ARDA CUP Football 2012

[Boromir88]

TWO TOWERS NETWORK
Boromir the 88th

Several surprises came out of Round 2 friendlies, as we saw a few teams score 5 goals, and some truly shining individuals who are beginning to find their legs. Without further ado, here is the next installment of TTN's power rankings, and this round, we will use our numbers to predict the results of the round 3 match-ups.

Key: (Rank. Team. (w-d-l) - Points).

Power Rankings

01. Real Valinor (2-0-0) - 46.8
A comprehensive 3-goal win against a Hithlum team that can definitely rack up goals, assures Real Valinor stays in our top spot.
(Last: W 5-2, Hithlum)

02. FC Valinor (2-0-0) - 44.8
FC Valinor stays step-for-step with Real with a confident 4-2 win against Nargothrond.
(Last: W 4-2, Nargothrond)

03. Eriador (2-0-0) - 34.3
Eriador apparently is taking the place of Valimar this year, winning another game 1-0. However, the win against a strong Imladris squad, means Eriador jumps up 5 places this week.
(Last: W 1-0, Imladris)

04. AC Beleriand (1-1-0) - 33.3
After crunching all the numbers, despite the draw against Valimar, AC Beleriand stays at 4 (and Valimar actually moves down to 5). Our explanation for this is, AC's 2-0 defeat of Inter Beleriand in Round 1, is boosted by the fact that Inter won in Round 2.
(Last: D 1-1, Valimar)

05. Valimar (1-1-0) - 32.8
As partially explained above, Valimar moves below AC Beleriand after Round 2. In Round 1, Valimar's 1-0 win against Anduin, is not as impressive as AC's 2-0 victory over Inter.
(Last: D 1-1, AC Beleriand)

06. Armenolos (1-1-0) - 30.5
Even if it was against a weaker opponent (and one that would play the Armenolos royalty respectfully), Armenolos regained some of their former swagger. If they stick to their principles of possession, they can certainly make it out Group D, which we now nickname Group Death.
(Last: W 2-1, Minas Tirith)

07. Rohan (1-1-0) - 28.5
No shame in drawing with the rushing tide from The Sea, especially since Rohan outshot their opponents statistically. But based on performances from other teams near them in the rankings, Rohan does slip a bit, and will need more from Helm and Eorl.
(Last: D 1-1, The Sea)

08. Tirion (1-0-1) - 27.5
The Havens seems to be in shambles at the moment, but they can score some goals too. Anytime a team can put up 5 goals, you have to take notice. The 4 teams from Group D, are currently ranked 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 8th...Group Death indeed.
(Last: W 5-3, The Havens)

09. Angband (0-2-0) - 27.0
Another rather unspirited performance from Angband. Although, Angband typically doesn't play with much spirit in the friendlies, and yet are still able to get 2 draws against tough squads. Which tells us they should win their Group A pretty comfortably.
(Last: D 1-1, Anfauglith)

10. The Sea (0-2-0) - 26.3
Ulmo's defense does not seem to be as shut down as it has been in the past, but the offense seems better. Perhaps Ulmo figures the defense does not need much work now, and is already prepared for the group stage.
(Last: W 1-1, Rohan)

11. Wilderland (1-1-0) - 24.3
Well, despite the draw to a mediocre Anduin at the moment, Wilderland holds onto the 11th rank for now. Mostly due to Erebor's win in Round 2 benefitted Wilderland based on Wilderland beating them in Round 1.
(Last: D 2-2, Anduin)

12. Erebor (1-0-1) - 24.3
Speaking of Erebor, they wind up virtually tied with Wilderland after Round 2. Wilderland maintains the edge based on already beating Erebor. Although, we might point out Erebor seemed to get a bit unlucky in that match, as ChielfWolf made a parade of saves, so Erebor can certainly climb back into the Top 10.
(Last: W 1-0, Dwarves Utd)

13. Imladris (1-0-1) - 21.0
They seemed surprised Eriador decided to go for the win, but it just proves lose some of your focus and effort, and your performance drops, just as Imladris drops in the rankings.
(Last: L 0-1, Eriador)

