arena they had played in for all of their group contests.

“It’s an easy hike for our supporters,” said Morgoth, “And we grew quite comfortable playing there over the past couple weeks. We’ve been performing well, so why change a good thing?”

Not surprisingly the game was set to be a late night affair, ensuring that all of Angband’s supporters could make the trek to the stadium in complete darkness and still have a bit of time left to work themselves into a frenzy. By the time the Angband fans arrived, however, they found a mass of people already surrounding the arena. The Elves of the Havens both of Middle Earth and the Blessed Realm had sailed in force along with many Numenoreans supporting Amandil and Tar Aldarion, and had massed in Hithlum, and throughout the day they had streamed down from the mountain passes and converged upon Angfauglith.

As the visitors Tol Eressea by the agreement set down for this contest had the rights to 20% of the tickets, but no one had expected them to bring enough fans for it to matter, and Morgoth had already laid plans to buy the tickets from the ones that did show up. But things did not go as planned at all. As the Orcs arrived and were greeted by the large and glorious host of Elves and Men, many of them felt instantly out of place and parted with their tickets a bit too easily, and the Numenoreans especially had plenty of cash to help persuade them. On the flip side, absolutely none of the ticket-holding faithful of Tol Eressea were willing to budge an inch on their ticket ownership, even in exchange for a fortune.

And so it was that when Morgoth and his team emerged from the tunnels they were greeted by half and half cheering and booing. Team Angband whirled around in amazement, checking to see that they were in the right stadium, but there was no mistake. Morgoth looked furious and wanted to know how it had happened, for he had been preparing for the game all evening and was not privy to events outside the arena. There was no time for conversations, however. Tol Eressea and the refs were already in position and ready to go, and with a grumble team Angband set up.

It was evident that out of the starting blocks Tol Eressea had some extra pep or Angband didn’t, for Tol Eressea kept things more on Angband’s half than their own, and worked it in for a handful of decent shots in the opening 20 minutes, to the delight of their fans. But their midfielders were unable to put them on target, and Ungoliant erased Uinen’s best opportunity, cutting off the angle nicely and keeping hold of it and not allowing a dangerous rebound.

At this point Angband’s thinking seemed to uncloud and they began playing smart for the first time, maintaining possession and testing Tol Eressea’s defense, playing up and back, side to side, waiting for someone to leave an opening to take advantage of. Even the best defenses make mistakes, and Angband had to be awake at all times to make sure they could capitalize on a mistake by a Tol Eressea defense that rarely made any.

Finally around 27 minutes Morgoth sent it to Ancalagon in the middle who popped it forward and right to Telvildo who managed to get just a step on Salmar. Telvildo controlled it and spun around his defender, forcing help, then sent it swiftly to the box. It was a laser pass on the ground and so tough to receive, but Ancalagon had a window and went for it, swiping it with his tail, booming a shot on first touch. The Angband fans started to rise, but groaned and seated themselves again as Ancalagon’s drive went perfectly straight to Amandil who blocked it then leaped upon it.

Morgoth shouted encouragement to his forwards. “Perfect! Just keep that up and we’ll get it in!” And three minutes later it looked like they may put it in finally, as Thuringwethil used some nifty moves to clear herself for a 30 meter blast, but Amandil dove and smothered it to keep his goal clean and the Angband fans groaned again. The Tol Eressea fans on the other hand cheered for Amandil, but not so enthusiastically as they had started the game. They were nervous.

And with good cause, for just a minute later they were forced to clear it out of bounds and Angband gained a corner, and on the corner Morgoth rose above the field and rang the post with a header, and straight off the rebound Telvildo headed it back at the same spot, only inches left so that instead of hitting the post it found the net, and Angband had broken the scoreless tie!

The North side of the stadium erupted, and the Elves and Men fell silent. Morgoth stood himself in front of the Tol Eressea side and shouted, “Is this what you came all this way to see?” And then struck with an idea, he continued, “But no- you didn’t come to see scoring, did you? Ulmo and his underlings are supposed to be the masters of defense, right? Well then,” he laughed evilly, “That’s what I’ll give you then. Masterful defense!”

And from that moment on, the game changed completely. Morgoth and his minions put on a clinic, running the clock with possession when they could, never risking a possession on anything less than a quality shot, and when Tol Eressea had the ball Angband was just too hot to handle.

Morgoth suspected Ulmo would try to get in on the action somehow to help put his team level, so he shadowed him personally. Thuringwethil was dropped back onto defense beside Carcharoth and they completely dominated Elwing and Earwen with their beastly speed and reactions leaving them no room to operate. And the Balrogs helped to choke of Uinen, their fires causing her to steam and lose control of her liquid movements.

As the second half neared its end, Ulmo ordered all out attack to try and gain the equalizer, but Angband denied them again and again, and rather than quickly countering they got the ball forward quickly and then held it as long as possible. The minutes ticked away and the Orcs started leaping up and down on their seats, gleeful at Morgoth’s mockery. The Tol Eressea fans held their faces in their hands, unable to view the evidence any longer- the proof that Morgoth and Angband could beat them at their own game.

Ulmo made one last desperate run, but Morgoth toed the ball away from him and one of the Balrogs was there to knock it high and forward, where it came down to Telvildo. As he jogged forward with it, the final whistle blew and it was all over. Angband’s defense had obliterated Tol Eressea!

Angband 1-0 Tol Eressea
tot shots 12-9
on target 6-2
GOALS:
*32, 1-0 Telvildo (Morgoth)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Drauglin, Ulfang
*Tol Eressea- Eriol, Osse

[Nogrod]

Misty Mts. at Pelori


The Scandal Refuses to Die Down


The first problem emerged as soon as the play-off pairs were announced. The friends and fans of Caradhras decided to take the trip to Valinor but Manwë and Námo declared it was against the will of Eru Ilúvatar himself that whole mountain ranges would shift positions for a sake of a single football match. And they were banned on moving anywhere after Caradhras – they were quite blatantly told to just watch the game live on MESPN.

But that wasn’t the only problem. This time Manwë and Námo made it clear in public that no balrogs, wolves, orcs, goblins, trolls or any other odd & evil creatures of old were allowed into Valinor – except as players for that short while the game lasted. And that would be a strict policy “enforced decisively” on the border control with any “straying undesirables”.

Many Middle-Earth media took this announcement as an insult – most strongly those of the more liberal mind-set of men and elves. But the Dwarven media was silent for days as they had not been mentioned… But it was about to break. And it did.

Tumunzahar Weekly, Firebeard Times and Khazad-dûm Guardian published a shared a bold and mocking open letter to Manwë asking whether the dwarves were officially counted as “undesirables”, or could the fans and supporters of Narvi & the dwarves of Moria make the trip without fear of being drowned or otherwise killed by the Valier-authorities. The answer was silence. Valinorian media explained the silence with “the disrespectful tone of the media-trick by the dwarves no decent Valar would pay heed to”.

But that explanation was not bought in Middle-Earth and many critical articles and blog-entries were written over the subject. In protest a host of dwarves from all over the M-E gathered in the Havens in their thousands as a check-out, and declared to the elves of Cirdan they had a right of passage because of the match between Misty Mts. and Pelori. A few hundred liberal activists from Minas Tirith and Dol Amroth joined the dwarves, calling for their dwarven rights and threatened to complain to Amnesty Interardan. The elves were reluctant to admit them into their ships, knowing the risks involved, but as soon as some captains decided the Dwarven gold and mithril was enough for them to take their chances, the seas arose into tumult and storm and there was no way they could make the trip.

Some of the most hot-headed dwarves then stole a few boats by night killing the elves guarding them – of which deed the activists separated themselves strongly. But anyway, it should be no news those boats never got far away from the port of Havens. The next morning Manwë made a press-release where he said that: “This unpredictability and harshness of the dwarves is just one of the reasons we don’t willingly admit them here at Valinor – and they have just showed it themselves to be true. Some things just are not going to happen whatever way you look at them. Eru’s song is the guideline for everyone to follow and we’re not willing nor able to do otherwise, whatever we or you others think.”

Saruman, of course, saw here a chance for bargaining, and announced Misty Mts. was not going to play at all unless their supporters were allowed to the venue to support them, but here his own team sadly let him down. Not knowing of their captain’s scheme, Landroval and Meneldor told the press how happy they were to play against Gwaihir and to see the land of the great Thorondor. And Durin’s Bane went on talking a lot about what it meant to him to go to the land of the creator of his grandfathers, the place he had never seen himself. And Caradhras was giving his own press-releases saying how wonderful it would be to meet the Pelori – the mountains.


~*~

The stadium at Valmar was buzzing with elves and Maiar – and a few of the Valar were also honoring the game with their presence. The only possible supporters of the visiting team were the eagles from the Middle-Earth – who had mixed feelings whether to champion Gwaihir, their leader, or his brother Landroval and Meneldor their mates – the Western Eagles had no problem in picking their favorites against the visitors even if they sympathized with their M-E –fellows. Also the few wizards were undecided as Saruman clearly was one of them, but he was a traitor as well and not that honored here in the West. So the fingers and toes of one would be enough to count the supporters of Misty Mts. from among the tens of thousands spectators gathered to the Valinor Arena.

