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In a clearing in fair Neldoreth a great stadium had been erected by the Dwarves of Nogrod and the Sindarin Elves. The two peoples had been working in tandem, complimenting each other with their own special talents and the end result was an architectural feat to be marvelled at, rivalling even Menegroth a league away up the river. It was an huge eliptical arena with two tall towers in each end in the shape of great holly trees; from its emerald crowns jewels gleamed in likeness of radiant red berries. Here the stage was set for the climax of Arda Cup, the two concluding matches of the tournament, beginning with Tol-in-Gaurhoth’s match against Armenelos for third place. The following day was the day of the final between Hithlum and Formenos.

Kick off for the third-place match was set at 3PM but just as the stadium started to fill up and the dignitaries sat down in their honoury seats (Melian and Luthien were here, but not Thingol who refused to watch the ‘baseborn mortals’ of Armenelos who had beaten his Doriath with relative ease) news came in that the T-i-G team was delayed and would not make it on time. A courier told the officials that the team bus had broken down on the way to the stadium. The horses pulling the cart had panicked for an unknown reason and even managed to cut loose and escape leaving the team stranded. The game had to be postponed an hour so that the T-i-G players could make their way to the stadium by foot. When they finally arrived however they had left their uniforms in the bus which was still at the side of the road. After a brief discussion if was decided to postpone the match a further hour, as no team was allowed to play without uniforms. Just as the crowd started to tire, the Armenelos players came out of the tunnel two hours later then planned. Ten minutes later, after game officials had threatened that T-i-G could forfeit the game, team captain Nogrod finally entered the pitch, followed by his teammates.

As the two teams lined up and the referee was about to blow his whistle a male streaker suddenly came onto the field. Any suggestions that this was one of the local Elves who had lost a bet were quickly dismissed. This was not one of the fair folk – no siree - and as there were women and children in the stands officials rushed out to restrain him. The man, later revealed to be T-i-G supporter Rune son of Bjarne, showed skill and pace by elluding the security personel for quite some time; also, they looked quite reluctant to grab hold of him. In the meantime various objects (rolls of toilet paper, love-letters, bras, undies, red roses, make-over books) were thrown onto the field by the T-i-G supporters in the stands. Before the streaker was taken care of – harshly - and the trash cleared off the field, another 25 minutes had passed and the red sun was already in a haze far into the west. Finally the match could begin.

At the start of the game there still seemed to be one team only on the pitch. Armenelos, who were very disappointed to have lost their semifinal, looked determined to show the world they had been unlucky and were very much running the show early on. T-i-G on the other hand seemed determined only to delay the game even more, taking every chance to hold on to the ball and run the clock down. When Tar-Ciryatan showed his frustration by tackling Eomer from behind, the T-i-G player went down seemingly with life-threatening injuries and had to be stretchered off. As play eventually got under way however he was soon back up on his feet and ready to play to the dismay of the Armenelos supporters. Scenes like this were repeated again and again and the referee had to book serveral T-i-G players for timewasting. Suddenly Armenelos took the lead when Ar-Pharazon the Golden struck from close range. As the Numenorians celebrated their T-i-G counterparts seemed more interested in the evening sky above them than the match they were involved in and most likely losing. While the sky went from a hazy red to a pale pink, Armenelos took a two goal lead after a solo run by Tar- Ancalimon. Shortly after, The Phantom got himself carded for timewasting as he tied his shoestrings instead of taking a throw-in. What were they thinking? At halftime, the T-i-G players shrugged nonchalantly and cast glances at the darkening sky. The sell-out crowd couldn’t believe their eyes.

During the halftime break the sun finally vanished behind the distant horizon and the sky darkened. Thankfully the stadium was equipped with several phials sent by Galadriel and a multitude of Noldorin lamps by courtesy of the Feanorians, so the nightfall was no threat to the continuation the match. The crowd was distressed however by the change of weather as a shadow seemed to have fallen over the stadium. Dark clouds gathered and it became increasingly difficult to breath. Soon it started to rain and thunder was in the air. But as the two teams came out and started to play, little seemed different on the field. Armenelos was still much the better team, while T-i-G just loitered around. After ten uneventful minutes a gust of wind ripped the black clouds apart in the east, revealing a full moon on the rise. The wind howled in the trees and a nearby lightling strike lit up the faces of the players and the crowd, who shuddered without knowing why. Was that eerie howling really the wind? No, now the cry of a lonely wolf could clearly be heard. And there was a response on the pitch! Lhuna was crouching on the grass and howling at the moon. Hideous thick hair started to grow on her hands and face, grotesque fangs and claws became visible in the moonlight. The petrified Armenelos-players stood silent and watched in horror as the other T-i-G players also transformed into wolf-like creatures. The seams in their jerseys almost cracked as the muscles underneath bulged, but the elastic uniforms stayed on and so did the boots. Now the crowd finally understood why T-i-G had been stalling the game: they were waiting for the full moon to rise! Now it was time to play ball!

As the forth referee searched the rulebooks for any mention of whether werewolves were allowed to play or not, the werewolves on the pitch showed Armenelos how to play. With their superhuman powers they were unstoppable, absolutely unstoppable. The match finished 2-3, but T-i-G could have scored five or six. They were all over their opponents, jumping higher, running faster, tackling harder and ripping them to to shreds if they dared to come too close. The Phantom, Eomer and Nogrod each got on the scoresheet, but all T-i-G players had good opportunities to score. Eomer’s goal was just insane: he jumped a good 3 metres straight up and hit the ball out of mid air with a bicyclekick, nearly ripping the net apart behind the Armenelos goalie. The heroic Elros appealed to the referees that this could not be allowed, but the referees were just as afraid as all the others and did not dare to oppose the ferocius wolves.

The match was stopped already in the 89th minute and no one blamed the ref for not adding on any injury time although several Armenelos-players now were bleeding severly. Sauron, the only player not to transform apart from Thuringwethil - who of course was beastly enough already - came and gathered the throphy. There was an eerie silence in the stadium as the wolves quickly left and disapearded into the forest. Moments later Mablung and Beleg arrived with hunters equipped with silver arrows but it was too late, the wolves and the third place throphy were gone.

Armenelos 2-3 Tol-In-Gaurhoth
shots 18-14
on target 9-8
GOALS:
*Armenelos, 27 (Ar Pharazon- Ar Adunakhor)
*Armenelos, 39 (Tar Ancalimon- Ar Gimilzor)
*TIG, 72 (the phantom- Sauron)
*TIG, 78 (Nogrod- Formendacil)
*TIG, 86 (Eomer- Lhunardawen)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Tar Ciryatan, Tar Ancalimon, Tar Calmacil
*TIG- Formendacil, Cailin, the phantom, Eomer, Nogrod, Hookbill, Thuringwethil