[Boromir88]

Group H

Match 5 - Minas Morgul vs Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith had the ever slightest chance of advancing still, even though no one was betting on their chances to do so. Minas Morgul was currently tied with Dunharrow for second, and would be under the enormous expectation to put down their enemy for good, while Dunharrow would have the more difficult task of having to play Lothlorien.

The stadium was loud and the tension was thick before kick-off. Faramir, Imrahil, Eowyn they were well aware they had not played up to form, but they have also faced the evil of the Witch-King before and had succeeded. So, perhaps a bloody and ancient rivalry was enough to awaken their team to a greater effort. There was actually more Rohirrim in the stands than Minas Tirithians, not only because the Rohirrim greatly desired the defeat of Minas Morgul, but many of their own heroes such as Eomer, Eowyn, and Cirion were playing for Minas Tirith as well. But as we had seen in the first 2 rounds, Minas Morgul had been unleashed and travelled to Dunharrow. It was a great atmosphere for a game, as there were the Minas Morgul fans and then everyone else, rooting against them. There was no room to plead neutrality in this match.

Unfortunately, the players on the field did not like eachother either and their actions only seemed to rile the fans into acting on their violent thoughts. The game was an absolute blood bath as 2 players were each sent off and Gamling and Theoden's royal guard had their hands full securing the stadium. Many in the crowd had to be forcibly removed as there seemed to be a brawl in the stands that took place every 5 minutes. Minas Morgul griped that their fans were shown the exit far quicker and for less heinous acts than the Minas Tirith sections.

Thankfully, no one was killed, at least within the Dunharrow compound (MEFA is checking into the accounts of deaths outside the stadium and whether it was football related). But the numbers seemed to support the Minas Morgul argument as, of those who reported injuries: 24 were Minas Morgul fans, 28 were not. So, the number of injured were pretty even, but the number of ejections were not: 246 Minas Morgul fans were kicked out of the stadium, compared to 11 people supporting Minas Tirith.

But enough of the politics of crowd control, as there was still an important game that needed to be played and what a game it would be!

Eowyn opened the scoring for Minas Tirith in the 21st minute, she had been having a terrible performance, but was able to rise to the occassion today, in front of her home fans who still adored their Shieldmaiden.

However, the Witch-King seemed to take Eowyn scoring the goal, personally. He was not going to be out down by the Lady of Rohan again. So, in a combination of skill, power, and fear the Witch-King worked the ball nicely with the wannabe-King and Minas Morgul was equal. When the Witch-King shot it, he let out a terrible screech, the Minas Tirith defenders trying to clog up the box suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Cirion did his best to save it, but really he had no chance, not with the force the Witch-King had struck on that one.

Would giving up the equalizing goal so close to the end of the half demoralize Minas Tirith? As surrending late goals has a tendancy to do? For they had been playing well in this one, so far. There was still honor and strength out of the great fortress of Gondor, and were not playing at all like many of the pundits had anticipated.

And only 5 minutes into the 2nd, the pundits appeared right as Minas Tirith was becoming unhinged. Denethor II had been jawing with Castamir through out the game. Castamir had been heard taunting that he was surprised the see Denethor get his bum off the throne for once And Castamir had heard there was a beacon close by that Denethor could climb and light himself on after he took the throne of Gondor. Denethor shoved Castamir to the ground. Even if Denethor was provoked into the foul, the ref had no other choice, it was a yellow to Denethor. His second of the match, and Minas Tirith would now be a man short with nearly 40 minutes still left.

It did not take long for Minas Morgul to capitilize on the guile of Castamir. 7 minutes after Denethor had been sent off Herumor banged one in, off a beautiful pass from the King Dead. The mountains began to shake from the stomping, cheering, and celebrations of Minas Morgul. They had the 1-man advantage, and now a 1-goal lead, so it was only a matter of time before the pathetic Minas Tirithians would be crushed.

However, shortly after Minas Morgul took the lead, fortunes would begin to turn against them. When you are facing a hated enemy, you don't always think with the clearest head. Such was the case for the Witch-King who wanted to completely humiliate his opponents. It was costly, as the Witch-King pushed his full team forward, Faramir stepped in to intercept and quickly passed the ball on to Eomer. Eomer was all alone and racing straight on towards Earnur. Angamaite was behind and decided he had to stop Eomer by taking him out from the back. It was a yellow for Angamaite, his second, and now he was sent off.