14. Anfauglith (0-2-0) - 20.8
Anfauglith is hanging around pretty much where we expected with 2 so-so draws. They also have a clear deficiency in the mid-field, even with a highly talented defense, it may not be good enough to beat any of the teams in Group G.
(Last: D 1-1, Angband)

15. Hithlum (1-0-1) - 19.8
The positive news for Hithlum, is they won't face an offense anywhere near as talented as Real's in group play. The bad news, their defense leaks big time and the FW-trio will have to be 100% on their game to beat the Valar defenses they will face in Group E.
(Last: L 2-5, Real Valinor)

16. Nargothrond (0-1-1) - 18.0
Yes they were up against FC Valinor, but something doesn't bode well with this Nargothrond team. TTN believes they threw all their eggs into the offense, and the massive void in the defense, with a rather pathetic (sorry Old Beor) GK, spells trouble for Nargothrond.
(Last: L 2-4 FC Valinor)

17. Gondolin (1-0-1) - 17.5
Gondolin bounces back after a bad loss to Real Valinor. They just squeak ahead of Doriath and are back in the thick of the talk as a team that can advance from Group B.
(Last: W 3-2, Doriath)

18. Doriath (0-1-1) - 17.3
Doriath will be a tough foe for anyone, but Melian can't hold down the defense on her own. It's clear she needs help from the other 3, but how confident is TTN they can raise their performance for the tournament? Not very.
(Last: L 2-3, Gondolin)

19. Gondor (0-2-0) - 16.0
The draw against Armenolos looked pretty good, the draw against Isengard? Looks pretty bad.
(Last: D 1-1, Isengard)

20. Dwarves Utd (0-1-1) - 12.5
Sorry Aule, this team just isn't working. There is absolutely no scoring threat, and your defense can not hold out forever against the likes of Erebor or Wilderland. Not unless you start generating some more shots on goal to relieve the pressure on the defense.
(Last: L 0-1, Erebor)

21. Shire-Bree Utd (0-2-0) - 11.5
This is such a difficult team to figure out. We like how their offense is clicking and playing relaxed, but boy are there are lot of problems with the DF, and particularly Halbarad struggling between the posts. Conceding 4 against Nargothrond is one thing, but giving up 3 against the...Misty Mountains?
(Last: D 3-3, Misty Mountains)

22. Anduin (0-1-1) - 10.5
A draw against group opponent Wilderland means that Anduin will not be an easy win for anyone in Group C. With the disappointing Dwarves United, at the moment, Anduin could shake up and cause real problems in Group C.
(Last: D 2-2, Wilderland)

23. Tol-in-Gaurhot (0-2-0) - 10.3
A better game than last week from TIG, but still unsure of how they will fair when the tournament begins, when they continue having a rotation of different wights, and can't win Barad-dur
(Last: D 2-2, Barad-dur)

24. The Havens (0-0-2) - 10.3
They've perhaps had the hardest 2 opponents so far in the friendlies, but 2 losses is still 2 losses and Cirdan is hemorrhaging goals.
(Last: L 3-5, Tirion)

25. Minas Tirith (0-1-1) - 9.5
Minas Tirith hasn't been humiliated, but they also haven't looked that spectacular. One could even argue with their payroll the White Tower has been a disappointment with only a draw against Mordor and loss to Armenolos to show so far.
(Last: L 1-2, Armenolos)

26. Inter Beleriand (1-0-1) - 8.8
A loss to AC Beleriand, Ok, it's expected. A win against The Downer, ok, that's also expected. Which means Inter Beleriand is stays in 26th, until they show us something we don't expect. Although, beating The Downer does bring the good news that they are able to beat the teams they should, and not simply draw as we've seen from some others.
(Last: W 2-1, The Downer)

27. Isengard (0-1-1) - 7.0
Nothing spectacular with a draw against Gondor, just a mild surprise that Isengard won't be pushover, by any means. Still, their tournament fate doesn't look bright if they can't pick up a win.
(Last: D 1-1, Gondor)