And the stadium was roaring as the teams entered, hailing the home team Pelori who had beaten team Valinor in the last game of the group-stage. The crowds were confident Misty Mts. would be something the home team would just walk over. Even Saruman and Durin’s Bane seemed intimidated and nervous by the roar of the homecrowds – only Caradhras marched to the field proud and firm.

Team Pelori started the game in a typical way playing defensive and just trying to get the feel of the opponent. Misty Mts. knew they’d have their chance trying to hit into that with some really aggressive pressure-play from the very beginning, but Pelori managed to ward them off by holding the ball and annihilating the pressure with quick passing, forcing the Misty Mts. players to run for their life to try and exert the pressure – to no avail. On the contrary, the few counter-attacks by Pelori were getting close to a goal one by one.

To the honor of Misty Mts. it must be said they managed to keep Pelori away from scoring for half an hour, always finding someone who would end the passing-rally and turn the direction of the game for a while. But they couldn’t shut them out forever. After a lengthy build-up Pelori were playing their quick-pass game on Misty Mts.’ side of the field when Varda found a gap in Misty Mts. defenses – actually between Meneldor and Landroval – and Eönwë made a perfectly timed run into it receiving the ball from The Exalted just inside the box and comfortably hammered it in. The Herald was not used to fail on open positions like that one and Caradhras, even if he did fill most of the goal, was just such slow to move he had no time to react.

After the goal Pelori fell down to their infamous defense with the lead and just froze the game for the rest of the first half. The home-fans didn’t exactly love it but they appreciated it. This was the way their team marched from victory to victory. The half ended 1-0 to the Pelori.


Misty Mts. came to the second half enraged. They had been wronged before the game when their fans were not allowed into Valinor, they had been humiliated on the pitch with their opponents just toying with them… Could Durin’s Bane take that kind of treatment in the land of the maker of his kind? Could Narvi face one more humiliation against the dwarves? Could Azog just take in the dissing Valinor showed against his kind? Could Landroval and Meneldor see any righteousness in the way they were treated in comparison to Gwaihir? Could Caradhras stand the mocking in front of his brothers and sisters looming in the horizon outside the stadium? Could the Watcher just swallow the name and treatment of an odd-weirdo? How was it with the pride of the Chief Wolf, or the Great Goblin? Weren’t they proud and independent heroes each and every one of them? Wasn’t there an honor they needed to display? Wasn’t this the time they needed to stand tall and fight back – and show the vain Valar what they were made of? (We omitted William from the list for obvious reasons) Yes, it was the tongue of Saruman that got them into fury during the half-time.

And Saruman really rallied the team behind him. Misty Mts. came into the second half with fury and pressed strongly, forcing the Pelori to a more defensive position they liked. Narvi hit the rack after just a few minutes into the second half. Durin’s Bane boomed a cannon that hit Nahar sending it tumbling down – and it took a few minutes for the referees and first-aid troops to bring the horse back to it’s feet. On the next offence Saruman dribbled himself free from Gwaihir but his shot was denied at the last instance by a sliding tackle by Mandos. Just a moment later Azog was getting into a firing-range but after shoving Nienna down the referee whistled a free kick for Pelori…

Manwë didn’t exactly lose his cool but it was easy to see he was annoyed and displeased of what he saw in front of him when he shouted his orders to the players on the field. And they did pull themselves together at last coming back to their usual organized game. And boringly enough they scored from the second full attack they built-up after the panicky ten minutes in the beginning of the half. This time Varda was stuck beside the corner flag on the right flank Landroval closing on her. She made a quick pass backwards to Eönwë who volleyed the ball towards the left flank where Lórien was getting ready for a shot - but Ilmarë emerged from behind Meneldor and made a diving header to cut the pass and into the goal – totally surprising Caradhras. A handy performance from a maid!

But Landroval protested heatedly. He said Ilmarë had dragged his wing down unbalancing him before diving for the header thus denying him a chance to reach for the ball. The referees were unfair as they didn’t call off clear fouls made by the home team, but were whistling anytime one of his own team even touched one of the opponents. Hearing the complaining Gwaihir flew in and started publicly patronizing his brother for whining and bad conduct. At that point Meneldor couldn’t stay calm but got into the argument as well actually pushing Gwaihir back with his right wing and calling him a “blind self-righteous puppet of Manwë”. That did it for Gwaihir who pushed Meneldor back and started calling him names we can’t reproduce in this family-friendly site. But seeing his brother pushing his mate with blow after blow of his wings Landroval couldn’t but join the fray to help his friend. The wings were beating and the beaks were hewn dangerously as the three eagles were at it. The referees tried to separate them in vain – basically they lacked daring, authority and force to do that. But Manwë did that for them, growing in size towering the whole stadium and picking Gwaihir from the neck like a sparrow and carrying him away in between two of his fingers. Namo and Oromë had come to the situation and were giving Landroval and Meneldor the kind of looks saying “you better not follow them” that they thought it better not to.

The referees held council while Manwë had some serious words with Gwaihir, and Landroval and Maneldor were cooling down under the watchful eyes of Namo and Oromë. The final verdict was a yellow card to each of the three. And that probably was a wise decision from the referees as if they had shown them all red cards as the incident would have called for, Misty Mts. would have been reduced to one man short and they – like all their supporters and all the media – could have blamed everything on the referees if Misty Mts. lost the game. So instead of drastic measures they only carded the three.

But the steam was out of the match when it finally continued. Saruman and his team saw the impossibility of the situation being two goals down against such a mighty defence and ball-controlling machine while Pelori had no reason to stretch the lead any further. And seeing how the incident with the eagles had ended made even Durin’s Bane to think twice before starting any mayhem: the sight of a 35 feet Manwë carrying Gwaihir away was intimidating enough.


~*~

So Pelori won the game 2-0 and will continue to the quarterfinals. And even if it could be fairly said that a better team won, there was much left to grudge and to speculate upon. Here are a few comments from the media straight after the game.

Tumunzahar Weekly: "The despotic rule of Manwë must end! Arbitrary premises are no grounds for systematic killing or oppressing of other races. It has been an endemic fault in the world from the very beginning and this year’s Arda Cup has shown once more how thwarted it has become. Staying behind the gibberish of Eru’s vision is just cowardice hiding the real reasons that stem from vanity only. Why is Aulë so quiet – has he abandoned us or has his silence been forced upon him?"

The Armenelos Times: "The presumptuous behavior of the Valar must end! The current going is just insulting all the races great or insignificant. In next year’s Arda Cup let the Valinorians fight it out between each other and then come down from their heights to the play-offs into the M-E. That way we remove the hosting problem and all the races can enjoy football. Even better though would be the opening of the realm of Valinor to all at last with no reservations whatsoever! What is it they try to conceal there anyway?"

The Beleriander: "The West behaves scandalously and that needs to stop. Maybe teams from the west should be just banned from the tournament? Arda Cup would be much fairer and more inter-racially binding without them. The whole idea of bringing races together in the name of fair competition, even mixing different creatures together, has it’s greatest enemy in those who pray they are interpreting the holy visions of Ilúvatar himself! What an outrage! We hold the lands were our forefathers died holy, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t let others to join us in festivities of peace for tomorrow in here. Inclusion is the way to peace and happiness, not exclusion."

Imladris Enquirer: "It is clear there are things that should be changed. It is totally unbearable to hear the news year after year about the mishaps happening to footballing tourists to the West – not to talk of some pretty straightforwards talk we have heard this year about the races welcome and the “undesirables” – the term itself mocks any moral person’s conscience. Just throwing it out as an idea that could be developed or challenged, how about the Valar would be spread the next year – like there would be no “Valinor-based”-team but the Vala who wished could still play in any team they wished to play for, as long as they didn’t have a clan there to call it a Valinor team?"

Moneybags Daily: "The current system of the Arda Cup seems to be at an end and new openings are required. How about we leave this buddy-buddying and anti-meritocratic scheming behind and leap into modernity making the Arda Cup a market-based enterprise like all other facets of our culture? So let those who have capital buy the teams for them and forget these race and age things. A football team should be as any other business: pick the right talent with the right price and you succeed. And to the aficionados afraid of our suggestion, pay heed to this as well: a smart investor takes notice of certain players performing profitably together and causing losses when in the wrong envirovment… so you romantics might get your fair share as well while we wealthier people would have some real opportunity to make some serious bucks."


Misty Mts 0-2 Pelori
tot shots 10-14
on target 4-6
GOALS:
*33, 0-1 Eonwe (Varda)
*65, 0-2 Ilmare (Eonwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Misty Mts- Watcher, William, Landroval, Meneldor
*Pelori- Ilmare, Gwaihir


Pelori goes through to meet the winner of the match between Lothlórien and Tirion in the quarterfinals.

[the phantom]

Barad-Dur at Tol In Gaurhoth

After the Werewolves of Tol In Gaurhoth won their group, a debate started immediately as to where they would host their opening round playoff match. There was the obvious choice of playing on the Isle of Werewolves, but every member of the squad and most of their biggest supporters called The Barrow-Downs their home. What to do?

In the end it was their opponent that decided things. The Werewolves did much research into ticket sales and travel preferences and determined that they would be likely to receive the biggest share of support playing in Beleriand. The masses of Mordor had split their support between teams Mordor, Minas Morgul, Wilderland, and Barad-Dur, and it looked quite unlikely that many of them would be willing to travel such a long distance to support a team that did not include Sauron, Witch King, or Khamul, but did include historic Orc-banes Isildur, Anarion, Ohtar, Gil-galad, and Cirdan.