It was now 10 on 10 and truthfully the ref could have sent off more, but there was still over 25 minutes to play and he appeared to just say no more. If the two teams wanted to leave the field, hobbled, bruised, and bloodied that was their choice, he wasn't going to turn this into a 7 on 7 game.

Even with the advantage gone, a 2-1 victory was not going to be good enough for the Witch-King. How could he return to Minas Morgul with honor, only barely beating his weakling enemies? So, he came at Minas Tirith with even more fury. His aggression would be his undoing as Cirion was stopping everything that came at him this time. And when Cirion saw the back line of Minas Morgul draw further up to attack, Cirion caught Beruthiel's shot, he passed it out wide to Imrahil. The Minas Morgul defenders all tried desperately to run back as Eomer, Tarondor, Eowyn, and Faramir were all breaking forward. They did manage to get back, but did not have time to get their defense set, and the confusion led to Tarondar knocking in the equalizer.

With 15 minutes left in the match, the Witch-King finally appeared to wisen up, and suck up his pride. As a draw might not be the most desired result, if he were to actually lose to Minas Tirith and put their playoff chance at risk, he would never be able to return to Minas Morgul with honor (if there is such a thing as honor in Mordor?)

Minas Tirith had really nothing to lose and were going straight up for the win, which greatly pleased the crowd. The final 15 was filled with tension, excitement, and watching Minas Morgul truly be on the ropes desperately trying to hold on to the 1 point. However, there would be no winning goal, as unlike other GKs, Earnur has appeared to step up his game after his poor friendlies. Minas Morgul barely hung on, but they did and for the time being were sitting in 2nd with 4 pts, while Dunharrow was at 3, and Minas Tirith would be going home.

*~*~*

Minas Tirith did manage to come away with a point, and against Minas Morgul which should appease their fanbase somewhat. But if the reaction of the Minas Tirith fans after the game was indicative of the headlines in tomorrow's papers back in Gondor, then Minas Tirith was facing a PR nightmare.

Hurin of the Keys: I had been given leave from my gate duties so I could come and watch the games here. Being the Warden of Keys is pretty boring since there's been a declaration of peace, but I gotta tell you, I should have just stayed at the gate if I knew I'd be forced to watch this disaster. Yeah, we managed to draw in the last one, but big deal. Where are the great ship kings, Falastur and Hyarmendacil? Where is the faithful Steward, Mardil? Or our greatest generals, Earnil and the Boromir's? They're all playing for other teams, and it sickens me to see the leaders of this team apparently not even try to go after them, or keep them here. Their names our legendary, and can't get behind this team until I start seeing some of these names playing again for the White Tree and towered-City.

Minas Morgul 2-2 Minas Tirith
tot shots 17-14
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*21, 0-1 Eowyn (Imrahil)
*42, 1-1 Witch King (Castamir)
*58, 2-1 Herumor (King Dead)
*75, 2-2 Tarondar (Eomer)
YELLOW CARDS:
*MMorgul- Beruthiel, Angamaite, Castamir, Fuinur, Nazgul #3
*MTirith- Denethor II, Eomer, Beregond, Grimbold, Firefoot
RED CARDS:
*MMorgul- Angamaite (63, second yellow)
*MTirith- Denethor II (51, second yellow)

Match 6 - Dunharrow vs Lothlorien
After the violence displayed in the earlier game, it was a completely opposite atmosphere for the 2nd. The Lothlorien supporters were greatly outnumbered in the stands, but with no known quarrels, the Rohirrim respected them. And were also pleased to host a team with Feanor, they had not seen a star of Feanor's skill in Rohan before. Likewise, Lothlorien appreciated their hosts. There was a certain gritiness to Dunharrow that people just loved to see in a team. Clearly, not the most talented players, but they would play you fair and straight up, a worthy opponent to be up against.

There was so much kindness and love-mongering the couple thousand Minas Morgul fans who stayed to watch as this game would mean something in Minas Morgul's fate actually wound up leaving before first kick. "It's nauseating" grumbled Gorthakh. "It wouldn't surprise me if Lothlorien allowed Dunharrow to win 1-0, just to keep our team out."

Minas Morgul was not surprised then, when at the start, Dunharrow was the team pressuring and Lothlorien was more or less just letting them have the ball. "See I told you!" snarled Shaktor, another Minas Morgul supporter who then promptly got up and left.

Despite letting Dunharrow hold on to possession, they were having a terrible time trying to create good chances. Gandalf was a true wizard back in the defense and Shadowfax was tireless. Most of Dunharrow's shots to begin the game had went sailing harmlessly off target, and no trouble to Galadriel.

