[Boromir88]

FRIENDLIES - ROUND 3

Fans Gearing up for an Exciting Tournament to Come.

The Gladden Fields Stadium played host to a round 3 friendly between Anduin and Mordor today. And the spectators who came, were not disappointed, getting pretty much a tournament-performance for a reduced price! Both teams wanted to be prepared for the upcoming group matches, and so they truly competed from start to finish.

This match was indicative of the way Anduin plans to win games. Mordor held possession the most, but they were playing exactly the game Anduin wanted. Playing defense, and then going for the counter strike when their opponent gets over-anxious.

This was proven as early as the 5th minute, when Haldir, broke towards goal and Fram found him for an easy, quick score. Haldir earned the "silent assassin" nickname after that, since he appeared right in front of goal, undetected by the Mordor defense until it was too late. Beating the "Silent Watcher." Mordor did a good job shutting down all of Anduin's counters after the goal, but Anduin also showed they could hurt you from set pieces, with a pairing like Grimbeorn and Boromir II. When they are able to get into the box, they are difficult to handle, since they provide tall and dominating targets. And thus, Anduin went into the 2nd half with a 2-goal lead after a ferocious Grimbeorn header, off a free kick taken by Boromir.

In the 2nd, Anduin went to full-out defense as Mordor tried to claw their way back into the match. Nazgul #4 would make it interesting in the 77th minute, grabbing his 2nd goal of the friendlies. Despite Mordor's efforts to comeback and equalize, it must be said, this was the kind of game Anduin liked playing. They looked comfortable defending the final minutes, and Mordor has some work to do creating better chances.

Anduin 2-1 Mordor
tot shots 10-15
on target 5-6
GOALS:
*5, 1-0 Haldir (Fram)
*40, 2-0 Grimbeorn (Boromir II)
*77, 2-1 Nazgul #4 (Shagrat)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Amdir, Frumgar
*Mordor- Gorbag, Fellbeast #1

This was another competitive game, but unlike the earlier ones, fans felt like it was more scripted, as if the teams agreed to play it this way before the start. And after the 1st half ended even, spectators were quickly disheartened in the 2nd as it became clear Gondor and Arnor were just playing out the game and wasting time.

But again, in an apparently scripted move, both sides ramped up the effort in the final 20 to try for the win. It was no surprise to see the master of late-game heroics, Araphor, involved in the go-ahead goal, feeding a nice ball to Argeleb. Gondor tried to launch one final attack, but Arvedui was at his best tonight, and secured a win for the Arnorians.

Arnor 2-1 Gondor
tot shots 15-14
on target 7-7
GOALS:
*29, 0-1 Anarion (Falastur)
*40, 1-1 Arantar (Elendil)
*81, 2-1 Argeleb (Araphor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Valandur
*Gondor- Earnil I, Imrahil

The late match was between Rohan and Minas Tirith, and while neither wanted to try any tricks, both just wanted to give a straight forward, tournament-level effort.

Rohan got on the board first, in the 14th minute, as Eomer added a goal to his 2 assists, in the friendlies thus far. Afterwards, Rohan showed no interest to expand their lead, leaving it to their defense, and Theoden to shut out Minas Tirith. A tall order for any defense, especially with well over 70 minutes of game to be played. But a task the horses in the back were capable of, and one could see the pride they took in playing excellent defense.

Eventhough you could say the way Rohan was focused solely on defending, that Minas Tirith probably deserved a goal, their equalizer was more a result of bad luck (from Rohan's perspective) than a truly deserving goal. Cirion, who was now coming up from the defense to join the attack, sent a poor cross, that was easily headed away by Felarof, but not far enough. The ball went directly to Mardil, who lined up a strike, Shadowfax reared up for the block, but it took a poor deflection off his back-hoof, leaving Theoden no chance to save.

Rohan tried to get a late-winner, and held possession easily, but time just ran out on them and Minas Tirith held on for the draw.

Minas Tirith 1-1 Rohan
tot shots 13-7
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*14, 0-1 Eomer (Eorl)
*79, 1-1 Mardil (Cirion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*MTirith- Tarandor
*Rohan- Helm, Snowmane