[the phantom]

Tol Eressea at Angband

The Hells of Iron was no stranger to hosting football contests, and everyone assumed it would be business as usual for Morgoth’s football operations team, but it turned out that Angband did not wish to host in their home arena at all, but instead received permission to play their contest in the arena just south of Angband’s gates- Angfauglith, the arena they had played in for all of their group contests.

“It’s an easy hike for our supporters,” said Morgoth, “And we grew quite comfortable playing there over the past couple weeks. We’ve been performing well, so why change a good thing?”

Not surprisingly the game was set to be a late night affair, ensuring that all of Angband’s supporters could make the trek to the stadium in complete darkness and still have a bit of time left to work themselves into a frenzy. By the time the Angband fans arrived, however, they found a mass of people already surrounding the arena. The Elves of the Havens both of Middle Earth and the Blessed Realm had sailed in force along with many Numenoreans supporting Amandil and Tar Aldarion, and had massed in Hithlum, and throughout the day they had streamed down from the mountain passes and converged upon Angfauglith.

As the visitors Tol Eressea by the agreement set down for this contest had the rights to 20% of the tickets, but no one had expected them to bring enough fans for it to matter, and Morgoth had already laid plans to buy the tickets from the ones that did show up. But things did not go as planned at all. As the Orcs arrived and were greeted by the large and glorious host of Elves and Men, many of them felt instantly out of place and parted with their tickets a bit too easily, and the Numenoreans especially had plenty of cash to help persuade them. On the flip side, absolutely none of the ticket-holding faithful of Tol Eressea were willing to budge an inch on their ticket ownership, even in exchange for a fortune.

And so it was that when Morgoth and his team emerged from the tunnels they were greeted by half and half cheering and booing. Team Angband whirled around in amazement, checking to see that they were in the right stadium, but there was no mistake. Morgoth looked furious and wanted to know how it had happened, for he had been preparing for the game all evening and was not privy to events outside the arena. There was no time for conversations, however. Tol Eressea and the refs were already in position and ready to go, and with a grumble team Angband set up.

It was evident that out of the starting blocks Tol Eressea had some extra pep or Angband didn’t, for Tol Eressea kept things more on Angband’s half than their own, and worked it in for a handful of decent shots in the opening 20 minutes, to the delight of their fans. But their midfielders were unable to put them on target, and Ungoliant erased Uinen’s best opportunity, cutting off the angle nicely and keeping hold of it and not allowing a dangerous rebound.

At this point Angband’s thinking seemed to uncloud and they began playing smart for the first time, maintaining possession and testing Tol Eressea’s defense, playing up and back, side to side, waiting for someone to leave an opening to take advantage of. Even the best defenses make mistakes, and Angband had to be awake at all times to make sure they could capitalize on a mistake by a Tol Eressea defense that rarely made any.

Finally around 27 minutes Morgoth sent it to Ancalagon in the middle who popped it forward and right to Telvildo who managed to get just a step on Salmar. Telvildo controlled it and spun around his defender, forcing help, then sent it swiftly to the box. It was a laser pass on the ground and so tough to receive, but Ancalagon had a window and went for it, swiping it with his tail, booming a shot on first touch. The Angband fans started to rise, but groaned and seated themselves again as Ancalagon’s drive went perfectly straight to Amandil who blocked it then leaped upon it.

Morgoth shouted encouragement to his forwards. “Perfect! Just keep that up and we’ll get it in!” And three minutes later it looked like they may put it in finally, as Thuringwethil used some nifty moves to clear herself for a 30 meter blast, but Amandil dove and smothered it to keep his goal clean and the Angband fans groaned again. The Tol Eressea fans on the other hand cheered for Amandil, but not so enthusiastically as they had started the game. They were nervous.

And with good cause, for just a minute later they were forced to clear it out of bounds and Angband gained a corner, and on the corner Morgoth rose above the field and rang the post with a header, and straight off the rebound Telvildo headed it back at the same spot, only inches left so that instead of hitting the post it found the net, and Angband had broken the scoreless tie!

The North side of the stadium erupted, and the Elves and Men fell silent. Morgoth stood himself in front of the Tol Eressea side and shouted, “Is this what you came all this way to see?” And then struck with an idea, he continued, “But no- you didn’t come to see scoring, did you? Ulmo and his underlings are supposed to be the masters of defense, right? Well then,” he laughed evilly, “That’s what I’ll give you then. Masterful defense!”

And from that moment on, the game changed completely. Morgoth and his minions put on a clinic, running the clock with possession when they could, never risking a possession on anything less than a quality shot, and when Tol Eressea had the ball Angband was just too hot to handle.

Morgoth suspected Ulmo would try to get in on the action somehow to help put his team level, so he shadowed him personally. Thuringwethil was dropped back onto defense beside Carcharoth and they completely dominated Elwing and Earwen with their beastly speed and reactions leaving them no room to operate. And the Balrogs helped to choke of Uinen, their fires causing her to steam and lose control of her liquid movements.

As the second half neared its end, Ulmo ordered all out attack to try and gain the equalizer, but Angband denied them again and again, and rather than quickly countering they got the ball forward quickly and then held it as long as possible. The minutes ticked away and the Orcs started leaping up and down on their seats, gleeful at Morgoth’s mockery. The Tol Eressea fans held their faces in their hands, unable to view the evidence any longer- the proof that Morgoth and Angband could beat them at their own game.

Ulmo made one last desperate run, but Morgoth toed the ball away from him and one of the Balrogs was there to knock it high and forward, where it came down to Telvildo. As he jogged forward with it, the final whistle blew and it was all over. Angband’s defense had obliterated Tol Eressea!

Angband 1-0 Tol Eressea
tot shots 12-9
on target 6-2
GOALS:
*32, 1-0 Telvildo (Morgoth)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Drauglin, Ulfang
*Tol Eressea- Eriol, Osse