[the phantom]

Every room in the city of Tirion upon Tuna was filled, and a sea of tents crowded the parks, the lawns, and the streets. Even more tents could be found outside the walls of the fair city, particularly upon the western side towards the Calacirya where the great road came running out of Valimar and the lands beyond the Pelori. Just outside the western gate on the north side of the road stood the great stadium. It had been built by the Noldor of old, and the arches and pillars were both strong and beautiful. The stonework was studded by jewels of many colors and sizes, and the gleam of the stadium could be seen clearly by Manwe or any other looking out from the summit of Taniquetil.

Seven of the Arda Cup groups were being hosted east of the sea, and so it was that the games at Tuna were as well attended as any. The Teleri, the Noldor, the Vanyar, and the Ainur were there in force. Only a small handful of fans made the trip across the sea to support Brethil and Gondor, but both were likely to receive polite support from the rest of the crowds. Tol-in-Gaurhoth, on the other hand, was unlikely to receive any support from the Elves and Ainur. They did not look kindly upon Werewolves. Tol-in-Gaurhoth would have to depend on their own fans- a small but extremely noisy group.

There was no question which team the massive crowd would be behind with their whole hearts- the team from Tuna. After upsetting Nargothrond to reach the final eight last year (where they lost to eventual champion Formenos), Tuna's fortunes looked promising. They had seven of their players back, though arranged slightly differently in order to match their talents better (they hoped). But four new faces- Amrod, Amras, Indis, and Aule, promised to improve their defense, which they hoped would mesh well with their ultra-aggressive offense.

But the crowd would have to wait to see them in action. First up was Gondor versus Tol-in-Gaurhoth.

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GONDOR VERSUS TOL-IN-GAURHOTH

First to arrive on the field was Tol-in-Gaurhoth, and to the crowd's delight, it appeared they hadn't practiced at all. Their test shots were off, and their passes were clumsy. "That's what they get for not even drafting their team until last week," thought most of the fans.

Gondor on the other hand looked sharp out of the locker room, and from the first whistle they controlled the action. Only 14 minutes into the game Kuruwolf and Runewolf completely botched their defensive assignments and allowed Faramir to run completely free to the goal, and his brother wasted no time in finding him with the pass.

For the next while Tol-in-Gaurhoth managed to keep Gondor at bay with their athleticism and strength, but they were still making mistakes and generally passing poorly. In the 32nd minute the fundamentally sound Gondor made TIG pay again as the Werewolves were late getting themselves set to defend a corner and Imrahil easily volleyed it in.

As the half came to a close, Boromir was allowed into the box as Skipwolf and Wereomer got tied up with each other, but fortunately for TIG their goalie Mormwolf was a bit more on the ball and made a brilliant stop to keep the deficit at two goals.

The mood was festive during the half, but that ended soon after the start of the second. TIG had obviously decided to kick the effort up a notch, and came out of the locker room playing ridiculously rough. Runewolf received a card only two minutes in, and just five minutes later it was Gwathwolf who was rung up for being too rough. More cards could easily have been handed out, but the Werewolves did an excellent job at avoiding the eyes of the ref.

Gondor was momentarily knocked off their precision game by the sudden onslaught, and that was enough of a window for TIG to finally get on the scoreboard. Since passing wasn't working well, the TIG players tried to take the ball upfield without help, and at minute 56 Phantomwolf succeeded in making a run down the entire sideline and in towards the goal. His shot attempt was poked away by Anardil, but SPMwolf pounced on the loose ball and booted it solidly into the back of the net to cut the lead to one.

Surprisingly, the goal seemed to calm Gondor down, and they settled into a groove after that and worked around the physical play of TIG quite well for the next ten minutes, gaining two chances at the goal. Unfortunately for them Mormwolf seemed to be completely on his game now and he stopped them dead. Heartened by his efforts, the TIG team finally started playing some decent football and worked the ball up the field. Borowolf and Phantomwolf both gained decent scoring chances, and the box was peppered with long-shot attempts, but it was finally Nogwolf that tied the score by deflecting a rocket from Gwathwolf.

During the final minutes of the game TIG continued to control the action, but thanks to great play by Calmacil the score remained tied at 2-2. But then with only two minutes left, Gondor finally caught a break. Minalcar intercepted a pass and sent it forward to Imrahil who made an amazing run down the field and into the TIG box with Faramir at his side with only Kuruwolf left to beat. But before he could do anything, Lomwolf took him out brutally from behind, and the Elves and Ainur applauded as a penalty kick was awarded to Gondor.

Imrahil approached the ball and bent it perfectly into the top right corner, but Mormwolf guessed right and with a spectacular leap knocked the ball up and over the goal! The crowd groaned, but the section of TIG fans roared and celebrated, happy to escape with a tie. It was more than they deserved after the start they had.

Gondor 2-2 Tol-in-Gaurhoth
shots 14-17
on target 7-8
GOALS:
*14, Gondor (Faramir, Boromir II)
*32, Gondor (Imrahil, Hirluin)
*56, TIG (SPMwolf, Phantomwolf)
*73, TIG (Nogwolf, Gwathwolf)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Ioreth, Valacar
*TIG- Runewolf, Gwathwolf, Kuruwolf, Lomwolf

BRETHIL VERSUS TUNA

The giant Feanorian lamps shone brightly above the field as Brethil made their way out for their first game. The spectators clapped graciously, but obviously were saving their energy to greet the home team, and when the Tuna squad sprinted out of the tunnel, the Brethil team found out just how much of a visitor they were. Never had that stadium heard so much sound, but those cheers were nothing compared to the roar but 7 minutes into the match when Miriel found Finwe for a header and the early lead.

And even that roar was nothing next to the blast of noise that occured at the 19 minute mark when Miriel found the goal herself, helped out by her daughter in law Nerdanel. The Brethil players appeared to be in slow motion, partly due to the skill and speed of Tuna, and partly from the shock of witnessing it in front of their faces.

Just minutes before halftime, the stadium shook again as Nerdanel found the net after controlling a perfectly threaded long pass from Indis. It was 3-0 going into the locker room, and in the stands it was one giant party. Bottles were opened and songs were belted out. What a way to begin!

At the opening of the second half Tuna started slower, content to conserve energy and finish out what had been a great game. Brethil gave it their all and tried to rough things up and even managed a couple of respectable shots, but Aule of the Valar was more than equal to the task and kept them off the score sheet, and the hard tackles of Brethil did little damage to the graceful Eldar who always were quick enough to avoid the worst hurt and fell lightly and sprung right back up. At the 63 minute mark, despite their slower pace, the precision and skill of Tuna yielded yet another goal- this time it was Finwe helping out his youngest son.

After that Tuna really pulled back and contented themselves to holding the ball, and Brethil out of relief didn't seem too keen to press the issue and allowed the game to finish the way it was and saved their efforts for their next match. The home side left the field waving joyously to their supporters, and there were celebrations in Tirion far into the night. Tuna was a force to be reckoned with.

Brethil 0-4 Tuna
shots 6-19
on target 2-10
GOALS:
*7, Tuna (Finwe, Miriel)
*19, Tuna (Miriel, Nerdanel)
*41, Tuna (Nerdanel, Indis)
*63, Tuna (Finarfin, Finwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Brethil- Hundad, Brandir, Halmir, Haldir
*Tuna- Amrod