28. Misty Mountains (0-2-0) - 6.3
We are unsure if Misty Mountains has some surprising scoring ability (well, of course when Durin's Bane isn't playing selfishly, he can rack up the goals for his team), or if Shire-Bree's defense is just terrible. Misty Mts keeps slowly climbing up in the rankings, but is much like Isengard. TTN will have to see more.
(Last: D 3-3, Shire-Bree Utd)

29. Mordor (0-2-0) - 5.8
Much like the 2 teams ahead of them. 2 decent draws just means Mordor, despite the cheap payroll won't be an easy team to beat. But they aren't much of a threat to beat anyone either.
(Last: D 2-2, Arnor)

30. Barad-dur (0-1-1) - 5.5
Barad-dur did look better, but still dropped 1 spot. There is something about this team, that TTN finds very dangerous though. So far Castamir and Beruthiel have done nothing, but we all know of their scoring talent. They should not be underestimated.
(Last: D 2-2, Tol-in-Gaurhoth)

31. Arnor (0-1-1) - 4.0
Kudos to not losing to Mordor, but nothing to see here. Arnor is still pretty bad, but has the most to gain finding the team-spirit magic with their low payroll.
(Last: D 2-2, Mordor)

32. The Downer (0-0-2) - .8
Arguably a better performance from The Downer, but ultimately it's another loss. You have to wonder if Hookbill will continue to play more respectfully, when all that it gets The Downer is more losses.
(Last: L 1-2, Inter Beleriand)

---

The percentages below the teams are the mathematical probabilities of a head-to-head match up. For example, in Anduin vs. Mordor, Anduin is favored and in a head to head match against Mordor would win 64.4% of the time. The flaw in this is we have no real way to take into account a draw, since this assumes there is a winner in every game played between the two teams. But below the percentages is TTN's prediction of one match at this one point in time.

Now, our competitors are going to argue that these numbers mean absolutely nothing, and it's TTN being a mediocre network, by trying to say something, without really saying anything. We remind our readers, this is an experimental method (like our Power Rankings). Our goal is to measure how all 32 teams compare against eachother, and predict match winners. So we provide the math/numbers to determine probability, but also the subjective opinion from the expert. This way, our readers can look at the most comprehensive coverage, determine what to expect, and then make their own decisions. Agree or disagree with our findings, doesn't matter. But we guarantee it will be TTN that provides the most information, covering every single angle by using every possible stat we could possibly come up with.

Anduin vs Mordor
64.4% - 35.6%
-Anduin will be more inspired in a friendly against Mordor and win 2-1.

Angband vs Valimar
45.2% - 54.8%
-Morgoth will likely go into a shell, but Valimar isn't as good as last year. Draw 1-1.

Anfauglith vs AC Beleriand
38.4% - 61.6%
-Anfauglith's defense will make thing's tough, but AC Beleriand has the better talent top to bottom. 1-0 AC Beleriand.

Armenelos vs The Sea
53.7% - 46.3%
-Ulmo continues being the draw specialist in friendlies. Draw 1-1

Arnor vs Gondor
20.0% - 80.0%
-It easily could end in a draw from some arrangement between friends, but in any non-friendly match, Gondor would be heavy favorites. 2-1 Gondor

Barad-Dur vs The Havens
34.8% - 65.2%
-Should be high scoring, The Havens have 2 losses, but have played better against better competion. 3-2 Havens.

Inter Beleriand vs Doriath
33.7% - 66.3%
-A test game for both squads. A team Doriath has to beat to be contenders, but you could say the same for Inter too. 2-1 Doriath.

Dwarves United vs Imladris
37.3% - 62.7%
-We know one thing, the Dwarven team won't score, but does Imladris have enough firepower to get 1? Draw 0-0

Erebor vs Eriador
41.5% - 58.5%
-The Witch King has been completely ineffective, that will change but this will still be a Draw 1-1.

