[Shastanis Althreduin]

Anduin took on Imladris in what was to be one of the final friendly matches before the tournament began in earnest. And, to be frank, the first half of this game was pretty boring. It appeared the time of year was making Grimbeorn sluggish – he barely moved during the first half of the game. On the other side, Elladan could be seen juggling the ball at nearly every opportunity simply for practice, judging this game to be not worthwhile.

In the second half, though, he did stir himself to put the ball into the net courtesy of a strong punt from Arwen (later, a reporter heard her say she aimed at Elladan’s head deliberately, to wake him up.) However, this roused the Anduin team to play full-bore, and eleven minutes later Boromir II juked away from his defenders and equalized the game. Now Grimbeorn had had time to fully shake off his grogginess and rejoin the game, and it was the mighty bear himself that scored Anduin’s second goal in order to secure his team the win.

Anduin 2-1 Imladris
tot shots 12-10
on target 4-4
GOALS:
*49, 0-1 Elladan (Arwen)
*60, 1-1 Boromir II (Fram)
*81, 2-1 Grimbeorn (Haldir)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Anduin- Lenwe, Frumgar
*Imladris- Aranarth


Foul play abounded in the friendly between the physical teams of Erebor and Misty Mountains (who, in particular, has a history of using their brawn rather more than their brains.) Again, in what seems to have become a pattern, the objective of actually putting the ball into the net seemed to be sidelined for most of the game – shots were taken when possible, but it seemed both teams were more interested in getting a piece of their opponents. The crafty elf Rumil assisted both Misty Mountains goals, but was never carded for the sly fouls he committed against Dain. Enraged, Dain went straight after Rumil, but received his second yellow of the match and was sent off the field. Chief Wolf soon followed, thanks to a nasty bite he gave Gwaihir (who responded with a mighty wing buffet and received his own yellow for his trouble), and both teams finished out the game at a tie.

Erebor 2-2 Misty Mts
tot shots 15-15
on target 7-6
GOALS:
*13, 1-0 Smaug (Bard)
*30, 1-1 Durin’s Bane (Rumil)
*44, 1-2 Narvi (Rumil)
*57, 2-2 Thranduil (Dain)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Erebor- Nazgul #7, Gwaihir, Meneldor, Dain, Smaug
*Misty- Azog, Chief Wolf, Bert, Orophin, William
RED CARDS:
Erebor- Dain (63, second yellow)
Misty- Chief Wolf (66, second yellow)


The most exciting thing about the Gondor/Rohan friendly was the explosive start, as both teams had apparently decided to treat this game just like a real, tournament-style play. Not very many shots were taken (8 for Gondor, 10 for Rohan), but the ball changed hands (or, rather, feet, or hooves, or what have you) like lightning, never remaining in possession of one team for very long. A little over half an hour in, Anarion fired off a shot at the Rohan goal, but Felarof intercepted it with a well-timed rear, coming down on top of the ball. The pressure Felarof’s hoof applied to the ball popped it into the sky and across the pitch, nearly going into the net of the Gondor goal. However, it bounced off the crossbar and back onto the field, where Eomer picked off the clean goal.

Rohan pulled back their offense a bit after that, letting Gondor try to equalize. And equalize they did, in the second half, as Anarion tried again and Falastur caught the rebounding ball square with a high knee, firing it into the back of the net. After that, the game exploded into full-bore play again, but both teams’ defenses held firm and the game ended in a tie.


Gondor 1-1 Rohan
tot shots 8-10
on target 3-5
GOALS:
*37, 0-1 Eomer (Felarof)
*65, 1-1 Falastur (Anarion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Gondor- Calimehtar
*Rohan- Shadowfax, Eomer