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Nilpaurion Felagund · 09-01-2013, 01:22 PM

High Faroth Arena
Nargothrond vs Hithlum

The last sixteen fixture between Group F winners Nargothrond and Group B runners-up Hithlum was to be held in Nargothrond’s High Faroth Arena.

The forty thousand Nargothrond supporters and twenty thousand Hithlum supporters who managed to buy tickets for the first knockout round tie made their way through the narrow paths beside the banks of the river Narog before climbing up the High Faroth. They then made their way down inside the mountain itself; the arena was built inside the cliffs whose slope they have just climbed. Many among the sixty-thousand strong crowd of spectators saw construction just outside the Doors of Felagund; scaffolding surrounded the skeleton of what looked like a stadium. The more informed among the crowd told their neighbours that it was to be the Narog Bridge, a forty-thousand capacity arena that would give Nargothrond a second stadium to allow them to host group stage games in future Arda Cups.

In the meantime, High Faroth Arena would host its third last sixteen tie. The previous two ended in heartbreak for the hosts; they hoped that after tonight’s game they would be further in the Arda Cup than they ever had before.

But they were up against Hithlum, a team, like Nargothrond, with a talented attack and a revamped defence. While most of the media’s attention had been on Curufin, Fëanor, and Arien, Túrin had quietly scored thrice and made one goal in three games. Even the home faithful were resigned to the fact that Hithlum would score; their hope was that their team would score more.

[Hithlum in yellow and dark red; Nargothrond in green and yellow.]

It seemed that barely had the referee blown the opening whistle when Nargothrond opened the scoring. While Morwen kept an eye on her daughter and Hador tracked Finduilas, Bëor was left free in the Nargothrond midfield. Receiving a pass from Arminas four minutes into the game, he sent a long ball to Finrod, who dropped a little deeper to escape Balrog #5’s attention. Glaurung drifted left, acting as if to receive a pass from the Nargothrond captain, which forced Aradan to follow him and the Balrog to keep an eye on him. Finrod then dinked the ball over the top of Hithlum’s defence; Gwindor dashed past Arroch, and, receiving the ball parallel to the touchline, volleyed the ball into the top left-corner of Huor’s goal on the turn.

It was an impressive goal, and even many Hithlum fans thought so, though they were more focused on haranguing Arroch into keeping better tabs on the Nargothrond winger. It would be a long night for Hithlum if they couldn’t stop Gwindor—many of them still had memories of his first-half hat-trick against them in a friendly last year.

Fortunately for them, Hithlum would reply after five minutes. Balrog #5 easily dribbled past Finrod’s pressing and advanced the ball. Túrin twisted and turned in the penalty box, as if to create some distance between himself and the centre-backs. Arminas and Baran were too pre-occupied with him to notice Húrin outrunning Guilin as the Balrog sent a deep cross. Húrin met the ball at the far post and powered a header past Orodreth.

The game was barely ten minutes old, and both teams were already on the score sheet. It seemed that the game would be decided by who would prevail: Gwindor’s pace, Finrod’s trickery, or Glaurung’s strength for Nargothrond, or Beleg’s touch, Túrin’s instincts, or Húrin’s energy for Hithlum. After Húrin’s goal, both teams settled down from the chaotic opening spell into shape. Túrin dropped in on Bëor when Hithlum is out of possession, ensuring that the holding midfielder is not left alone to initiate the home side’s attack. This move, however, removed a key penalty box presence for Hithlum. Húrin did his best to make up for his son’s absence, leaving his right wing spot to become the most forward player. In order to avoid marking confusion, Guilin left the Hithlum forward to left-sided centre-back Baran and positioned himself to sweep up behind him instead.

After the two goals in nine minutes, it took twelve more minutes for the third goal to come. Balrog #5 once again brushed past Finrod’s pressing, but Nienor did well to slide in and dispossess the advancing defender. With such a gaping hole in the Hithlum defence, Glaurung took advantage and slithered past Aradan. Nienor easily played the dragon in, and his screaming tailer left Huor clawing after air. Glaurung spouted flames in celebration of his goal, and he was duly carded by the referee for it.