Gondolin vs Tol In Gaurhoth
62.9% - 37.1%
-Maeglin and Gothmog may be heating up, but TTN doesn't like Gondolin's nonchalant attitude. But TIG is the king of nonchalance. 2-1 Gondolin.

Hithlum vs Nargothrond
52.4% - 47.6%
-One of the closer battles this round, will be see our first 10 goals combined game (or even more!?) Draw 4-4

Isengard vs Shire-Bree United
37.8 - 62.2%
-A test match for both teams. If either wants to be seen as legit contenders in their groups, they must come away with the win. 3-1 Shire-Bree.

Minas Tirith vs Rohan
25% - 75%
-Rohan are heavy favorites, but one does wonder their motivation going against their brothers from MT. 2-0 Rohan.

Misty Mts vs Wilderland
20.6% - 79.4%
-Misty Mountains will not have as easy of a time scoring against Wilderland. 2-1 Wilderland.

Tirion vs The Downer
91.7% - 8.3%
-The most lopsided game in Round 3, but you just have no clue if The Downer will suddenly revert to playing dirty, and how that will effect the more precise Tirion. Should result the same low, another Downer loss. 4-1 Tirion.

FC Valinor vs Real Valinor
48.9% - 51.1%
-Promises to be the closest fought battle, but since they will play in the group stage, neither will give away any of their secrets. Draw 2-2.

[Nogrod]

We here in the AKM appreaciate a lot the frankness of our colleagues at the TTN to be able to admit the fact - even if they dress it in the traditional formula of "our rivals will argue that..."

Originally Posted by TTN

Now, our competitors are going to argue that these numbers mean absolutely nothing, and it's TTN being a mediocre network, by trying to say something, without really saying anything.

Although the AKM would like to be more specific about that.

The AKM believes that stats and numbers are useful - and the more of them the merrier - and also more accurate. But what the AKM finds futile is predicting the friendlies where so many factors come into the play: have the teams made a deal beforehand that they just practise in turns, maybe they have made a deal that one team practises one thing and another something else; do they play it sloppily or do they try to simulate a real game (or does one team do the first and another the second); do the teams want to try out some tactics they don't usually do; will a draw be satisfying for them unlike in a tournament game...? (the list could be continued)

Like fex. the game between Armenelos and The Sea.

It is easy to predict a draw for several reasons: Armenelos has been playing the friendlies in a most friendly manner not willing to put up a full effort against their friends - and The Sea is full of their countrymen. The Sea in turn has been playing draws thus far and is a quality team which has all it would take to challenge Armenelos: so even if they played it in somewhat competitive manner for a while, it would be close. So which would be more probable than them going for it for a while and playing more or less evenly, and then satisfying themselves for a draw? Also: would they both qualify, they might meet again in a real competitive situation so neither would wish to reveal their hand at this point. So everything just yells a draw between the two teams.

So what does it help if the TTN then offers us the odds of 53.7% - 46.3% "in case it was a real game" - when it isn't a real game but one has to take into account all the aforementioned?

The AKM on the other hand doesn't waste your time with numbers concerning fictional games (a forthcoming tournament game between Armenelos and The Sea), but tries to give the reader the best tools to get her/himself ready when the real games start.

Originally Posted by TTN

But we guarantee it will be TTN that provides the most information, covering every single angle by using every possible stat we could possibly come up with.

The AKM has accepted that as a challenge.

Follow the AKM. The most thorough Ranking-list of the teams after two rounds of friendlies is going to be published yet today.

[Nogrod]

The AKM ranking consists of the following factors.

1) The first value is that of w/l quite straight and thus real but not reliable as the teams have faced different level of opponents and have played the games more or less seriously. Still we thought a real stat should be involved in our power-ranking.

The final value is a result from three categories (1 to 32): wins/draws/losses, goals scored, and goals allowed.

2) The second value is a kind of ranked success or failure value. A short explanation might be in place here as we think that is at the same time the most important and the most vulnerable of our stats.

