[the phantom]

When Mirkwood won the bid to host Group B of the Arda Cup, a fierce battle ensued between Elves, Men, Orcs, and... things.

The woodmen were the first to lay claim. "The games should be played here, on the western side of Mirkwood!" they insisted. "We've cut ourselves homes right back into the wood, and we know the woods well. Much of our blood has been spilled defending our homes here."

But the spiders and other beasties didn't agree in the least. "You had to defend your homes from us, and why? Because you drove us from our rightful place! We've lived in this forest for many years. You should've stayed on the Anduin. You late-comers have no claim!"

"If that is the case," answered the Elves, "Then surely you deny your own claim. We were here before the forest turned dark. Before it even became Mirkwood."

"Ah, then you admit that it was us who made this forest what it is!" returned the evil creatures. "The bid was awarded to 'Mirkwood', not 'the forest which used to be Mirkwood'!"

In the end, Arda Cup officials stepped in and ruled that if a place could not be agreed upon, they would award the bid to another location. That threat was enough to bring a scrap of unity to the residents of the forest, and they built a great new stadium in the midst of the forest, just south of the Elf road where the enchanted river crosses. The stadium seats were built in many different shapes and sizes so as to accommodate beings of all types. There were even prespun webs stretched between the field lights to provide a perch for the spiders.

As the games neared, spectators came in by the thousands. Hastily built hotels surrounding the arena provided food and bed, and a place for fans to discuss the upcoming matches. A handful of families from Eriador had braved the passes of the Misty Mountains to support Arnor, and could be heard far and wide declaring this year as "our year". "These players tied Angband and Valimar last year in Group play, and now we've added Isildur. It's our time!"

There were also a few men from Rohan there to support Helm's Deep, though far more of them had traveled to the Shire to support Edoras. Oddly enough, some men of Rohan showed up in support of Mirkwood, due to Lord Fram's presence on the team. "He's a dragon-slayer, and a forefather of the Rohirrim. How can you not support him?"

And of course there were Elves. Thranduil's people arrived in great numbers to support their lords who would be playing for the Mirkwood team, but there were also a few Elves from the west who came to watch Nargothrond play.

The woodmen and a few men from Long Lake who came supported Mirkwood for the most part, mostly because of Grimbeorn, though some of them adopted Nargothrond due to Beren and the father of dragons, Glaurung. But it was certainly Mirkwood who had the most support. All the denizens of Dol Guldur were completely behind their representative Nazgul and the fearsome Scatha, and so it was that the stadium was certain to grant Mirkwood a clear home-field advantage.

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ARNOR VERSUS HELM'S DEEP

The first game of the day featured Helm's Deep and Arnor. The stadium was disappointingly about half full at the start of the game, though it had filled by halftime.

As Helm and company emerged out of the tunnel onto the field, they appeared to be confused. "All right men- up onto the ramparts and make your bows ready!" shouted Helm. "If we gain the high ground first-" But then he saw that there were no ramparts, nor was there high ground. "What the devil?!" shouted Gram. "A flat battlefield? But we don't have our horses!"

Hama rolled his eyes and yelled, "I've been telling you all along! We're playing football!! Not fighting! Do you believe me now?! See?! There's the goal right there, and the ball, and the refs!! FOOTBALL!!"

Helm quickly regained his composure. "All right then, men, it's football we're playing! Take a position, and remember, you have to use your feet!" With far more order than one would think, the Helm's Deep players took places on the field and began practicing, passing balls around to each other. After a couple minutes, Arnor came out onto the field and warmed up alongside them. Isildur in particular looked full of swagger, and the fans from Arnor were extremely vocal.

Right from the first pass it was Arnor who looked to attack, but Helm's Deep was stingy and cluttered things up again and again in the back third of the field, though they weren't able to mount any sort of counter attack. In the 29th minute Arnor gained a corner, and Arantar booted it to the far side of the goal where Isildur used all of his height and met it perfectly to send it inside the post for the lead.