It was possible that an odd few supporters of Isildur and Anarion would come in from Numenor, but with team Westernesse playing at home it wouldn’t be many. Many of Cirdan’s supporters would be siphoned off by another contest as well- Ulmo and Tol Eressea at Angband, a contest scheduled to be played upon Angfauglith, a venue more hospitable to the Elves than the unsettled Werewolf-infested boggy mists of Tol In Gaurhoth. There were no lodgings in the area whatsoever. The only place to stay was within Sauron’s ancient fortress and dungeon that sat upon the island, and the place was simply crawling with nasty critters and any visitor was running the risk of death.

And indeed just as the wolves predicted the only Barad-Dur supporters that showed up were a knot of Elves from Lindon who camped two miles west of the river. It was hardly a picnic for these Elves, as their camp was ringed with all manner of creatures throughout the night, howling and wailing away. As the day of the game wore on the Elves left their camp and tramped down into the mists of the valley, getting one last glance of the highest towers of the fortress which towered over the stadium before their vision was limited to a mere ten feet.

A slow crescendo of noise from the path ahead was the only thing that warned the Elves they were approaching the arena. Quite suddenly a stone wall loomed in front of them, and a wooden sign pointed them to the right for visitor seating. The wall on their left ran straight for a time and then curved away from them upon reaching the southern end of the stadium. At the southernmost point there yawned an evil looking portal, framed with many burning torches and spikes protruding from the walls and ceiling. The Elves walked through it nervously- as it so resembled the hungry maw of some giant fearsome beast that they could not help but fear it would suddenly close on them.

Inside the arena they found the air somewhat clearer, as a massive tarp had been stretched over the top of the sunken arena. There were already thousands of Werewolves gathered, as well as a few thousand Wights, and even quite a few Orcs from the area that had served there once upon a time. Needless to say the Elves were hopelessly outnumbered, and they knew they would be unable to impact the game in any fashion. They only hoped they would at the least come away from the ordeal able to celebrate a victory.

Barad-Dur ran onto the pitch first, and the Elves cheered, but of course they were drowned out by their opposition, who did not boo, but rather laughed horribly, which was far worse. Booing would at least mean they disliked the squad and hoped they would lose. The laughter on the other hand- they thought Barad-Dur was no threat and knew they would lose.

And as Tol In Gaurhoth took the field the Elves knew why their fans were so confident. The Werewolves were just freaks! Not quite Wolves and not quite Wights, these things were something Middle-Earth had never seen before. The strategy of Men, the cunning of beasts, and the athleticism of Werwolves- a deadly combination. The Elves watched shaking their heads as the creatures warmed up. NogWolf and NerWolf were practicing a full speed counter, passing back and forth while sprinting at a ridiculous pace. GwathWolf and InzgilWolf were taking blasts at he net from 40 meters out, turning the ball into a blur. PhantomWolf, SallyWolf, and GaladWolf were warming up with various tricks, showing a surprising amount of dexterity and control given their size and strength. Meanwhile the defenders and keeper were warming up their muscles with various agility drills, leaps, and short runs. The Elves wondered how on earth Gil-galad and his helpers up front could hope to gain any separation from these athletes.

And they were right to worry, as Barad-Dur could get absolutely nothing going early on. The Werewolves were having fun, sending it to their opposition again and again and letting them take their best crack at their defense. Finally at 15 minutes Fellbeast managed to make ShastaWolf move, but he caught it easily and sent it back out. Five minutes later Gil-galad managed to trap his defender on his back and did a nice turn and shoot from just outside the box, but the defense was spread perfectly leaving only one avenue to the net, and ShastaWolf was in it.

At around 25 minutes captain NogWolf declared a shift of play and the Werewolves actually started holding it and going up to apply some pressure. Around the half-hour mark PhantomWolf found InzilWolf with a cross, but one of Barad-Dur’s rear defenders managed to clear it. Just a couple minutes later GwathWolf got around the edge and sent a rocket at the near post, but Ohtar leaped and batted it away.

But Barad-Dur could not hold off the WereWolves forever, and at 34 minutes InzilWolf realeased NogWolf behind the defense and he made Ohtar commit then chipped it to the empty side for the lead! The crowd celebrated wildly. Things were going exactly as expected! They cheered all the way to the end of the first half while the Werewolves went back to their defensive play.

Tol In Gaurhoth came out for the second half attacking, eager to put a bit of a cushion between them and their opponents. Barad-Dur staved them off for a bit, but Tol In Gaurhoth continued the pressure and soon had another score thanks to a mad scramble that followed a corner.

Tol In Gaurhoth went back to defense after that, and the Elves in the crowd noticed a change in the atmosphere. It was getting foggy in the arena. A look at the north end of the arena would confirm things, as the edges of the tarp had been removed allowing the mists to creep down into the stadium and over the field. The Elves yelled in protest, as they were losing sight of the match, but the TIG supporters howled with laughter, seemingly not bothered by the ploy.

Unable to see the match any more, the rabid crowd started getting out their noisemakers and meat and beer, kicking off celebrations early. No one can know for certain what happened under the fog, but when they closed the tarp ten minutes later and the fog finally started to clear, the Barad-Dur squad looked as if they’d been run over.

Their jerseys were ripped, and they were all bruised and bleeding. The Werewolves on the other hand looked as healthy as ever. All of Barad-Dur was more or less wandering about, simply trying to locate their opposition, but as the final bit of fog by the Barad-Dur goal vanished, there was suddenly a flurry of activity, as PhantomWolf was standing directly next to the keeper Ohtar with the ball at his feet!

Ohtar shouted with surprise and tried to leap upon the ball, but PhantomWolf pulled it away and whirled over towards the other post and stopped again, laughing. The whole defense was rushing to get back, but he didn’t move. Ohtar regained his feet and lunged again, but this time PhantomWolf whirled the opposite way and tapped the ball towards the far post. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Gothmog II and Nazgul #1 raced to clear the ball, but when they were within a step of it GwathWolf, who had been miles behind, came sliding between them and deflected the ball across the line for the three-goal lead.

GwathWolf laughed and trotted over to PhantomWolf, and was heard to shout, “What were you doing?” PhantomWolf grinned and shrugged, then replied, “I just wanted to see if you could get there first.”

The Wights and Wolves in the stands went into full party mode now, and the Elves exited, eager not to spend another night in the area. The tarp was opened again, and mist began spilling into the arena yet again. The players of Barad-Dur slumped- there would be no comeback. Even if they could put it in the net the refs would never see, and the WereWolves with their super hearing and smell would have better chances anyway.

Before the mist completely covered the field Gil-galad could be seen shaking hands with NogWolf, and mercifully NogWolf ordered possession only after that, and shouted for the mists to be cleared away. Barad-Dur exited the field as quickly as possible after the final whistle and the Tol In Gaurhoth players leaped into the stands to join in the celebrations. In dominating fashion the Werewolves were through to the quarterfinals.

Barad-Dur 0-3 Tol In Gaurhoth
tot shots 12-18
on target 4-8
GOALS:
*34, 0-1 NogWolf (InzilWolf)
*55, 0-2 GaladWolf (SallyWolf)
*72, 0-3 GwathWolf (PhantomWolf)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Barad-Dur- Fellbeast #2, Gothmog, Isildur
*TIG- InzilWolf

Tol In Gaurhoth is through to face the winner of Angfauglith vs Westernesse.

[Boromir88]

Tirion at Lothlorien

This was to be a contest between some of the greatest Elves in the history of Arda. There was also a story line of reunions to be followed. Galadriel would be up against her brother, Finrod, and any enthusiast of Arda football will remember Finrod has so far gotten the better of Galadriel's Lothlorien. Then there was Feanor who had left Tirion last year, to only see them here, in the first round of the playoffs. Feanor's spouse and mother may have left, but his beloved father remains still. The two will likely desire to meet and talk before and after the match.

The Stadium of Dreams in Caras Galadhon was packed with mostly Elves from Lothlorien. Not many locals made the games for Dunharrow, but now that Galadriel finally delivered a playoff caliber team, they were as excited as anyone else to see their home town team in action. Over 12,000 Noldor from Tirion made the journey, and were anticipating a competitive, but overall friendly contest. There may have been some bitterness in the Tirion fans, with Feanor defecting from their team and be drawn into Galadriel's service. They reasoned his temper was not welcome in Tirion, and Galadriel would learn her will was not strong enough to subdue Feanor's rashness. Lothlorien would fall to the careful and steady Finrod, they were sure of it. Whatever the Tirion elves said to try to convince themselves, they were still enamoured by the skill of Fearnor. And truth be told, anyone would rather have Feanor on their team rather than Feanor playing against their team.

*~*~*

As Boro88's whistle blew, starting the game, it appeared Galadriel had decided before she would play defensive and count on Tirion's over-aggression to catch them on counter attack opportunities. However, Finrod was resigned to playing a balanced game and would not make the mistake that Bombadil made, leaving his defense exposed, especially when it was Feanor on the other team. So, Tirion was holding most possession, looking for the lead, and whenever Lothlorien was able to try a counter, the balance of Finrod's plan made it easy for Aule's defense to stop any advance.