The AKM gave the teams an initial ranking (1 to 32) which was published on this thread earlier. That ranking was based on the salaries – as there was little to go on but the renown of the players besides that, and well, numbers are always numbers.

But the AKM’s twist there was that we took the five most attacking players (five on the bottom of the roster) and gave the forwards the value of their salary and the midfielders within that five 75% of their salary to represent the force of their attack. On defence we took the top-five players (GK not included) from the roster, taking the defenders at their “face-value” and the MF:s on 75%. Then we added to the defence value the GK as times three, as we consider the value of a good goalie that important (and it is only one player in comparison to five DF/MF). Finally we leveled the two stats making them even scoped so that both best offence and best defence got the value of 99. Those stats (attacking & defending) were then combined to make the initial power-ranking list (1 to 32).

The first friendlies were then ranked using that initial board of power. So winning the top team would give the team 32 points and winning the worst team 1 point. Playing a draw would give the team half of the “ranking-points” aka. drawing with team #1 would give 16 points. Losing a team would then be just the mirror image of winning aka. losing to the best team would mean -1 points and losing to the weakest team would mean -32 points. To not make individual friendlies affect the ranking too much, we decided to halve the points both ways (so losing to the team #32 would mean not getting -32 but -16 points, playing even with the #1 would not mean 32:2=16, but 16:2=8) and adding to them the then current ranking of the team itself (1 to 32) we came up with the new ranking.

Fex. on the first round of friendlies AC Beleriand (ranked 9. by “off-def –spread salaries” explained above) won Inter Beleriand (ranked 22.). That meant that AC Bel got 11 points (Inter is 11 seats from the bottom) and Inter gained -9 points (losing to the team ranked 9th). Adding half of that number to their then current ranking number led to AC having 5½ (half from 11) plus 24 (being the 9th. aka 24th from bottom) = 29½, which actually raised them two seats to the 7th place. Inter in turn was having -4½ (half from -9) plus 11 (being the 22nd aka 11th from the bottom) = 6½, actually dropping them four seats to 26.

3) The last value is once again a real-stat combined of four different areas of the teams’ performances: two defencive stats and two offencive stats.The defencive stats (1 to 32) are the goalie’s saving percentage and the number of shots the team has allowed on their goal. The offencive stats (1 to 32) are the effectiviness of the team’s shots aka. the ratio of goals scored vs. the total number of shots they make and the number of shots on goal they manage to deliver.


~*~

The AKM acknowledges that the system is under construction and rather scetchy at this point. There might also be a few issues with the relative weight of the different categories, but they will be addressed as the tournament continues. But whatever the possible shortcomings at this stage are, it does give general directions we here in the AKM think are not without a merit.

Another issue is the nature of the friendlies which make every decent statistician’s head explode. The AKM will make a couple of notes how the rankings should or could be modified, because of the way the friendlies have been played, after the list below.

After the friendlies are over the AKM will come up with a modified and hopefully also more accurate ranking and a group by group analysis & a prediction as to their results.


1. (D) Real Valinor 83+76,5+94=253,5

2. (B) Eriador 77+73,5+83,5=234
3. (G) AC Beleriand 82+63+86=231
4. (D) FC Valinor 73+77,75+79,5=230,25

5. (F) Rohan 82+41½+97=220,5
6. (D) Armenelos 71+64,25+83=218,25
7. (E) Valimar 68+72,5+77=217,5

8. (C) Wilderland 68+56+78,5=202,5

9. (D) Tirion 65+46,75+71,5=183,25
10. (E) The Sea 51,5+54,75+74=180,25
11. (F) Imladris 64+46+68,5=178,5
12. (A) Angband 48,5+66,25+63=177,75

13. (C) Erebor 58+37,5+68=163,5
14 (G) Anfaughlith 44,5+56,5+60=161
15. (H) Gondor 48,5+42,75+63=154,25
16. (E) Hithlum 50+37+62,5=150

17. (A) T-I-G 48,5+23,75+69,5=141,75
18. (B) Gondolin 50+37,5+51,5=139
19. (A) ShireBree Utd. 47,5+22+68=137,5