Nargothrond were hardly a team to sit on a lead, especially against an attacking force as menacing as Hithlum’s. They pursued a third goal relentlessly, leaving themselves open at the back and leading to nervous moments for both sides. In the thirty-fourth minute, Balrog #5 intercepted a Finrod through pass for Gwindor and once again dribble forward. As Nienor tried to steal possession from him, Morwen was left unmarked and received a simple pass from the Balrog. With Nargothrond in disarray, Túrin sprinted past Bëor and Arminas and controlled Morwen’s pass, forcing the Noldo to bring him down just inches from the penalty area. It was a yellow card for Arminas and a free kick for Hithlum. Túrin took the free kick, and he slid the ball under the wall as they jumped up together. His shot had enough pace that the moment Orodreth noticed what had happened the ball had already crossed the goal line and found the net.

The two teams would take a 2-2 score line into the break. In the second half, Hithlum realised the need to keep Glaurung under control and match Nargothrond’s numbers in the midfield. Balrog #5 advanced from the defensive line and marked Glaurung as a holding midfielder. Gundor tucked in to become another centre-back. Meanwhile, Aradan moved higher up the pitch to track Nienor; his stamina was better suited to a running battle than to a battle of strength against a dragon. Morwen marked Finduilas, leaving Hador free as left wing-back. Beleg played the same role, but on the right, and Húrin permanently became a second centre forward; he dropped deeper to mark Bëor when Nargothrond were in possession, leaving Túrin to become a more consistent penalty box presence. Their formation was a 3-5-2 that almost became a 3-3-4.

[Nargothrond in green and yellow; Hithlum in yellow and dark red.]

Nargothrond’s attack seemed to be stymied. Gwindor could no longer gain space on Arroch and his girth was enough to block his shots and crosses. Balrog #5 kept Glaurung in his pocket, the same way Balrog #2 did last year for Anfauglith. And Finrod could no longer find space to work his magic in; Gundor followed him all over the pitch, confident that Galdor was there to sweep up behind him. In the meantime, Nargothrond’s back line no longer had a spare player, and with strikers like Túrin left alone against a so-so defender, that surely meant trouble for Orodreth.

But it Hithlum took thirteen minutes after the restart to beat him; Húrin and Hador combined on the left to get to the byline. Húrin sent a cutback zipping across the face of the goal, and Beleg beat Barahir, getting a boot in to redirect the ball into the net.

The Hithlum supporters roared. They finally took the lead! and they looked to be in control of the game. On the other hand, the faces of Nargothrond fans were deathly pale. A spirit of ‘here we go again’ seemed to have descended on their team, and only Glaurung was showing any spirit to fight back. Even Finrod looked clueless as to how to turn the tables on Hithlum.

As they pushed forward for an equaliser, they were dangerously open on the break. With quick players Hador and Beleg supporting the attack from the midfield, the Nargothrond back four would find themselves swamped as soon as Hithlum recovered the ball and got past the home team’s press. It took some impressive saves and clearance to keep Túrin and company at bay, but after nineteen minutes, disaster struck.

Nienor and Finduilas passed their way out of Hithlum’s midfield pressing and got the ball to Glaurung. But the dragon was easily outmuscled off the ball by Balrog #5. He then sent a long diagonal to Beleg, who crossed for Túrin. He leapt over Arminas to get a head on the ball, but Orodreth was there to cover the angles. Túrin, however, was in no mood to be denied; his reverse-spin header went past Orodreth’s outstretched right hand and swerved into goal. It was like a chip, but only with his head.

The Hithlum crowd seemed to have taken over the stadium. The Nargothrond faithful were stunned to silence, and their away fans’ cries of ‘Túrin, Túrin, get it in!’ reverberated off the dome of the High Faroth and filled the arena.