In the 16th minute Tirion gained the well deserved lead when Finrod fed Finwe with a tight pass. Finwe had a step on Celeborn, and was in close for a 1-on-1 against Galadriel. Galadriel was staring right into Finwe, trying to psych him out, but Finwe is a professional striker. He did not look at Galadriel, but instead stared straight down, made a clean strike and directed it to the far post beating Galadriel.

The Lady of Lothlorien was not happy with her husband or her defense on that play, as her brother yet again seemed to be getting the better of his sister. And the Tirion fans burst out in applause, blowing their horns. See, they were right, Finrod perceived the mind of Galadriel well. He knew how to beat it and Feanor was beginning to get flustered. Galadriel had ordered a lockdown in front of her net, and Feanor was looking quite alone up front.

Tirion continued to play the style that earned them the lead, and they were clearly looking to expand it. However, Finrod was not willing to commit greater efforts to expand their lead. Aule was doing just fine shutting down any counter attack, but knowing the extreme dangers in discounting Feanor's individual brilliance, Tirion would just stick to the game plan. If it's not broke, don't fix it right? However, in order to gain more goals, Tirion probably needed more players forward, as Gandalf was now up to the challenge at keeping Finwe and Aredhel at bay.

Tirion should have, and probably deserved a greater lead going into the break, but a spectacular display of goal-keeping by Galadriel in the final 5 minutes, kept the game 1-0. Finrod was content having the lead, while Lothlorien just looked relieved only to be down by 1.

Whatever fireworks were blasted off in the Lothlorien locker room at the half, they looked like a completely different team to start the 2nd. Many speculated that Feanor had appealed to Galadriel's desire to win by showing her that waiting for counter-attacking was simply not working against her brother's team. They were in front of a passionate Lothlorien crowd, and playing this negative brand of football. Lothlorien fans did not deserve this product, not with the talent the team had up front this year. Whatever was said, it was a whole new look to Lothlorien and it took Finrod and Aule completely by surprise.

Within 3 minutes Lothlorien was drawn equal. Legolas broke into the box, and Orodreth was anticipating him to shoot, but with a soft back-flip, he left it for Boromir, racing in right behind. Orodreth had no chance. He was getting ready to stop a precise shot to one of the corners by Legolas, not prepared to have to save a patented speeding bullet off Boromir's boot.

Lothlorien continued pressing and Tirion's defense was looking desperate and frantic. That desperation showed as Caranthir slid into his father just a few steps outside the penalty box. Boro88 signalled a free kick to Lothlorien, and it would be a yellow for Caranthir. Many fans of Tirion were not happy with the decision for a yellow, surely Caranthir had no intent to injure his father, and Feanor seemed more proud of his son by trying to stop him from scoring. Or maybe Feanor knew no matter what Caranthir tried, it wasn't going to stop Feanor from getting on the sheet. Caranthir had only delayed the inevitable, as Feanor was set to take a free kick from a dangerous and close position. And as reliable as always, Feanor bent the shot up over Tirion's wall of defenders and it was out of Orodreth's range.

By the time Aule got the defense calmed, only just over 10 minutes had gone by in the 2nd and Tirion was suddenly down 2-1. That lead was not enough for Lothlorien, and this is the dangers of Feanor when he was completely in the zone. He was simply unstoppable, and no other way around it. Not even another 10 minutes had passed from the last goal, and Feanor put in his 2nd goal of the match.

With the 3-1 lead, Lothlorien now withdrew and went into protect mode. But this time the Lothlorien fans were not disappointed, because they had just witnessed 20 minutes of the most offensive football they had every seen out of the Lothlorien team, and they were simply ecstatic. Legolas was actually seen getting his pack of travelling fangirls to start the Feanorian wave. Galadriel did not look thrilled as she was urging her team to stay focused, there was still over 20 minutes of game left and Finrod was not defeated yet.

In the group stages, Lothlorien was always able to comfortably hold onto big leads, but they had not played an offense anywhere near the talents of Tirion. And this time Finrod would be pushing in full gear, but really there was no other choice. It was do or die for Tirion, and they were not going to go down without a fight. Lothlorien missed their opportunity to deliver the killing blow as a 2-goal lead was not all that safe against Tirion. Now Aule and Caranthir began drawing closer, and in the 79th minute Aredhel brought the score to within 1, after Caranthir led her perfectly with a pass.

Anyone watching the game in the final 11 minutes would be tense and on the edge. Lothlorien was trying to hold on to the lead and found it difficult to switch gears to a more offensive plan. Tirion was going all out to get an equalizer and just get the game into overtime. However, Gandalf proved exactly why he was signed onto Lothlorien, as the defense was now suffocating. And others thought that maybe Tirion lost too much firepower with Miriel and Nerdanel's departure? Not trying to take anything away from Finwe, Aredhel and Finrod, but Tirion was lacking just that extra bit of skill that made them threats to score a goal at any time as Gandalf was locking down the box confidentally in the final minutes. Stopping any and all runs that Tirion could muster. Whatever one chooses to believe, all that matters to fans of the game was Tirion was defeated and Lothlorien would be advancing to the quarter-finals for the first time in Arda Cup history.

As Lothlorien exited the field, the home crowd was said to give a great applause to Feanor going into the locker room. Galadriel had always been the Lothlorien favorite, but had never gotten the team far until Feanor's arrival. So, one has to wonder if there was enough glory to go around for Lothlorien to advance further? Or maybe, just maybe, remembering Feanor's comments about the Valar before the tournament, there was enough fiery spirit to get revenge against Manwe in the next round? For Feanor had settled the score against Aule in this round.

Lothlorien 3-2 Tirion
tot shots 14-17
on target 7-8
GOALS:
*16, 0-1 Finwe (Finrod)
*48, 1-1 Boromir (Legolas)
*56, 2-1 Feanor
*63, 3-1 Feanor (Nimrodel)
*79, 3-2 Aredhel (Caranthir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Lothlorien- Gimli, Amroth
*Tirion- Mahtan, Caranthir, Elemmakil

Lothlorien advances to the quarter-finals to play Pelori

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Bracket:



Power Ranking:



(Teams in bold are quarterfinalists, teams in italics are eliminated.)

Greatest gain:

• +6 Tol Eressëa*
• +5 Tirion*
• +4 Barad-dûr*
• +2 Eregion

*[These teams were below the top 16 in the previous Power Ranking.]

Greatest loss:

• -2 Wilderland, Valinor, Minas Morgul
• -1 Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Misty Mts, The Forest

The Power Ranking is based on the aggregate of offensive and defensive ranking--the lower the aggregate, the higher the rank. Ties are broken by a) goal differential; and b) the Power Rank of their opponent.

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

Phantasy Numbers:
(Players in italics are from eliminated teams.)

GOALS + ASSISTS
5+3
Túrin (Doriath)

5+0
Arien (Valinor)

4+0
Ancalagon (Angband)

3+4
Maeglin (Anfauglith)

3+3
Glorfindel (Eregion)
Elros (Westernesse)
Fëanor (Lothlórien)

3+2
Bombadil (The Forest)
Eönwë (Pelóri)
NogWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)
Legolas (Lothlórien)

3+1
Gothmog (Anfauglith)
Smaug (Wilderland)
Eärendil (Eregion)
GwathWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)

3+0
Húrin (Doriath)
Scatha (Wilderland)

2+4
Sauron (Wilderland)

2+3
Míriel (Valinor)

2+2
Thuringwethil (Angband)
Ar-Pharazôn (Westernesse)

GOALKEEPER - RANKING

1. 95.8% (23/24) Elrond (Eregion)
2. 93.8% (15/16) Huan (Doriath)
3. 92.3% (12/13) ShastaWolf (Tol-in-Gaurhoth)
4. 88.9% (16/18) Tar-Atanamir (Westernesse)
5. 84.2% (16/19) Galadriel (Lothlórien)
6. 82.4% (14/17) Manwë (Pelóri)
7. 82.4% (14/17) Amandil (Tol Eressëa)
8. 79.0% (15/19) Ungoliant (Angband)
9. 77.3% (17/22) Caradhras (Misty Mts)
10. 73.9% (17/23) Ingwë (Valinor)
11. 72.4% (21/29) Ohtar (Barad-dûr)
12. 72.2% (13/18) Grimbeorn (Wilderland)
13. 65.4% (17/26) Eärnur (Minas Morgul)
14. 64.3% (18/28) Orodreth (Tirion)
15. 61.5% (16/26) Old Man Willow (The Forest)
16. 55.0% (11/20) Huor (Anfauglith)

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Doriath vs Valinor

• Doriath Off > Valinor Def
• Doriath Def = Valinor Off

Tirion had proven that Doriath's defence is not actually impregnable, and Valinor is a better team offensively than Tirion (averaging almost 3 goals and 16 shots (7 on target) vs almost 2 and 15 (7) for Tirion against non-Shire-Bree teams.) So they could score. The problem is how to stop Doriath's shooters from doing the same to them, or worse. The Valinorean defence conceded two early goals to Wilderland, necessitating a furious second-half rally. Allowing a much stronger Doriath team to do the same would dash their hopes of advancing to the semis.