20. (G) Nargothrond 33+44,25+58=132,25
21. (F) Misty Mts. 51,5+14,75+64=130,25
22. (G) Doriath 35+27,25+67=129,25

23. (H) Mordor 51,5+3+61,5=116
24. (B) Inter Beleriand 42+14+58=114

25. (E) The Havens 28,5+23,5+57=109

26. (C) Dwarves Utd. 35+10+59,5=104,5
27. (H) Minas Tirith 28+21,5+48,5=98
28. (C) Anduin 28+21,25+48,5=97,75
29. (F) Isengard 29+15,5+52,5=97

30. (B) Arnor 18+8,75+46,5=73,25

31. (A) Downer 22,5-9+50,5=64
32. (H) Barad Dûr 18+0,25+41,5=59,75




A few notes by the AKM on where the ranking-list is not accurate because of the nature of the friendlies.

FC Valinor could have scored more in both their games and when they tighten their defence into the tournament mode they should be strong enough to even challenge Real Valinor for the top #1 place in the ranking (currently 4th).

AC Beleriand could have overrun their close friends & rivals Inter Beleriand but they only played seriously in offence for half an hour. So more points on the tally in the table would be in order (currently 3rd).

Valimar, as always, seems to be on top of things in their games but will not execute their full arsenal unless forced to (if even then). They could have surely scored more on Anduin at least and thus could have more points in the rankings (currently 7th).

Armenelos could have won their first game against Gondor but decided not to. As they also could have scored more against Minas Tirith, they should clearly have more ranking points and possibly be higher up in the ranking (currently 6th).

Rohan is probably a bit too high on the standings as their 2-0 win over Barad Dûr was not so much their goodness but Sauron’s reluctance to try them for real. Their second draw is also more or less non-telling. Overall their admittedly fine defence probably looks better it is as it has not been tested thus far. So Rohan probably could be lower in the ranking (currently 5th).

Imladris could clearly have scored more against Arnor and possibly even force a draw with Eriador so they should be higher on the ranking (currently 11th).

Angband has played lazily, purposefully easy with half-lights. Even if it is a real possibility that Angband has a problem with their offence (too weak a midfield to support the forwards) it feels they will end up higher in the ranking when the real games begin (currently 12th).

Hithlum was not giving anything like their serious effort against The Downer but pulled back every once in a while. So they could have scored more and gotten more points to the tallies. On the other hand their ugly loss to Real Valinor shows they are not a top four (probably not even top eight) team this year around, but possibly a bit better than the ranking shows (currently 16th).

Shire-Bree United has scored 7 goals thus far in amiable and friendly atmosphere, but what happens when the opponents start to play for real and shut down their defences? Obviously the high number of goals they have conceded already affects their ranking, but the AKM still predicts that Shire-Bree will fall a notch from it’s ranking unless they too can tighten their defences – which the AKM seems unlikely (currently 19th).

Mordor could have won Minas Tirith but allowed them to draw on purpose. However the tactical ways might change come the tournament, it speaks the team Mordor to be stronger and should have more points on the tally for a win over Tirith. A fair draw with weakish Arnor side doesn’t make them look too good though (currently 23rd).

Barad Dûr in turn is probably a lot better team than how they have played thus far, letting Rohan to take the first game just like that (playing an amiable draw with the T-I-G - another undervalued team – gives the statistician no way to bring them higher to where they belong). If not on the top half of the teams, certainly not the worst team of the tournament anyway (currently 32nd).

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

It was another TENT exclusive broadcast between teams that have been covered before: Doriath against Inter Beleriand, playing in the beautiful Menegroth Stadium.

Had Elu Thingol been on this year's squad, he would have been reticent to host a friendly match with the Noldor, especially one co-captained by a son of Fëanor, but Melian had no such qualms. In the post-game press conference she said, 'The Arda Cup should be instrumental in helping heal the wounds of the past.'

That did not prevent Maedhros from dealing a wound to the Doriath defence. Fifteen minutes after the opening whistle he took a cut back from Haleth and fired a shot just below the crossbar that Dior couldn't get to in time.