The Nargothrond players were about as clueless as their supporters. Gwindor’s attempts to beat his marker got nowhere; Glaurung couldn’t hold the ball against the Balrog, and Finrod, with no one to create for, tried to dribble his way to Huor’s goal, but was easily repulsed by Galdor and Gundor.

Two minutes before time, Gwindor managed to gain a metre from Arroch, but Finduilas’s through ball for him was intercepted by Morwen. She dinked the ball over the dangerously high Nargothrond back line, and Hador took her pass in stride. He easily rounded Orodreth and slotted the ball in for the dagger.

When the final whistle was sounded a few minutes later, Hithlum tried to walk off the pitch impassively, as if they had just done their jobs, but a grin spread on Hador’s face, and Húrin laughed in reply. Clearly, winning in such impressive fashion, and with everything clicking together for the team, spread a spirit of cheer among them. Soon they were arm-in-arm, shouting, ‘Quarterfinals, quarterfinals,’ which the Hithlum fans soon echoed. Meanwhile, for Nargothrond, Glaurung dashed off the field in fury, and while the rest of the team bowed to their supporters, a lot of them clearly looked like they didn’t want to be there. So they were left behind in the round of sixteen again… while it was an improvement on the last two years, it didn’t feel like an improvement at all, neither to the fans nor to the team.

Exit interviews shall be provided in The Matchday episode next week.

Hithlum 5-2 Nargothrond
GOALS:
4, 0-1 Gwindor (Finrod)
9, 1-1 Húrin (Balrog #5)
21, 1-2 Glaurung (Nienor)
34, 2-2 Túrin
58, 3-2 Beleg (Húrin)
77, 4-2 Túrin (Beleg)
88, 5-2 Hador (Morwen)