Doriath 4:2 Valinor

Angband vs Eregion

• Angband Off = Eregion Def
• Angband Def = Eregion Off

We may have underestimated the resilience of Tol Eressëa's defence, limiting the Angband offensive machine to but a single goal. Amandil in particular has risen to the occasion, which makes us wonder how much Angband's front line could do against Elrond (a better GK than Amandil) and his defenders, who held a determined Bombadil and his inspired squad scoreless.

Eregion's 3rd goal against the Forest could be a message to their next opponent--yes, they are primarily a defensive team, but they can shoot, too. The problem is if they could do the same against Angband's defence, which has held up against all but most determined attackers (like the forwards of Hithlum and Anfauglith scoring 2 each against Ungoliant and Morgoth in an average of 13 shots (6 on target)). Eregion has managed just about the same number of shots and shots on targets against all their previous opponents, but none of them are of the same level defensively as Angband.

It may end up in a penalty shoot-out. Elrond and Ungoliant are not that far apart in skill, but Eregion has only Glorfindel and Eärendil as quality shooters. Angband has more.

Angband 2:2 Eregion (Angband wins in penalties 3-2.)

Tol-in-Gaurhoth vs Westernesse

• Tol-in-Gaurhoth Off = Westernesse Def
• Tol-in-Gaurhoth Def < Westernesse Off

This is Tol-in-Gaurhoth's first serious test, and what a test it is. The strength of the Westernesse offense has already been proven--scoring almost at will against quality defensive teams Númenor and Tol Eressëa, and bludgeoning the struggling Anfauglith back line (with defending champion GK Huor in front of the net) with three goals. ShastaWolf and the three defenders would be hard-pressed to stop them. And so the game would hinge on how well the Werewolves's offence would do against the Westron defence. Anfauglith has ended Tar-Atanamir's shutout streak, but they are a tested team that has fought against the defence of Morgoth's fortress and not come out lacking. The TiG strikers have had a cake walk so far. How would they fare against one of the best defences in the league?

Tol-in-Gaurhoth 1:3 Westernesse

Pelóri vs Lothlórien

• Pelóri Off = Lothlórien Def
• Pelóri Def < Lothlórien Off

Fëanor has woken up! And it bodes ill for their next opponents.

Lothlórien's defence faced its toughest test in their last match, and, despite yielding 2 goals and 17 shots (8 on target) against Tirion, they have done well enough. The Pelóri offence is not in the same level (averaging less than 2 goals in 13 shots (6 on target), which means the Golden Wood's back line would not be hard-pressed like they were in the Round of 16. (Although they would have to be alert against Eönwë and Varda's counter-attacks.)

Pelóri's defence has not been as impressive as it had been in the friendlies, but they have still been solid, winning the Group of Death by allowing only 1 goal and 11 shots (4 on target) per game, including against a high-octane Valinor offence. Most of Lothlórien's front line has not yet been tested against such a quality defensive team, but with Fëanor's resurgence and Galadriel listening to his wisdom, that might be enough to tip the scales.

Pelóri 1:2 Lothlórien

[the phantom]

(Eliminated players in italics)

31

• GK **Elrond (Eregion)

30

29

• FW **Turin (Doriath)

28

27

• MF *Glorfindel (Eregion)

26

25

24

• FW *Maeglin (Angfauglith)

23

• GK **Huan (Doriath)
• DF **Melian (Doriath)

22

• MF Legolas (Lothlorien)

21

• FW **Feanor (Lothlorien)
• FW Elros (Westernesse)

20

• GK *Galadriel (Lothlorien)
• GK *Tar Atanamir (Westernesse)
• GK ShastaWolf (TIG)
• DF *Beren (Doriath)
• DF *Celebrimbor (Eregion)
• FW *Sauron (Wilderland)

19

• DF Elwe (Doriath)
• FW Arien (Valinor)

18

• FW *Bombadil (Forest)
• FW Eonwe (Pelori)

17

• DF **Fingolfin (Angfauglith)
• DF Erestor (Eregion)
• DF Malbeth (Westernesse)
• MF *Hurin (Doriath)
• FW *NogWolf (TIG)
• FW *Miriel (Valinor)
• FW Curufin (Hithlum)

16

• GK *Manwe (Pelori)
• GK Caradhras (Misty Mts)
• GK Amandil (Tol Eressea)
• DF *Ulmo (Tol Eressea)
• DF *Namo (Pelori)
• DF Carcharoth (Doriath)
• DF Celeborn (Lothlorien)
• MF *Finrod (Tirion)
• MF Ar Adunakhor (Westernesse)
• MF Leod (Anduin)
• FW *Ancalagon (Angband)

[Nogrod]

Doriath
vs. Tirion 4-1
vs. Himring 3-0
vs. Shire-Bree Utd. 4-0
vs. Minas Morgul 4-0

4-0-0
15-1
22,4% 37(67) – 16(48) 93,8%

Valinor
vs. Gondolin 3-1
vs. Beleriand 3-1
vs. Pelori 1-2
vs. Wilderland (OT) 3-2

3-0-1
10-6
15,6% 28(64) – 23(50) 73,9%

Looking at stats from any area of the play it looks like Doriath is about 25-30% better than Valinor, except in the overall shots taken and allowed where Doriath is only a marginal 5% better – and of course the goals allowed area where they are almost 85% on top of Valinor.

But what do these numbers tell us? Well, nothing and everything, as the statisticians tend to say. Let’s start with why the stats don’t matter here.

Which one would win the game if set against each other, Shire-Bree or Gondolin? Himring or Beleriand? Tirion or Pelori? Minas Morgul or Wilderland?

So if the stats give a general, say 30% advantage for Doriath, one could also say that the odds for the opponents Valinor has faced thus far to win the opponents Doriath has faced would be at least the same, if not higher. Thus making it more or less even.

To make a difference between the team one has then to go for some of the more independent stats. Two stats the AKM believes in more than others are the scoring percentage and the keeper’s saving percentage – and even if one can say Doriath played in a much easier group, both stats leaning stongly in Doriath’s favor can’t be dismissed.

So we’d say Doriath are the slight favourites to win, but not in a walk in the park –manner some see it, as they are really put to test here – one could say the first time in this year’s tournament. Anything could happen here, not the least because Valinor are Valar, and they have Nerdanel, Miriel and Arien…



Angband
vs. Hithlum 4-2
vs. TheDowner 3-0
vs. Anfaughlith 2-2
vs. Tol Eressea 1-0

3-1-0
10-4
18,2% 27(55) – 19(48) 79%

Eregion
vs. Gondor 2-0
vs. Barad Dûr 2-0
vs. Eregion 3-1
vs. The Forest 3-0

4-0-0
10-1
19,2% 27(52) – 24(52) 95,8%

The first glance at the teams would suggest the game would be played between two more or less even attackers, but that Eregion would have a way better defense, mainly because of heroic Elrond at their goal. But the AKM will not be satisfied with that kind of surface-analysis and is willing to go further with the game set-up here as well.

Let’s start with the big questinmark: is Angband’s defense that much weaker? To be honest it is not. Elrond is the leader of the goal-keeper stats and is a remarkably great keeper but the defense is not all about the goalie and also about the defenders, but is a lot about the opponent’s trigger-happiness – and the quality of the opposing offense overall too. And there we have clear difference.

Now Eregion has sailed to this stage without needing to face any offensive powerhouses, while Angband has played against both Hithlum (with Curufin and Celegorm & Hador) and Anfaughlith (with Maeglin, Gothmog and Fingolfin); two teams who live for attacking and have the quality to score. Looking at it from that POV makes Angband defense look a way better the stats show. Eregion has faced thus far Gondor, Eriador and Barad Dûr – and an anemic The Forest – and still they have allowed about as many shots as Angband has! And anyway: the three top teams on group C score together 26 goals – while the top three of group D scored only 16! So the challenge the defenses have met are far from equal.

On offence is tight as well. Tilion has only shown occasional sparks and Ancalagon and Thurihngwethil have carried the flag with some nice back up from Tevildo, and from Morgoth from defense. So even if their number one star has not been at his best yet, they have made a confident attack on a larger front. On Eregion’s side the things are more or less the same even if one could say they have no untapped hero-power that would have been sleeping thus far. Glorfindel has been his dashing self and Eärendil has been good beside him, while Elladan and Elrohir have been helping them out from behind.

So as the AKM sees it, it is a question of Eregion meeting their first offensive team with quality and at the same time the first team with solid defenses. So will Elrond stand as well against quality-opposition and will Glorfindel and Eärendil be able to score against a league tougher defense they have met thus far? If the answer to both these questions is no, then Angband will win easily. If it is yes, it will be a really tight match.



Tol-In-Gaurhoth
vs. The Forest 3-0
vs. Nargothrond 3-0
vs. Mordor 3-1
vs. Barad-Dur 3-0

4-0-0
12-1
18,2% 32(66) – 13(37) 92,3%

Westernesse
vs. Mithrim 4-0
vs. Tol Eressëa 2-0
vs. Númenor 2-0
vs. Angfauglith 3-2

4-0-0
11-2
19,3% 26(57) –18(38) 88,9%

Here again we find a statistician’s nightmare. Both teams look more or less equal on most areas: goals scored, goals allowed, the efficiency of shooting, total number of shots allowed, the goalkeepers saving percentage... But there are two stats that differ somewhat: the number of shots on goal and the number of shots on goal allowed. IN those two T-I-G seems to have something of an edge.
So the question then becomes: are those differences significant, and also, are the similarities actually telling of similarities? Time for the AKM to take a look at them.

