[Boromir88]

Utumno and Valimar was one of the most anticipated matches not only in Round 3, but of the entire friendlies. Would the loss of Melkor lead to an even earlier exit, for Valimar, from the Arda Cup than last year? Were Melkor's soccer skills quickly diminishing as he spends them on his servants? If this match provided accurate answers, than it appears Melkor's gamble will not pay off.

It looked like Utumno's equalizer within the first 10 minutes of the 2nd was going to push them onto a win, because those types of goals can be just as demoralizing as giving up one right before the break. However, Manwe was not shaken, his defense shut down Utumno the rest of the game and Varda made Melkor look like he belonged in the D-league.

The game was coming to a close, and it looked like it would end a 1-1 draw, as most experts predicted. However, to the surprise of everyone watching Eonwe decided his Lord's defensive efforts all match deserved a much greater reward than a mere draw. He received a pass from Manwe and with great haste flew down the left side of the field. The Balrogs, not expecting this type of aggressive move, were taken completely by surprise. Spiritted on by Eonwe, Arien and Tulkas broke towards Utumno's goal with majesty and power. Eonwe hit a rocket that was directed straight at Ungoliant. Fans who saw Eonwe's eyes said it looked like he wanted to blast it straight thru the spider's monstrous form, but Tulkas re-directed the shot with a wicked header. Ungoliant had no chance, it was 2-1 Valimar!

Valimar supporters broke out in grand applause and joyous songs. They have never seen their team, when Manwe was leading, make a play that aggressive, that late in a match before. And the fans wanted to make sure Manwe knew that's the football they wanted to see from Valimar.

Utumno 1-2 Valimar
tot shots 11-11
on target 5-5
GOALS:
*38, 0-1, Arien (Varda)
*53, 1-1, Gothmog (Thuringwethil)
*87, 1-2, Tulkas (Eonwe)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Utumno- Gothmog, Balrog #2, Balrog #3
*Valimar- Ilmare, Pallando, Yavanna

In other matches of the day Hama's perfect save percentage stays in tact as he stopped all 5 of Nargothrond's shots on goal. Grima gets an early goal in the 2nd to keep Wold undefeated thru 3 friendlies.

Norbury got the first goal of their match against Rohan, near the end of the 1st. However, Rohan's spirited attack awoke in the 2nd, and they were able to handle Norbury with relative ease.

Feanor got his 1st goal of the friendlies to get an equalizer, and Tirion avoided complete embarrassment. Despite only 3 draws so far, Vinyamar is confident they can seriously challenge Aman for 1st in Group A, because of ther suffocating defense.

Nargothrond 0-1 Wold
tot shots 12-6
on target 5-2
GOALS:
*68, 0-1 Grima (Theodred)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Nargothrond- Barahir, Baranor
*Wold- Treebeard, Grima

Norbury 1-2 Rohan
tot shots 10-15
on target 5-7
GOALS:
*41, 1-0 Valandil (Araphor)
*66, 1-1 Helm (Eorl)
*84, 1-2 Felarof (Merry)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Norbury- Arveleg, Tarcil
*Rohan- Frumgar, Hallas, Eomer

Tirion 1-1 Vinyamar
tot shots 11-8
on target 5-4
GOALS:
*27, 0-1, Penlod (Idril)
*65, 1-1, Feanor (Miriel)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Tirion- Indis, Feanor, Mahtan
*Vinyamar- Osse, Salmar