[Boromir88]

Four friendly matches remained before all the media experts and analysts come out offering predictions and guides for the tournament. The stage was set for Arda Cup 2013 as teams got in their final tune up before the big lights were turned on.

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Some matches even had the feel of a tournament atmosphere, as was the case today between Angband and Tirion. There was little love between the players on these teams. It was a case where the end score doesn't really tell the full story.

Both offenses really went for the attack, as the action was often in the final thirds of the field and near each side's penalty box. But the defenses did a good job snuffing out passes and limitting quality shots, as most went harmlessly off target. The first half ended scoreless as the defenses were playing extremely rough with the opposing forwards. Caranthir was given a yellow for harsh tackle on Telvildo that sent the cat flying. And on the other end, while Morgoth kept his hands clean there was little doubt (in the minds of Tirion fans) that the harrassing and hacking Finwe was taking, was at Morgoth's command.

In the 2nd half, Tirion changed formations to a 4-5-1. In large part, probably fearing Morgoth had a sinister plot to severely injure Finwe just before the tournament. So Finwe dropped to the midfield, leaving Aredhel as the lone striker, but she was also a bit quicker and thus able to avoid Angband's defensive strategy of banging up Tirion's forwards.

This ended up working to Tirion's advantage as Aredhel got in close, after Caranthir led her into the box with a nice pass. Carcharoth decided too late to leave his line to snatch up the ball, and Aredhel had an easy task of sliding it passed the Angband-wolf.

But Angband had the tactics for another late game equalizer. Ancalagon and Morgoth were not easy foes to bang up and so they simply bullied their way through Caranthir and Tirion's defense to end the match 1-1.

Angband 1-1 Tirion
on target 3-4
tot shots 14-13
GOALS:
*59, 0-1 Aredhel (Caranthir)
*81, 1-1 Ancalagon (Morgoth)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Angband- Umuiyan, Uldor, Ulwarth
*Tirion- Amrod, Caranthir

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After a lackluster first round friendly Barad-Dur came into this with a little more fire, or at least their offense looked more on the same page. It paid off in goals too as Sauron made his presense known assisting Beruthiel on the game opening goal, and then scoring the game winner in the 74th minute.

Misty Mountains showed some good offensive capability as well though and they even out shot Barad-Dur. The Blue Wizards had a difficult time suppressing Durin's Bane, Azog and Narvi. But Sauron seems to have made a wise move by dumping the Mumakil keeper from last year and replacing it with Grishnakh. The long-limbed orc has shown he can swat away shots that threaten his goal.

Barad-Dur 2-1 Misty Mts
on target 6-6
tot shots 14-17
GOALS:
*31, 1-0 Beruthiel (Sauron)
*52, 1-1 Azog (DBane)
*74, 2-1 Sauron (Castamir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*BDur- Pallando, Herumor, Fellbeast#1
*MMts- William, Watcher, Rumil, Caradhras

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One of the games that truly seemed like a friendly as there is much brotherhood between the two teams on the field. That doesn't mean the crowd saw a boring game by any means. There were four good goals and they got to witness some promising idividuals shine. For Minas Tirith, Mardil scored both goals. This was not so surprising to the all-Gondorian crowd as the Good Steward has been scoring goals playing for his home city for years. More surprising was Meneldil for Gondor, who has always played as a defender or a defending midfielder. This year it seems Meneldil wants to have a larger role in the offense, or it could be Minas Tirith's defenders were too focused on halting the dangerous Eldacar and Anarion they were leaving too much space for Meneldil. But he made the most of that space.

Despite having more goals, the game just did not have the same feel as the Angband-Tirion game. Since those teams seriously did not like eachother, they had battled to the end and the tension never left. In this one, after Gondor brought the game level in 64th minute, both sides seemed to reach a gentlemen's agreement to pull back the offenses and knock the ball around until the final whistle, happy with the fair result and final work out before group rounds.

Gondor 2-2 Minas Tirith
on target 4-6
tot shots 14-13
GOALS:
*24, 0-1 Mardil (Tarandor)
*30, 1-1 Eldacar (Meneldil)
*38, 1-2 Mardil (Eomer)
*64, 2-2 Meneldil (Anarion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Ciryandil
*MTirith- Earnur, Tarandor

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After coming off a dominating 3-0 win over Doriath, the TIG faithful were more confident than ever, feeling they would devour yet another sissy Elven side, led by Olwe. I mean they made mincemeat of Elwe, and therefore believed Elwe's brother didn't stand a chance.

However, this Elven team also had some proud Numenorean defenders who were not going to be intimidated by this fearsome TIG team. Plus Olwe's teams have a pedigree of being technical masters in the passing game. If TIG was proud with how they controlled possession against Doriath, the Havens showed the wolves and wights what it truly meant to control the ball. The Havens had a string of 22 consecutive passes before Earendil finally hammered the ball in for a 1-0 lead.

The Havens would carry that lead to the half-time. The TIG fans were glad to only be down 1 goal (since it could have definitely been worse) but were perplexed to just how their team was going to be able to score when they couldn't hold posession long enough to even get a sniff at The Havens goal.

TIG was determined to equalise as quickly as possible and they got the goal when not even two full minutes elapsed in the 2nd. Thuringwethil batted in a close range shot off of LegateWight's cross. The Elven team was surprised at the speed and quickness this TIG side could score. But deserved or not, the game was tied.

The Havens went back to their quick passing game to try to reclaim the lead, but Shastawolf made some very nice saves to keep it tied. Spiritted on by Shastawolf's effort (and howling to tighten up) the defense-wolves did a better job shutting down the passing lanes and winning the ball.

Olwe's side was not backing down, but in this half The Havens was getting a good dose of their own medicine, as the TIG midfield began showing their own skill in the passing game. The Havens defenders had a difficult time winning the ball back and thus working it to their proven hammer upfront, Earendil. TIG came in one well calculated wave of attack after another, and finally got what would end up as the game-winner off the paws of Inzilwolf.

After TIG's 2nd half performance it was hard to argue with the result and the Elven side graciously accepted the defeat. In an unusual display of respect for the wolves, Cirdan approached the TIG bench to congratulate them. It appeared he went to scratch Nilpwolf behind the ears, but after the wolf stepped back, snarling, the Elf-lord decided a polite bow would be wiser.

The Havens 1-2 Tol In Gaurhoth
on target 5-6
tot shots 14-15
GOALS:
*31, 1-0 Earendil (Falastur)
*47, 1-1 Thuringwethil (LegateWight)
*69, 1-2 InzilWolf (NerWight)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Havens- Imrazor, ArZimrathan
*TIG- GaladriWight, NerWight, BoroWolf