After the goal Inter fell back to defend, as was norm in friendly friendlies. A slick one-two by Lúthien and Beleg gave Doriath the equaliser sixteen minutes later, and a sublime Daeron through ball to Beleg put them in lead heading into the break.

After the restart Maedhros converted Fingon's cross from the right wing. Inter then gave its back line time to shine, but were unable to stop Lúthien from poking in the rebound from Nellas's speculative shot. Chances for an equaliser were hard to find for Maedhros and company, and ten minutes before the end they hung it up, content to have done their best.

Inter Beleriand 2-3 Doriath
GOALS:
15, 1-0 Maedhros (Haleth)
31, 1-1 Lúthien (Beleg)
39, 1-2 Beleg (Daeron)
56, 2-2 Maedhros (Fingon)
66, 2-3 Lúthien (Nellas)

Total Shots
11-20
Shots On Target
5-9

YELLOW CARDS:
2-2
Inter: Brandir, Forweg
Doriath: Saeros, Galathil

In other games not broadcast by TENT:

Anfauglith vs AC Beleriand

Had he accepted Morgoth's offer to help fund his squad, Fëanor could've been teammates with some of the Balrogs and/or Ungoliant. Instead, their two squads face each other in anticipation of their group stage meeting.

Dubbed as the rematch of Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the scoreless tie was anything but boring. Despite playing at half-speed and with no tactics, the two teams played with a determination to walk away with a win.

It was indeed reminiscent of the Second Battle, with the Fiery Boot taking on the Balrog defenders all by himself. Despite his ball-handling skills that left one, and sometimes two of his markers in the dust, in the main the Valaraukar phalanx was up to the task of denying him his goal, sometimes through physical means.

There was one time when Balrog #4 brought Fëanor down five metres in front of the penalty box. His resulting free kick curled past the wall and towards the goal but Ungoliant snuffed the ball easily.

AC Bel's best chance at goal came late in the second half when Fëanor, after a left-wing incursion, sent a cross towards the unmarked Fingolfin, whose header whizzed just past the far post.

The Fingolfin-led defence was also up to the task of physical intimidation. In fact, Rochallor was lucky not to be sent off after his late challenge on Thuringwethil early in the second half.

Anfauglith 0-0 AC Beleriand
total shots 7-9
on target 2-3
GOALS:
*
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anfauglith- Balrog #4, Borlach, Balrog #2
*AC Bel- Fingolfin, Bregolas, Rochallor, Imlach

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Hithlum vs Nargothrond

There was an unexpected twist to this meeting. Before their squads were complete Hador arranged for a friendly match with Felagund, whose team had players from the eldest Edain house, but also Gwindor and Finduilas, who were familiar with Túrin, as well as Glaurung, the tormentor of Húrin's family, and Mîm, betrayer of Túrin and slain by his father.

The tie was played with the urgency of a tournament game. With Glaurung quiet for most of the match, as urged on by Finrod, Gwindor was the aggressor during the first half hour, racking up the third hat-trick of the friendly round (and the second for Nargothrond) in that time. But Nargothrond might have tired itself out in the effort, as the famed father-son tandem of Hithlum went to work afterwards, scoring a goal each on both sides of the interval. Desperate for an equaliser, Finrod finally gave Glaurung free rein, and in a quick counterattack the Worm of Angband shot the final goal of the match.

Hithlum 4-4 Nargothrond
total shots 20-15
on target 11-8
GOALS:
*8, 0-1 Gwindor (Finduilas)
*17, 0-2 Gwindor (Finrod)
*28, 0-3 Gwindor (Orodreth)
*35, 1-3 Húrin (Morwen)
*41, 2-3 Túrin (Nienor)
*49, 3-3 Túrin (Húrin)
*58, 4-3 Húrin (Hador)
*69, 4-4 Glaurung (Barahir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Androg, Arroch, Gethron, Nienor
*Nargothrond- Barahir, Mîm, Arminas