The rest of the first half was played in the midfield for the most part, with each side only gaining one decent shot, which both goalies were equal to.

Arnor came out energized for the second half, and held the ball for several minutes before Isildur gained position inside and was given the ball. He used his size to shield the ball from Theodred and curled around him, made a brilliant move past Folcwine, and found Araphor on the run with a perfect pass and Araphor made no mistake and gave Arnor the two goal lead.

The action was slow from then on, with Arnor being content to hold their lead and play prevent defense against Helm's Deep. It worked fine until the 80th minute and Helm "Hammerfoot" blasted a shot from 30 meters out perfectly into the top right corner. But that was all the scoring for the day, and Arnor left with 3 points in hand.

Arnor 2-1 Helm's Deep
shots 10-9
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*29, Arnor (Isildur, Arantar)
*58, Arnor (Araphor, Isildur)
*80, HD (Helm, Hama)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Argeleb, Valandur
*Helm's Deep- Brytta, Helm

MIRKWOOD VERSUS NARGOTHROND

Despite the stadium's vastness, it could not contain the crowds that showed up for the night match. After the Helm's Deep and Arnor fans vacated their seats, there weren't nearly enough empty chairs to accommodate the hordes of Orcs and companies of Elves lined up outside. Even the spiders ran out of room and began spinning new webs across the field. Head ref Boro88 had to call in a crew to stop them from putting webs in places that were likely to get hit by the ball during the match.

In the end they allowed everyone in and there was standing room only. The aisles were packed and there were Orcs perched atop the skyboxes, stacked one on top of the other. And so it was that when Mirkwood trotted onto the pitch, the noise was nearly deafening, and a nearly equal volume of booing greeted the favored group-winner Nargothrond.

As play began, it was all out war on the field. Tough collisions and hard tackles were the order of the day, and the refs were keeping their cards in their pockets and letting them play. The Mirkwood forwards pushed with all of their great skill, but Luthien and the sons of Feanor were up to the task. On the other end it was the same story, with the wizard, Radagast, the Ent, Treebeard, and the bear-man Grimbeorn holding the line against the dangerous scorers from Nargothrond.

Both dragons gained an opportunity for their side, but the GKs stopped the shots cold, and the crowd roared in appreciation of the good play. But that sound was nothing compared to the riotous screaming that broke out at the 33 minute mark when Scatha drew first blood and put the home team ahead on the scoreboard.

But the team from Nargothrond was not so easily shaken, and their competitive will held firm through halftime, and at last they equalized a few minutes after the half as Mablung found Beren with a pinpoint pass. The crowd was not discouraged however, and urged their team forward. But it was Nargothrond who once again took charge, and at the 77 minute mark Finduilas was awarded a kick from a foul on Treebeard for "rooting" (when a tree or ent which sticks roots into the ground and has them emerge at another spot on the field to contact the ball or an opposing player). Her kick was barely tipped away by Oropher, but it rebounded off the post and was booted in by Glaurung, and Nargothrond took the lead on the home team, 2-1.

Mirkwood tried desperately to equalize, but the defense of Nargothrond was solid and refused to let Mirkwood's forwards run free. At last in the final 10 minutes Legolas gained a step on Luthien and Thranduil hit him with a pass, but his shot was tipped away by Orodreth and the score held. The home fans left the stadium down-hearted, but not completely depressed. Nargothrond had been the heavy favorite, and they had played them tough. Surely they still had a good chance of advancing. But they knew Helm's Deep and Arnor would have something to say about that.

Mirkwood 1-2 Nargothrond
shots 11-9
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*33, Mirkwood (Scatha, Thranduil)
*52, Nargothrond (Beren, Mablung)
*77, Nargothrond (Glaurung, Finduilas)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Mirkwood- Treebeard, Fram
*Nargothrond- Gelmir, Mim, Beren