Around the 20 minute mark, Dunharrow was not used to keeping up offensive pressure for long, Helm and the attacking mid-fielders were showing signs of slowing down. Then Lothlorien had actually started to build their own attacks. It was rather surprising, since Galadriel is known for being stubbornly defensive minded and only looking for counters. But now they were taking control of possession, holding the ball and forming an actual, consistent offense, led by Feanor. And in the 33rd minute, Legolas is not known for his long-distance precision for no reason. There was an open shooting lane , and Aldor wasn't in the best of position having his view blocked by the tall Boromir. It still took a lot of skill and accuracy for Legolas to squeeze it through the tight crowd and keep the ball down just enough to sneak it under the top cross bar.

The Rohirrim were silent, Lothlorien was in no interest to hand the game to them, so how were they going to manage 2 goals when they were playing wise? The Minas Morgul fans, who were now all at the local watering holes were pleasantly surprised. Maybe Galadriel and Lothlorien were not as bad as they thought? And they were always awed by Feanor's skill, who's Hithlum team played theirs a few Arda cups ago.

The 2nd half whistle blew, and Dunharrow again tried pushing for a goal, but the Lothlorien defense was having none of it today. They were completely shutting down Dunharrow. In like a virtual replay of the 1st period, Lothlorien began getting more control of the possession.

In the 72nd minute, they were awarded a corner kick, and what was this, Gimli was taking it? But he's a defensive mid-fielder and is never involved in the offense? And Celeborn too!? Was Lothlorien just trying to show off now or something? With far better success than anyone anticipated, Gimli sent in a beautiful cross from the corner that Celeborn headed in, giving Lothlorien a 2 goal lead now.

And after that goal the game really slowed down as when Lothlorien had the ball they just kicked it around, winding down the time. If Dunharrow had it, they were still making an effort, but nothing. Without the motivation, you weren't going to beat Gandalf's masterful defense nor Galadriel's determination.

Before heading into the showers (since Galadriel always waited for all the males to be done first anyway) she stayed on the field to comment about the game.

Galadriel: We decided now was a good time to try a few different things, to see if we could execute. Making it out of the group stage is one thing, but advancing deep into the playoffs is a completely different challenge. Feanor has been there before and it would be unwise for us to not listen to his experience. I thought now would be a good opportunity to try out his ideas on a possession game and building a controlled offense, in a real game situation.

What about the corner-kick taken by Gimli, will we see more of that later?

Galadriel: Most likely not, that was just for fun if we could afford it. My husband was a striker last year, and has always had some creative offensive ideas. I thought we could use him better in defense this year, but to let him go up for that play if he wanted to. Gimli is an excellent defender, and that means he also has a powerful boot. I admit I was surprised that he delivered that good of a corner, but I doubt I'll use him again in those situations for the playoffs.

Galadriel listening to Feanor and talking about her players having 'fun?' Is this the real Galadriel and if they were playing as relaxed and confident as they have through the group stages, opponents beware, they are serious contenders for the trophy.

*~*~*

Unlike some other teams who had to take a journey home, the Dunharrow team, as the hosts, really could not run and hide. They needed to stay home and face the questions over their elimination from the local media.

Theoden: Listen. "Our fate was in our hands in the final match of the group. We were just up against a better team, and it's really that simple."

Aldor: "There's a lot of positives to take from this team, but in order to compete and get better we need to bring back some old names. Honestly. There is absolutely no reason Eorl should not be with us, and the great mearas for that matter too. We were at our most competitive with them on the defense and Eorl leading the attack."

Theoden: "Aldor's right. It seems to me that Eorl needs to be reminded, while he made an oath to ride to Gondor's aid whenever he was called upon, that this oath is non-binding in football. He needs to return and play for his people."

Dunharrow 0-2 Lothlorien
tot shots 15-14
on target 4-8
GOALS:
*33, 0-1 Legolas (Feanor)
*72, 0-2 Celeborn (Gimli)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Dunharrow- Snowmane, Folca
*Lothlorien- Shadowfax

Final Results: Group H
Lothlorien 9p. 7-1(+6)
Minas Morgul 4p. 5-5(0)

Dunharrow 3p. 3-5(-2)
Minas Tirith 1p. 3-7(-4)

Lothlorien will go to their enchanted forest to play Tirion. Minas Morgul will take the long journey to Doriath.