[Boromir88]

Group A

Match 3 - Tirion vs Shire-Bree United
Everyone knew the Hobbits would be made into 2nd breakfast by the Tirion faithful. The hobbits were far away from their homes, had very little crowd support, did not look at all like the great athletes on the other teams in Group A, and were completely shut out by Himring in round 1. This would be easy.

The hobbits and Breelanders were anxious to prove that just because they didn't appear as fit and as athletic as the other teams that does not mean they weren't a proud footballing nation too. So, the hobbits came out in a whirlwind, controlling the action, darting through and around the Tirion defenders. They were shooting from every possible angle, and whenever they had the spacing to do it. And while most of their shots were going off target, Orodreth was really sweating between the posts.

Finally the hobbits work ethic paid off, as Bandobras was able to direct a shot on target. Orodreth was there on the save, but couldn't hold on and Samwise reached the rebound before Elemmire to give Shire a shock 1-0 lead.

But Tirion were cool professionals, if this was the game the hobbits wanted to play, they would only be playing to Tirion's strengths, their skill players up front. The hobbits showed their worth, but now it was time for Finwe, Aredhel, Finrod, and Mahtan to show how deadly they were.

After some testing of the Shire-Bree defense and Butterbur, 13 minutes after the hobbits goal Tirion was equal. Finarfin threaded a crisp pass to his father, who easily rounded Butterbur and scored. Then 11 minutes later, the always calm and collected Finrod saw Mahtan open and the great Noldor smith lined up a real power strike to give Tirion the lead. That was the manner of Tirion, they can beat you with skilled precision or raw power and everything was right again in the footballing world.

After the crowd saw 3 goals in the first 30 minutes, the game calmed down in the final minutes of the half, as the attacks became more tired and less frequent.

Shire-Bree began the 2nd much like the 1st half as the hobbits were darting all around the Tirion defenders again. Only this time, having seen the hobbitish tricks already, Aule was more easily able to handle their attacks. After a couple of their shots went off target, Tirion regained possession and went to work for more goals. Finrod got on the scoresheet again, only this time with a well-struck goal, giving Tirion a 2-goal lead early in the 2nd.

And there was even time for a 4th goal as the Tirion defenders decided to get involved in the scoring. Aule launched one of his trademark passes deep into Shire-Bree's half of the field, to the dark Caranthir who out-hustled the two ponies. Butterbur tried to come out to pick the ball on its bounce, but was too slow and clumsy for Caranthir who controlled it expertly with a nice chip over the Breelander keeper.

Tirion let the Shire try to their own luck attacking again, but Tirion's defense was now well aware of the hobbits directionless offensive strategy and did not allow them any more quality scoring chances. So, after a bad 4-1 defeat to Doriath, Tirion was able to bounce back with a 4-1 victory of their own and hoped that Doriath would play to expectations to beat Himring in the next match, and that way Tirion's fate would be in their own hands in the final round. The hobbits were eliminated, but did have an improved performance to look at; they had scored on one of the greatest Vala and his Noldorin defenders. And had even been leading the match for 20 minutes, surely that counts for something!?

Tirion 4-1 Shire-Bree United
tot shots 15-16
on target 8-5
GOALS:
*7, 0-1 Samwise (Bandobras)
*20, 1-1 Finwe (Finarfin)
*31, 2-1 Mahtan (Finrod)
*53, 3-1 Finrod (Aredhel)
*70, 4-1 Caranthir (Aule)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Tirion- Elemmakil, Enerdhil
*SBUnited- Samwise, Lumpkin, Pippin

Match 4 - Doriath vs Himring
The ever cold arena was not sure what to expect from their team in this game. Doriath was surely one of the best teams of the tournament and would be a championship contender. But there own team were just coming off a strong 3-0 win, even if it was against a team no one thought too highly about.

The first half was a very even affair, but it was slow and uneventful. The teams seemed to want to play a testing phase, sizing eachother up, checking for weaknesses and playing carefully.

During intermission the Himring fans were murmuring "this was the great Doriath? This was the team everyone seemed afraid of? Ha! The sons of Feanor could conquer Thingol's wooded realm. Although neutrals wondered how excited Himring should be, it was 0-0 and Himring showed very little promise to be able to score against Doriath. While everyone knows of Doriath's striking ability, and were wondering just when the Easterlings would bail on their Elven teammates again.

It turned out the neutrals were correct as early in the 2nd, Uldor had a vicious sliding tackle on Turin. Turin escaped without injury, but was probably about to receive a yellow himself (Uldor was handed a yellow for the tackle), with his rash temper. Turin had felt Uldor should have been handed a straight red, because it was a goal scoring opportunity and Uldor was looking to intentionally foul, but his trusty friend, Beleg restrained him before the ref carded Turin for protesting. Eol was set to take the free kick, and in what one could only call "football justice," Eol chipped it to Turin, who muscled through Uldor, to give Doriath the 1-0 lead.

Doriath was now turning to their quality possession game, working the ball around Himring's penalty box, trying to find open scoring lanes. The Easterlings made another costly mistake, this time Ulwarth and Uldor mixed up their assignment, and Hurin was left free. It was an easy pass once Turin saw him and Hurin made it 2-0 Doriath. That was Doriath's 6th goal of the tournament, and in 5 of them Turin had a part to play, 3 goals, 2 assists. Absolutely remarkable!

Maedhros and Fingon tried to make a game of things, but they were not strong enough to beat Doriath's defense, which is known as the Girdle of Melian. And with 9 minutes to go, Beleg found Luthien, and Maglor could only get his fingertips to the shot, unable to deflect it off its course, the ball snuck into the left-side post. After a sluggish 1st half, Doriath finished off Himring in what could only be called a dominating performance. Doriath were serious contenders this year!

Doriath 3-0 Himring
tot shots 15-11
on target 8-4
GOALS:
*56, 1-0 Turin (Eol)
*69, 2-0 Hurin (Turin)
*81, 3-0 Luthien (Beleg)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Doriath- Carcharoth
*Himring- Ulwarth, Uldor

Group A (after 2 rounds)
1. Doriath, 6 pts, (+6)
2. Tirion, 3 pts, (0), 5-5
3. Himring, 3 pts, (0), 3-3
4. Shire-Bree, 0 pts, (-6)

Round 3 matches:
Doriath - Shire Bree United
Himring - Tirion

Doriath's qualified and for all purposes we'll just say they've won the group. They'll need to lose big to The Shire, and Himring/Tirion would need to win big in their match to knock Doriath out of first. Shire-Bree has been eliminated. Winner of Himring/Tirion will advance. If ended in a draw, Tirion goes through based on having scored more goals.