First we have Nargothrond face off against Buckland in what should be a pretty one sided game. Misty Mountains will then be taking on Old Grey Hill. Though Old Grey Hill did manage a draw against Fangorn I suspect that Misty Mountains will be too much for them. I predict an easy win for Misty Mountains.
***
Group C
Nargothrond 2 - 0 Buckland
(Mormegil 2, 88)
It was a fairly straightforward game. Buckland made their intentions clear right from the start, they just parked their horses in front of goal. Then again even Nargothrond made their intentions clear right off the bat, with a goal coming just two minutes into the game. Mormegil slugged his way past defenders after being played in by
Gundor. Unfortunately after this goal Nargothrond calmed their approach and their attacking flair from the last match seemed to have been lost.
Buckland could barely piece together an attack as Nargothrond played a very central game, barely leaving the midfield. It was fairly boring and not really anything worth watching. The only other highlights came when
Mormegil blasted a shot from some 30 yards out only to have it hit
Mim and go out of play. Near the end of the game
Mim made up for his earlier goal costing mistake by providing a cross for
Mormegil to head in with relative ease.
Shots: 5(3) - 1(0)
Posession: 60 - 40
Group E
Old Grey Hill 0 - 1
Misty Mountains
(Dwalin 66)
This was a fairly good match. Both teams managed to create a decent number of chances it's such a shame that they could only manage to score one goal between them. The first chance fell to Old Grey Hill when their striker,
Guest played in
Sun who waited for too long before he took his shot. Only minutes after that
Sun had another wonderful chance when he broke free and was only stopped by a last ditch tackle by
Bolg.
Right after that Misty Mountains began a fantastic counter attack which saw
Stone Giant's lobbed shot blocked by a resilient
Man in the Moon.
Stone Gian got another chance from the resulting corner but this time
Man in the Moon held onto the striker's attempt. Despite a good show from both teams we went in all square at half time.
In the second half Misty Mountains began to show their dominance and build up swift attacking plays. However they were unable to find the breakthrough till the 66th minute when
Dwalin who recieved the ball after a goal kick by
Bolg took a potshot from 45 yards out. His screamer of a shot whistled by a stumbling
Man in the Moon to open up the scoring.
Apparently this was enough to break down Old Grey Hill who just found it impossible to build up any worthwhile attack after letting in a goal. Misty Mountains dominated the rest of the game but failed to really make much of an impact or even cause any danger in front of goal. In fact their only goal could be called a bit of a fluke. Forty five yards out? What are thd odds?
Shots: 5(3) - 7(3)
Posession: 46 - 54
***
Nargothrond won in a very one sided game. I'm surprised they did not score more but that is down to their reluctance rather than Buckland's defensive prowess. Misty Mountains secured a fairly simple one goal win over Old Grey Hill. They were pretty evenly matched in the first half but Old Grey Hill just had no character to deal with going a goal down. Job well done by Misty Mountains.