First of all the number of shots allowed eg. the tightness of the defenses: after the group phase the numbers were basically even. After that Westernesse played Anfaughlith where as T-I-G played Barad Dûr. The ensuing difference is wiped away immediately. It’s also good to notice that Tar Atanamir’s saving percentage was 100% before meeting Anfaughlith – a kind of team T-I-G has yet to meet.

The number of shots and shots on goal on the other hand show a steady advance for the T-I-G. They have consistently shot a bit more. But a look at the group-stats makes an interesting reading here as well. Of the other teams in their groups only Mithrim from group F gave in as many shots as the three other teams from group E did. And to just make it more particular: Tol Eressëa is one of the tightest defending teams of the whole tournament, and Númenor were tough defenders as well – which can’t be said of Nargothrond, Mordor or The Forest at all. So suddenly the starts start to look a bit different as it looks only quite natural Westernesse hasn’t shot that much.

So all in all, even if the numbers say T-I-G has something like a slight advance we tend to think the tournament of the werewolves is over this time and predict Westernesse will win. It will be a tough game, but still. The final factor in here is that T-I-G hasn’t faced any real tough teams thus far while Westernesse has – and still the stats look pretty much equal.



Pelori
vs. Beleriand 1-1
vs. Gondolin 2-1
vs. Valinor 2-1
vs Misty Mts. 2-0

3-1-0
7-3
13,5% 23(52) – 17(44) 82,4%

Lothlórien
vs. Minas Morgul 2-1
vs. Minas Tirith 3-0
vs. Dunharrow 2-0
vs. Tirion 3-2

4-0-0
10-3
18,5% 30(54) – 19(49) 84,2%

This is one of the games one would not like to predict on. It always seems from the stats that Manwë’s teams are not that good and still, more often than not, they prevail in the end. Some say this will be a duel between Manwë and Fëanor. It might be that. But it is also a fight of Galadriel against Varda and Eönwë.

When meeting some real offensive talent against Tirion, Galadriel gave away two goals immediately. That doesn’t predict good on their side. Then again Pelori hasn’t played against the best goalies either.

On the other hand, both teams have met only one strongly attacking team. The results: Pelori beat Valinor 2-1 while Lothlórien beat Tirion 3-2. And as only a fool would say Tirion would have any chances beating Valinor (Doriath beat Tirion 4-1!), it looks like Pelori’s defences are stronger after all.

The attack then? Lothlórien has been scoring confidently 2 or 3 goals in every game. Legolas has been very good and Fëanor has flashed his talents a few times – but only flashed them. In previous years it was always Túrin and Fëanor going neck by neck leading the scoreboard, but this year Fëanor has given no real challenge to the son of Húrin. Will he set alight in this game – and is it enough facing the defense by Manwë and Mandos? But clearly he is not what he used to be as one can’t blame the toughness of the opposition this time around.

Honestly speaking, Pelori has met with tougher defenses than Lothlórien has and thus the difference in goals made and shots on goal that seem to favour Lothlórien diminish a lot in signifigance.

It would be so compelling to say it is a duel between Manwë and Fëanor and leave it at that. But that of course is not the way to do it. So the AKM hold Pelori slight favourites to the game, but if it comes to a shoot-out we would possibly predict a different outcome…

[the phantom]

The Game Within The Game
The Phantom, "The Downer" Sporting News

We all know what is going on in the Arda Cup, so I won't waste any time writing about that. It's only the biggest sporting event in Middle Earth! It's receiving plenty of coverage from fine journalists. What I want to talk about is a game within the game that has been going on here on the Downs. I'm talking about the Arda Cup Phantasy Competition.

If you haven't checked the standings lately, guess who's back on top? None other than the winner from three years ago- Gwathagor. He has always sworn that he would win another title, and here he is threatening once again. If you'll recall he was also sitting in first place at this stage last year, but couldn't hold off the late charge of Boromir, and ended up in a jumble with Nog, Skip, and Nerwen in the final standings.

But this year he has a bit more of a cushion and will be more difficult to catch without help from pre-tournament predictions. Yes, don't forget those! They are worth a potential fifty points, so the championship is still wide open!

The ever competitive Nog is sitting in second place currently. He's been a hard-luck case in years past, always in the hunt but never on top at the end. Will luck be with him this year?

Next is Boro, who is looking to become the first ever repeat winner, and if anyone can mount a furious prediction-fueled comeback we know it's him.

Just behind him is Nilp and Eomer, who have been charging hard the past couple rounds. Watch out for them- they're on a roll.

A couple points down from there is the ever dangerous Skip, who is another one that has a reputation for strong finishes.

The next group down will have a bit more trouble coming back (they need pre-tournament predictions to hit for them), but they're all bunched tightly and there is pride at stake and no doubt they wish to at least beat those around them- Nerwen, Morm, Kuru, Shasta, and Galadriel. Bringing up the rear is Sally and Inzil, who are anxious to put on a spurt and send some of the group above them to the bottom of the standings. They are also keen to break the 200 point mark, as that would put them solidly ahead of last year's rear group and give them confidence for a change in luck next season.

And as a special treat, here is a brief statement from each of this year's participants.

Boro (They Have a Cave Troll): Guess who's within striking distance people? Ha ha- the comeback king, me! That trophy is going to stay in my living room this year.
Eomer (Bletherin’ Blellums): I had the most group prediction points, and you watch- I'll gain the most pre-tourney prediction points too. And combined with this nice run I'm having... This thing is mine.
Galadriel (Unnamed Horror): This is my first ever try at this and I'm probably going to finish in the top half. I'm a natural, aren't I? After I get some experience the rest of you won't stand a chance.
Gwath (The Lynch Mob): Guess who's sitting on top again? It's- no! Not Boro, it's- No! Not Skip or Nog either. I was implying that- NO! Not Saucepan Man! It's ME!! GWATH is on top! You need to give me my proper respect.
Inzil (Inzil’s Ignobles): You mean this isn't like golf? Oh dear... I've got some ground to make up then. No matter- with a late charge I will relegate someone else to the bottom. Simple as that.
Kuru (Kuru's Scrubs): I'm just not cut out for a long competition like this. I'm more of a natural sprinter.
Morm (Wrath of the Monkey): Six people ahead of me in the standings, six people behind. *sigh* Always mediocre.... Grrr! But I will change my fortunes with a strong finish!
Nerwen (Notorious Nerwenites): I seem to be a bit off my game this year. But it's not completely out of reach. I'll give it my best, and at the least I'll beat that blasted Shasta.
Nilp (The Numbering Horde): Oh yeah! On a hot streak! Just gotta keep it burning and I'll shoot past Boro this round, Nog in the next, and pass Gwath on the final turn. Boo-yah!
Nog (Noggportunistics): Always a bridesmaid never a bride, right? But sooner or later my superior strategies will pay off, I'm certain.
Sally (The Cupkicks): Without Wilwa here who am I supposed to be competing with? Meh- at least I have the coolest name.
Shasta (Wolf Pack): Well curses! That last round did not go as planned. But hey, everyone has one bad round. From here on out I'll be good. And at the least I'm going to beat my nemesis, Nerwen.
Skip (The Klong Toey Soi Dogs): Those guys in front of me are looking at each other and playing accordingly. Perfect... Just forget about old Skip here. Pay no attention. I'll just close the gap nice and innocent like, and then BANG! They won't see it coming.

[Boromir88]

QUARTER-FINALS PREVIEW
BoroLXXXVIII Two Towers Network

We shall see if the Felagundian has the staying power to consistently put out those types of predictions. I know I already do. As far as AKM, that used to be one of the best football magazines, but it is so full of kick-backs and payoffs the biases of the sports-writers is clearly revealed.

Previous years the AKM had a love child with the Tirion trio, and seeing as the Tirion trio has split up, apparently they found a new one with the Westernesse team. They so desperately want Westernesse to win this year, they are starting to arbitrarily twist stats. Accuse me of ignoring stats, like Huor's save percentage? Ok, fair enough, but I was trying to weigh in the chances of Huor having a monster play off performance as he consistenly showed in the past. But the AKM is doing something far more dangerous by manipulating stats.

The stats tell the story and to try to factor in who's had the tougher competition to either downplay or boost a team's stats is just impossible. Has TIG played as tough of an opponent as Anfauglith yet? No. But you play the games you're given and all you can do is win them. TIG has been sharp and effective in all their games. While Westernesse has shown vulnerability, especially at the back.

Is it true I was favoring Anfauglith over Westernesse, because Anfauglith was my predicted champion at the beginning of the year? A bit. But keep in mind I was not way off in believing the possibility. They drew with Angband and Westernesse had to storm back with a 1-man advantage to get that win. But now, with my champion team gone, there is no more favoritism factor in these predictions, no more biases. That is not the case for AKM or the Felagundian.

