[the phantom]

The stadium was completely packed and there was barely an empty tree upon the slopes of Amon Hen as kickoff time approached for the championship match between Gondolin and Vinyamar. There were quite a few dwarves, and twice as many elves, but most numerous were men for certain- at least half the stadium (mostly from Gondor). There were no trolls or dragons to be seen at all, and only one small section of die-hard orcs had showed up.

All the fans were very much enjoying the architecture of the new stadium, particularly the goodly folk seated in the portions that were built in the image of Angband and Mordor, as they had never ventured to those locations before.

Turgon and his wife Elenwe were pressed upon greatly as they made for their seats. Everyone wanted to know which side they’d be supporting, as Turgon was the founder of both cities. His wife made no secret that she was pulling for her daughter and son-in-law playing for Vinyamar, but Turgon remained noncommittal. “Both teams have proven themselves worthy in this tournament, and I’m fond of a great many players on both sides. How can I be against my trusty generals, Glorfindel and Ecthelion, or my dear sister Aredhel and her family, my valiant father Fingolfin, or Huor who died defending me so long ago? But then how can I be against my own daughter, or her husband Tuor who is dear to me as well, or the great and admirable Ulmo?”

The fans in the stadium and prognosticators from MESPN and Arda Kicker Magazine were not so undecided, however. The support of the masses was firmly behind Vinyamar thanks to their grit and feel good story, while the experts backed Gondolin nearly to a man, as they had the better overall goal margin through what they viewed as stiffer competition. But even so no one was predicting a blowout, as Vinyamar’s defensive prowess and possession game were not doubted.

And when the game began, it certainly did look like the match would be close. In the opening minutes Vinyamar went to work with their careful passing game, but Gondolin was quick and well disciplined, and the probing yielded no results. When Gondolin got their turn they fared no better, as Ulmo and friends were on top of things at the back and Idril and the midfielders were applying good pressure in the center.

It was so slow going that in fact no shots were taken at all until minute 24, when Eol managed to split the midfielders in the center and send a powerful drive at the bars. The distance was great and Rog was not caught off guard and so he caught it easily. At minute 29 Vinyamar finally got off their first effort, a swerving speculation by Duilin. As on the other end the keeper was more than ready and Huor gathered it in quite easily.

Several minutes later the crowd noise increased greatly as Vinyamar finally managed to get it down one of the sides, as Idril managed to draw help away on a nice center run and then sent it over to Tuor who was one on one on the right side with Rochallor. Tuor won possession, but the battle-horse would not at all let him by, and when he tried to hang one up out front for the other attackers Rochallor blocked the effort, and it went out for a corner kick.

The stadium buzzed with excitement, as this was the first real chance of the match, but the excitement was for nothing as Asfaloth rose up and headed it away from the goal, and Fingolfin got to it first and sent it down to the other end. Vinyamar started building the attack again, but soon they gave it over to Gondolin, and the hidden city controlled play for the remainder of the half, though they still could gain nothing more than a couple of distant shots which went wide of the mark.

As the minutes went by in the second half the buzz increased in the stadium little by little. The way this match was going it was likely to be decided by one single moment, and so every little touch gained importance as the seconds ticked away. At minute 53 Vinyamar gained another opportunity, this time from a yellow card given to Aredhel for tripping Egalmoth about 35 yards out and to the left of goal. Duilin took the kick, sending it towards the right post but bending away, precisely as planned. Tuor and Penlod were both in the vicinity surrounded by defenders. Penlod managed to fight through them and rise up to redirect the ball. The crowd yelled as it had clearly gotten into the net, but groaned as they realized it was on the wrong side of the post, having gone just wide.

A few minutes later it was Gondolin’s turn to be disappointed, as Aredhel’s great cross for Ecthelion was only just batted away by Rog. The fans from Gondolin remained hopeful, however, as this marked the second time in just a few minutes that Gondolin had managed to win the ball all the way down into the corner (the first time it was Fingolfin). It looked like perhaps the speed and skill of their wings was at last wearing down the unflappable defense of Vinyamar.

At minute 62 Fingolfin managed to dribble past Voronwe up the side, forcing the defense to shift over to help. Fingolfin continued his run as long as possible to draw them, and then sent it over the top to the more sparse right side. Aredhel beat everyone to it and with an excellent first touch sent it on the ground along the end line past Ulmo while she went around his left to collect the ball on the other side. The defense rushed to meet her but too tight to the goal, leaving her a passing lane to Maeglin who had slipped out away from goal a bit towards the corner of the box.

Maeglin took the shot immediately off the pass, and the “sharp boot” was sharp with his timing and aim indeed, sending it just under the bar and inside the left post to break the scoreless tie! The Gondolin supporters screamed in approval while the Vinyamar fans slumped deeper into their seats. The fans who had no vested interest but hoped for a Vinyamar win clapped with moderate enthusiasm, as it was a well earned goal.

Now it was up to the Gondolin defense and Huor between the posts. They had held firmly the entire game, and Vinyamar was not a quick strike team. Surely they could hold for just a bit longer. It certainly seemed that they would as time went past 70, as Vinyamar was getting nowhere at all. But as time approached 80 minutes Vinyamar sent everyone forward and really got aggressive. They were leaving themselves open to a counter to be sure, but they needed a goal.

Idril had a window from distance, but her shot sailed high. Then it was Egalmoth’s turn, but his effort bent too far left. Time was running out. Then at minute 86 Vinyamar was granted a corner, which was taken by Duilin. His ball made it to the far side where Ulmo met it. His header deflected off a defender and back to the middle, where it was pounced on by Salmar who immediately kicked it out of midair over the defenders at the top bar, but Huor got a fingertip on it, sending it off the top post and back down the middle!

Maeglin was first to it and he immediately sent it all the way down to Rog on the other end, and Gondolin breathed a sigh of relief. They had survived the onslaught! Vinyamar was not finished trying of course, but their efforts yielded nothing so dangerous in the final minutes, and soon head ref Boromir88 blew his whistle and the match was over!

Gondolin had won the Arda Cup Championship!

Gondolin 1-0 Vinyamar
tot shots 9-7
on target 4-2
GOALS:
*63, 1-0 Maeglin (Aredhel)
YELLOW CARDS:
Gondolin- Glorfindel, Aredhel, Salgant
Vinyamar- Osse, Penlod