Total Shots
23-20
Shots On Target
12-8

YELLOW CARDS:
1-2
HTH: Húrin
NGR: Glaurung, Arminas

09-01-2013, 01:22 PM	#128
Nilpaurion Felagund Scion of The Faithful Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The brink, where hope and despair are akin. [The Philippines] Posts: 5,338	Tar-Eldar Network Television round of sixteen coverage 2 High Faroth Arena Nargothrond vs Hithlum The last sixteen fixture between Group F winners Nargothrond and Group B runners-up Hithlum was to be held in Nargothrond’s High Faroth Arena. The forty thousand Nargothrond supporters and twenty thousand Hithlum supporters who managed to buy tickets for the first knockout round tie made their way through the narrow paths beside the banks of the river Narog before climbing up the High Faroth. They then made their way down inside the mountain itself; the arena was built inside the cliffs whose slope they have just climbed. Many among the sixty-thousand strong crowd of spectators saw construction just outside the Doors of Felagund; scaffolding surrounded the skeleton of what looked like a stadium. The more informed among the crowd told their neighbours that it was to be the Narog Bridge, a forty-thousand capacity arena that would give Nargothrond a second stadium to allow them to host group stage games in future Arda Cups. In the meantime, High Faroth Arena would host its third last sixteen tie. The previous two ended in heartbreak for the hosts; they hoped that after tonight’s game they would be further in the Arda Cup than they ever had before. But they were up against Hithlum, a team, like Nargothrond, with a talented attack and a revamped defence. While most of the media’s attention had been on Curufin, Fëanor, and Arien, Túrin had quietly scored thrice and made one goal in three games. Even the home faithful were resigned to the fact that Hithlum would score; their hope was that their team would score more. [Hithlum in yellow and dark red; Nargothrond in green and yellow.] It seemed that barely had the referee blown the opening whistle when Nargothrond opened the scoring. While Morwen kept an eye on her daughter and Hador tracked Finduilas, Bëor was left free in the Nargothrond midfield. Receiving a pass from Arminas four minutes into the game, he sent a long ball to Finrod, who dropped a little deeper to escape Balrog #5’s attention. Glaurung drifted left, acting as if to receive a pass from the Nargothrond captain, which forced Aradan to follow him and the Balrog to keep an eye on him. Finrod then dinked the ball over the top of Hithlum’s defence; Gwindor dashed past Arroch, and, receiving the ball parallel to the touchline, volleyed the ball into the top left-corner of Huor’s goal on the turn. It was an impressive goal, and even many Hithlum fans thought so, though they were more focused on haranguing Arroch into keeping better tabs on the Nargothrond winger. It would be a long night for Hithlum if they couldn’t stop Gwindor—many of them still had memories of his first-half hat-trick against them in a friendly last year. Fortunately for them, Hithlum would reply after five minutes. Balrog #5 easily dribbled past Finrod’s pressing and advanced the ball. Túrin twisted and turned in the penalty box, as if to create some distance between himself and the centre-backs. Arminas and Baran were too pre-occupied with him to notice Húrin outrunning Guilin as the Balrog sent a deep cross. Húrin met the ball at the far post and powered a header past Orodreth. The game was barely ten minutes old, and both teams were already on the score sheet. It seemed that the game would be decided by who would prevail: Gwindor’s pace, Finrod’s trickery, or Glaurung’s strength for Nargothrond, or Beleg’s touch, Túrin’s instincts, or Húrin’s energy for Hithlum. After Húrin’s goal, both teams settled down from the chaotic opening spell into shape. Túrin dropped in on Bëor when Hithlum is out of possession, ensuring that the holding midfielder is not left alone to initiate the home side’s attack. This move, however, removed a key penalty box presence for Hithlum. Húrin did his best to make up for his son’s absence, leaving his right wing spot to become the most forward player. In order to avoid marking confusion, Guilin left the Hithlum forward to left-sided centre-back Baran and positioned himself to sweep up behind him instead. After the two goals in nine minutes, it took twelve more minutes for the third goal to come. Balrog #5 once again brushed past Finrod’s pressing, but Nienor did well to slide in and dispossess the advancing defender. With such a gaping hole in the Hithlum defence, Glaurung took advantage and slithered past Aradan. Nienor easily played the dragon in, and his screaming tailer left Huor clawing after air. Glaurung spouted flames in celebration of his goal, and he was duly carded by the referee for it. Nargothrond were hardly a team to sit on a lead, especially against an attacking force as menacing as Hithlum’s. They pursued a third goal relentlessly, leaving themselves open at the back and leading to nervous moments for both sides. In the thirty-fourth minute, Balrog #5 intercepted a Finrod through pass for Gwindor and once again dribble forward. As Nienor tried to steal possession from him, Morwen was left unmarked and received a simple pass from the Balrog. With Nargothrond in disarray, Túrin sprinted past Bëor and Arminas and controlled Morwen’s pass, forcing the Noldo to bring him down just inches from the