Doriath vs Valinor

This is looking like one of the easier games of the quarter-finals to predict, but I think it's still going to be an exciting, tight game. Valinor's downfall is really their defense and they don't have the power to get into a scoring match with Doriath. And that's the big difference, Doriath is a balanced team that can play you either way you want. They can keep a low scoring defensive battle, or run up the score board. Doriath's talent is inferior to none and can win however way the other team wants to play it. Huan has shown he's not beyond making mistakes and has gotten beat when under pressure. But how much pressure can he be under with Melian's defense in front of him?
Doriath wins 3-2

Angband vs Eregion

This could very easily be another 1-0 win for Angband as this will be a defensive and goal keeping clinic for everyone watching. There is enough scoring talent to each score 1, but the question is who will get to 2 goals first then? Because it's probably going to take over time to get there. Here we favor Angband because Eregion's defense is pretty mediocre, but just looks better because of Elrond's divine goal keeping skill. Angband has to win it in OT, because if it goes to a shoot out we'd favor Eregion's strikers over Angband's. However, if anyone can grind out 2 goals against Elrond, it'll be Melkor.
Angband wins 2-1 in OT.

Tol in Gaurhoth vs Westernesse

Die, Westernesse, die! Oops, can't have any biases here. Ok, we imagine AKM has a love affair with this team because it looks similar to the 2009 champions, Armenolos. Similar, yes, but a few key differences. There is no lynchpin and architect in Sauron as there was in 2009. And instead of having a complete sturdy Numenorean team, they've filled some of the spots with men of a lesser age. Even if these men were some of the greater of their age, they are still lesser men from a lesser age. When up against an actual capable attack, Westernesse's defense does not look at impenetrable and that's what you get when you try to mix Numenoreans with others.

We know TIG can score, we know Westernesse can't keep their goal clean when playing against a team that can score. We also know the wolves have been a stronger and more athletic match up problem for the Numenoreans in the past. The problem has been TIG's aggressive wolvy personality, relying solely on athleticism. This looks like a different wolf pack this year though. They're playing far better as a unit and it's a proven fact that wolves will do anything for survival, even gnaw off their own paws.
TIG wins 3-2. This is another game that goes to OT

Lothlorien vs Pelori

Manwe's team actually shows some life and for the first time has made it into the quarter-finals. And the same goes for Galadriel's team. With a spot to the semi's, this will be interesting. We favor Lothlorien, simply by the past experiences of Feanor and Gandalf who can bring a championship mindset that settles the nerves of Lothlorien. Who on Pelori has made it this far, and what have the Valar ever won? I rest my case.

Not yet though. In all seriousness, this comes down to the talents of Feanor and Gandalf. There will be no question about inspiration for Feanor in this game. And Gandalf knows the mind of his Maiar and Valar very well. He will no doubt have the defense prepared for all the tricks Manwe wants to try to throw at the defense.
Lothlorien wins 2-1

[Nogrod]

It is sad to see the venerable TTN is turning into a yellow paper. We hope we don't hear them getting caught of wiretapping the celebrities' phones and breaking into their voicemails as a standard practise.

--- end of the rhetorical part ---

Whatever TTN says, the AKM will stand for quality journalism backed by the most reliable data given and analyzed by the most cabable journalists in the bussiness. Our individual journalists may have some personal favourites of their own, like we think every enthusiastic football commentator will unavoidably have - a thing which even the TTN seems to acknowledge well themselves. But there is a great difference in liking certain playing-styles, teams, races or individual players and letting those affiliations to affect one's journalism.

The case - and the accusation - TTN brings forth, looks to the AKM both ridiculous and insulting. Here's what we are referring to.

Originally Posted by TTN

They [The AKM] so desperately want Westernesse to win this year, they are starting to arbitrarily twist stats. Accuse me of ignoring stats, like Huor's save percentage? Ok, fair enough, but I was trying to weigh in the chances of Huor having a monster play off performance as he consistenly showed in the past. But the AKM is doing something far more dangerous by manipulating stats.

The stats tell the story and to try to factor in who's had the tougher competition to either downplay or boost a team's stats is just impossible. Has TIG played as tough of an opponent as Anfauglith yet? No. But you play the games you're given and all you can do is win them. TIG has been sharp and effective in all their games. While Westernesse has shown vulnerability, especially at the back.

Let us make a few questions to the editor of the TTN.

How does TTN think that "us wishing for the Westernesse to win" would be in anyway advanced with us saying they could win the game against T-I-G? Does the TTN believe in some kind of incantational magic where if the AKM spells out a prediction it does happen in the real world (how else to interpret the line saying we're doing something "far more dangerous"?): and seemingly from their POV the wrong way as they wish for the T-I-G to win - thus doing just the thing they criticise us of doing aka. taking sides?

And to be true, the AKM does not wish anyone in particular to win or lose. The AKM is no individual blogger fighting his heart out to support a team or another but a respectable news organisation in the service of the public for enlightenment and entertainment.

Secondly, how does TTN think the AKM has "arbitrarily twisted the stats". The stats and their analysis are there in the open for anyone to consider (and in TTN's case, to re-consider) in the AKM article. All the points made by the AKM are fair and balanced. Cutting the main points into a few basic notions, what the AKM said was:

1)
Both teams are very much even statswise, but two differences.

a)
The number of the overall shots allowed (not those allowed on target) slightly favours T-I-G. The AKM reminded the readers that those stats between the two teams were more or less even before the first knock-out round where Westernesse faced the offensive powerhouse Anfaughlith and T-I-G faced the fiasco called Barad Dûr. Unlike TTN says, it is not impossible "to factor in who's had the tougher competition". Or does someone think the number of shots against you would be the same facing Anfaughlith or Barad Dûr?

b)
There is a slight difference in overall shooting (not in the shooting on target though) in favour of T-I-G. The AKM reminded the readers that overall in the group-phase the shots allowed were very different: in group E (T-I-G) the other teams allowed about 41 shots against them whereas on group F (Westernesse) only one team (Mithrim) let the others shot that much, while the two others (Tol Eressëa and Númenor) only allowed 28-30 shots - like 1/4 less. So that is a fac t to be considered. And that is what the AKM said. Nothing more.

2)
We notified the fact that even if Westernesse has conceded two goals while T-I-G has conceded only one, then they gave those two goals to Anfaughlith who has one of the most effective attack this tournament knows of (and here we think TTN can not but agree). Before that game Westernesse had allowed no goals at all and Tar Atanamir's saving percentage was pure 100%. So the comparison between the two goalies should take that into account as Shastawolf has not been tested by a team like Anfaughlith unlike Tar Atanamir has. From that perspective we find little evidence for TTN's claim that Westernesse "has shown vulnerability, especially at the back" - and that was what we wanted to remind our readers about.

3)
From 1a&b the AKM concluded that the stats were more or less equal (and they are equal on all the major parts of the game: the total shots allowed and total shots taken aren't the most important stats), and things being more or less equal statswise, the fact that Westernesse has faced a lot tougher opposition (Anfaughlith, Tol Eressëa) makes them the favourites for the game in the eyes of the AKM.


Let us conclude with a re-quote from TTN:

Originally Posted by TTN

Has TIG played as tough of an opponent as Anfauglith yet? No. But you play the games you're given and all you can do is win them.

Exactly. But if two teams end up with similar stats when one plays some weaker opponents and another tougher ones, then it would be smart to infer there is a difference between the teams favouring the latter. Right? If T-I-G would be the better team they would outshine Westernesse in the stats now, but they don't.

And that's why the AKM believes Westernesse will win. But even there we are cautious, making it this way:

Originally Posted by The AKM

It will be a tough game, but still. The final factor in here is that T-I-G hasn’t faced any real tough teams thus far while Westernesse has – and still the stats look pretty much equal.

No prejudice, no favouritism, no sympathetic magic - just rational inference based on the statistics.

We'd love to see the same attitude from the TTN.

[Nogrod]

Last year the AFA authorities offered the Arthedain to host group C of the Arda Cup. Many an eyebrow was raised back then as everyone knew the ambitious rebuilding-project of Norbury was a huge venture demanding both time and capital – so why drain both of those precious assets with adding one more major project to it? There was no way they could manage it, said many. There were strong suspicions on the issue. But lo and behold! They built a beautiful stadion at Amon Sûl – rebuilding the tower itself for it as well, in time, in a luxurious manner though not in the grandest of scales.

Here’s how The AKM’s correspondent described the new venue last year:

“[the Arthedain] asked to host the games at Amon Sûl instead [of Norbury]. The fully rebuilt tower laid a majestic backdrop to the stadium they built on its feet.

The Weathertop-Arena was not the most grand or lavish venue there was, but it was dashingly modern while it’s architecture honoured the surroundings and the great tower of Amon Sûl. From far away it looked like the stadium was embedded into the hillside, being a part of it.

The most expensive suites at the tower offered some real glamour for the spectators able to finance such lodgings – and a great view to the game from individual balconies. As a bonus the spectators would be shown live-coverage from all the matches going on at other locations via the restored palantir of Amon Sûl.”

The games went peacefully, the crowd turn-out was impressive (full house for every match) and what is really important: the mood in and around the group-play was amiable and good-spirited; and the organization was greased and polished, working effortlessly top-level. So it was kind of natural the new venue would get a promotion and letting them to host two quarterfinals as the neutral ground was just a fitting way to appreciate the Arthedain. But after the initial nod and even cheers from them, it didn’t take long from the journalists attending the AFA “quarterfinal revealing dinner” to start thinking about it again. It was a neat stadium combining old and new; tradition and cutting-edge architecture shook hands there, the newest design and materials blended seamlessly into the ages old structures and formed a unity not only together but with the surrounding hills, plains and forests. And it was clean, working, efficient, comfortable to suit all tastes from a beggar to a king…

But it was so small! It housed only some 45000 spectators – and these were the quarterfinals of the Arda Cup, two games of the four to be played! There was no way the games could be played in front of such thin crowds. It was a yellow paper from Lothlórien who got the question in first.

Galadriel’s Daily Mirror: Half of Arda is crazed for tickets to see Galadriel and Fëanor play! And Elrond, and Legolas! And the Valar! Millions would die to catch an eye of Varda and Nienna in their evening gowns in the after-game party! And you give the games to this children’s playground in the middle of nowhere? This can’t be!

The AKM: If I may sir, it does sound peculiar you give the games to such a small arena with limited services. Even if we do not agree with all The Galadriel’s Daily Mirror says, we must join them in asking the sanity of the decision. There would be real big venues nearer some civilization to be used…

The AFA Chairman: Please, there is no reason to worry, everything’s thought about. The Arthedain have promised us there will be a stadium double the size from last year in place at the first kick off. I’ll give the chairman of the organizing committee a word here to give you some additional information…

Arveleg: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Oh, this place brings forth memories… *looks moved and sighs* And I’m proud and happy – if also very tired right now – to have been able to give my contribution to the quarterfinal-games of the AC11 to succeed on this hallowed ground. But as the Chairman just said, we will be seating double the amount of spectators this year, but that’s not the big thing. The big thing is, that with the enhanced Palantir Network Technologies ™, we can also share a new Palantir Projection View™ to all those venues that have Palantirs – and as we speak we are co-operating with the stadiums around the Arda to receive full stadiums to watch the games live on air – like they would be looking at the games taking place in front of their very eyes. This is cutting edge stuff, mind you. We deliver the “being there” feeling to full stadiums around Arda: Tol Eressëa stadium will be packed with the broadcast of Avallónë’s stone, and there will be nice crowds in Osgiliath, Minas Morgul, Minas Tirith and who knows were the lines can be connected before the games.

Arveleg and the AFA chairman looked pleased seeing the amazement of the media. Now the media really got a story to make headlines!


All these avant-garde-technologies apart, was the venue spoiled with the new enlargement of the stadium?

Not at all. Now it bound Weathertop and The Fortress Hill together, sitting on a saddle between them; and the ancient Banked Bridge was renovated to edge the western side of the stand. And as the stadium now reached both hills, there were new buildings on top of the Fortress Hill as well, nicely trailing the general shapes of the hills around and providing double the luxury box seats. And to top it all, they had built a kind of modernistic mirror-image of the tower of Amon Sûl itself on top of the Fortress Hill, rising from the ruins of the old Fortress’ walls. The walls of the new tower were built on steel-railings criss-crossing the structure and then covered with dampened ash-grey glass that reflected the surrounding scenery to a viewer outside the tower, but inside they had a bright view on the pitch and all the modern conveniences any spoilt celebrity could dream of.

But the commoners had not been forgotten either. Housing now 95000 spectators there was room enough – and with the Northern efficiency – the logistics worked marvelously and there were for once enough toilets and beer-stands so one didn’t need to use hours queuing to them.

It was an engineering and financing miracle and there were many who asked themselves the question: “how can this be?” Something was at works there but it was hard to say what – but questioning the Northern kings and their capability of ending great tasks was just an invitation to face a sword, every reporter knew that much...

[the phantom]

Philip McPhantom
MESPN News, Doriath

What good fortune for the residents of Doriath! Not only is their team on a roll, undefeated through four friendlies, three group games, and the first playoff contest, but they can view their team close to home yet again, right in their historic underground Menegroth arena.

When Doriath was assigned to group A at next door Himring, there were mixed reactions- it was delightfully close to home, but a group with both Himring and Tirion wasn’t the easiest of the groups to go through. But Doriath rose to the challenge, beating both tough opponents solidly by three goals and qualifying first, gaining the right to host in the first playoff round.

Their first round opponent was Minas Morgul, not a bad team, but after Tirion and Himring they weren’t overly challenging and Doriath put them down with a sound four goal thumping, putting them through to the quarterfinals. But where would they play? That was the question.

The two quarterfinal host sites were already selected before the tournament- Doriath and Weathertop, but what was not known was which quarterfinals would be played at which location. It all depended on the locations of the teams that made it through. Had Wilderland defeated Valinor to move through to face Doriath, it’s very likely that the quarterfinal would have been shifted to the eastern site, particularly if the west-based Tirion would have defeated Lothlorien, or had The Forest upset Eregion. But as things turned out, Doriath is set to play their playoff contest in their home stadium for the second game in a row!

But this time around things in the Doriath stadium probably aren’t going to be a non-stop party. They weren’t worried about Minas Morgul, but their next opponent is much more intimidating- Valinor is coming to visit. Valinor, with their Tulkas anchored defense, Yavanna in the midfield, and the flashing trio of forwards- Arien, Miriel, and Nerdanel. Valinor- a battle-tested team, having played a solid Beleriand, the defending champs Gondolin, Manwe and his mighty Pelori squad, and Sauron’s dangerous Wilderland stars. Valinor would not be caught off guard by Doriath’s talent, but perhaps Doriath would be surprised?

Not according to co-captain Melian. “Certainly it’s fair to say that Valinor is the best overall team we’ve faced this tournament, but that doesn’t mean we are unprepared. Fingon and Maedhros from Himring are a very formidable pair of forwards, and Tirion is just completely stacked up front, with Finarfin, Mahtan, Finrod, Aredhel, and Finwe. And of course we just went up against The Witch King. No… I think we’ll be sharp and ready.”

But that remains to be seen. What we do know at this point is that the home field advantage will not be as pronounced in this match as in the last. Doriath is the host site but the team is not officially the host team, and thus tickets have been allotted equally between the participants, and Valinor is quite likely to at the least approach their assigned number. Pelori will likely be drawing large numbers of Valinor residents, but Valinor will probably be more popular given their diverse makeup. Not only will various Ainu be in attendance, but the Noldor will come to support Miriel and Nerdanel, the Teleri will come out for King Olwe, and the Vanyar will make the trip for King Ingwe and Indis. The crowd could very well end up split dead even, unless some Doriath residents can buy some tickets away from those unwilling to make the long trip across the sea.

Doriath vs Valinor is not the only match to be played, however. There is also the contest between Tol In Gaurhoth and Westernesse. No doubt a large contingent of Wights, Wolves, and Orcs will be streaming down the Sirion after they have finished celebrating their recent win upon their haunted isle, but they do not have the numbers to fill a stadium the size of Menegroth, and thus Westernesse is certain to have the crowd behind them. Supporters from Arnor have already started arriving, and residents of Gondor and Numenor are on the way, doubtless in greater numbers than even Valinor. But Doriath can handle a massive flood of visitors. That’s why it was selected as a host site.

The Westernesse supporters that have already arrived are taking over some of the local establishments, and they are confident that they will be going through to the semifinals. “This is a team of destiny!” said King Arvedui earlier today. “I gave my best effort with my Eriador squad of course, but I’ve also been following Westernesse through the tournament with great interest. Armenelos took home the Arda Cup two years ago, and this year they have a similar team, only with more diverse talent. They’re so big, and strong, and calculating, and mistake-free, and work together so well. This team is going all the way!”

But Tol In Gaurhoth supporters do not agree with Arvedui. One of the only early arriving TIG supporters, MormWight, had this to say. “Westernesse going all the way? Don’t make me laugh. We Werewolves beat them for the bronze three years ago and we’ll beat them again this time. Sure, they’re physically imposing against other teams, but it doesn’t mean anything against us Werewolves! We’re just as strong, but faster- and we’ve got the flash to come back if we’re behind, and the killer instinct to put a game away if we’re ahead. This is our year!”

All opinions aside, it looks to be a great pair of games here in Doriath. Which two will move forward to the semifinals at the grand coliseum at Amon Hen? We can’t wait to find out!

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Woe is me, for I am an Elf of eliminated players!

The Felagundion has been founded on three very simple principles: Support Finrod and Tar-Míriel with all its heart; oppose Sauron and Pharazôn will all its strength; and enjoy awe-inspiring plays by great players with all its soul (provided it doesn't clash with the two abovementioned principles).

Now the fairest of mortal queens has been eliminated in the group stage (by her hateful cousin, no less), and the Lord of Narog has joined her in the first knockout stage (eliminated by his sister and half-uncle). Arien and Elrond, the new darlings of the Felagundion according to the third principle, are still playing, that is true, and Gorthaur has been eliminated (by Arien, no less), but the first principle was the sine qua non of this venture. Without it we couldn't enjoy the games fully even if the Sun-Lady scores a hat-trick against Doriath, or if Elrond shuts Ancalagon, Tilion, and Morgoth out, or even if the Werewolves humiliate Tar-Calion with a ten-nil drubbing (something Anfauglith, regretfully, failed to do).

Due to these events the Felagundion regretfully decides to close shop, watch the coming games in silence, and await the next Arda Cup, hoping for better fortunes for the son of Finarfin and the daughter of Tar-Palantir.

Felagundion,
Exactly what it says on the tin.

Post-scriptum. 6/8, hah! (Those two mistakes were real painful, though.)