penalty area. It was a yellow card for Arminas and a free kick for Hithlum. Túrin took the free kick, and he slid the ball under the wall as they jumped up together. His shot had enough pace that the moment Orodreth noticed what had happened the ball had already crossed the goal line and found the net. The two teams would take a 2-2 score line into the break. In the second half, Hithlum realised the need to keep Glaurung under control and match Nargothrond’s numbers in the midfield. Balrog #5 advanced from the defensive line and marked Glaurung as a holding midfielder. Gundor tucked in to become another centre-back. Meanwhile, Aradan moved higher up the pitch to track Nienor; his stamina was better suited to a running battle than to a battle of strength against a dragon. Morwen marked Finduilas, leaving Hador free as left wing-back. Beleg played the same role, but on the right, and Húrin permanently became a second centre forward; he dropped deeper to mark Bëor when Nargothrond were in possession, leaving Túrin to become a more consistent penalty box presence. Their formation was a 3-5-2 that almost became a 3-3-4. [Nargothrond in green and yellow; Hithlum in yellow and dark red.] Nargothrond’s attack seemed to be stymied. Gwindor could no longer gain space on Arroch and his girth was enough to block his shots and crosses. Balrog #5 kept Glaurung in his pocket, the same way Balrog #2 did last year for Anfauglith. And Finrod could no longer find space to work his magic in; Gundor followed him all over the pitch, confident that Galdor was there to sweep up behind him. In the meantime, Nargothrond’s back line no longer had a spare player, and with strikers like Túrin left alone against a so-so defender, that surely meant trouble for Orodreth. But it Hithlum took thirteen minutes after the restart to beat him; Húrin and Hador combined on the left to get to the byline. Húrin sent a cutback zipping across the face of the goal, and Beleg beat Barahir, getting a boot in to redirect the ball into the net. The Hithlum supporters roared. They finally took the lead! and they looked to be in control of the game. On the other hand, the faces of Nargothrond fans were deathly pale. A spirit of ‘here we go again’ seemed to have descended on their team, and only Glaurung was showing any spirit to fight back. Even Finrod looked clueless as to how to turn the tables on Hithlum. As they pushed forward for an equaliser, they were dangerously open on the break. With quick players Hador and Beleg supporting the attack from the midfield, the Nargothrond back four would find themselves swamped as soon as Hithlum recovered the ball and got past the home team’s press. It took some impressive saves and clearance to keep Túrin and company at bay, but after nineteen minutes, disaster struck. Nienor and Finduilas passed their way out of Hithlum’s midfield pressing and got the ball to Glaurung. But the dragon was easily outmuscled off the ball by Balrog #5. He then sent a long diagonal to Beleg, who crossed for Túrin. He leapt over Arminas to get a head on the ball, but Orodreth was there to cover the angles. Túrin, however, was in no mood to be denied; his reverse-spin header went past Orodreth’s outstretched right hand and swerved into goal. It was like a chip, but only with his head. The Hithlum crowd seemed to have taken over the stadium. The Nargothrond faithful were stunned to silence, and their away fans’ cries of ‘Túrin, Túrin, get it in!’ reverberated off the dome of the High Faroth and filled the arena. The Nargothrond players were about as clueless as their supporters. Gwindor’s attempts to beat his marker got nowhere; Glaurung couldn’t hold the ball against the Balrog, and Finrod, with no one to create for, tried to dribble his way to Huor’s goal, but was easily repulsed by Galdor and Gundor. Two minutes before time, Gwindor managed to gain a metre from Arroch, but Finduilas’s through ball for him was intercepted by Morwen. She dinked the ball over the dangerously high Nargothrond back line, and Hador took her pass in stride. He easily rounded Orodreth and slotted the ball in for the dagger. When the final whistle was sounded a few minutes later, Hithlum tried to walk off the pitch impassively, as if they had just done their jobs, but a grin spread on Hador’s face, and Húrin laughed in reply. Clearly, winning in such impressive fashion, and with everything clicking together for the team, spread a spirit of cheer among them. Soon they were arm-in-arm, shouting, ‘Quarterfinals, quarterfinals,’ which the Hithlum fans soon echoed. Meanwhile, for Nargothrond, Glaurung dashed off the field in fury, and while the rest of the team bowed to their supporters, a lot of them clearly looked like they didn’t want to be there. So they were left behind in the round of sixteen again… while it was an improvement on the last two years, it didn’t feel like an improvement at all, neither to the fans nor to the team. Exit interviews shall be provided in The Matchday episode next week. Hithlum 5-2 Nargothrond GOALS: 4, 0-1 Gwindor (Finrod) 9, 1-1 Húrin (Balrog #5) 21, 1-2 Glaurung (Nienor) 34, 2-2 Túrin 58, 3-2 Beleg (Húrin) 77, 4-2 Túrin (Beleg) 88, 5-2 Hador (Morwen) Total Shots 23-20 Shots On Target 12-8 YELLOW CARDS: 1-2 HTH: Húrin NGR: Glaurung, Arminas __________________ フェンリス鴨 (Fenrisu Kamo) The plot, cut, defeated. I intend to copy this sig forever - so far so good... Last edited by Nilpaurion Felagund; 11-09-2013 at 12:30 AM.