[the phantom]

Group B at Weathertop

At long last, the games of the 2012 Arda Cup were under way!

Kickoff for the first game between Inter Beleriand and Gondolin was as good as could be hoped for- several thousand supporters filed in through midmorning, and the rest of the seats were filled slowly by locals. The stadium was perfectly designed to allow coming and going, with entry points in the lower portion of the stadium accessed via the east and west paths that rose to the saddle between the two hills, and with entries for the upper levels accessed by the hilltops.

The sky was entirely overcast, providing nice even lighting across the field with no worries of blind spots. Cool temperatures had pushed down from the north, making things nicely mild at 65 F (18 C), though it was certain to warm by the second match.

As the first match kicked off it was soon apparent that Inter had more fan support. Gondolin supporters were certainly out in force, but the lack of representatives from the royal house had undoubtedly affected things, while Inter had Turgon playing for them, perhaps leading to a few defectors. But the difference was primarily seen with the locals, who seemed keen to root for Turgon, Fingon, and Maedhros. Maeglin of Gondolin is a huge name in football of course, but Inter's stars were just as large, and the men of Arnor seemed hesitant to get behind Maeglin's co-star at the front- Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs.

The two squads battled evenly to start, Gondolin pushing the ball aggressively, Inter possessing carefully. Maedhros and Fingon gained an opportunity in the opening minutes, but Egalmoth assisted his keeper nicely and got in the way of Fingon's shot.

On the other end Inter's Balrog did his best to frustrate Gothmog one on one, leaving the rest of the defense more free to converge on Maeglin. The strategy worked for the most part, limiting Gondolin's shots to longer speculations.

Both defenses held the opposition at bay throughout the first half- until the final minutes. Breaking up what had been an extremely clean game, Galdor performed an ill-advised take-down of Fingon, giving Inter a ranged free kick. Fingon's friend Maedhros took it and struck a beautiful ball over the top of the wall but with slightly lowered pace and enough spin to bring it down and challenge Rog.

The ball was placed perfectly high and right and Rog barely deflected it upwards, where it rebounded off the bottom of the bar. First to it was Fingon, who had timed his run nicely, and with his speed and accurate toe it was over the moment the ball bounced out from the bar- Fingon volleyed it into the empty left side with ease to give Inter the lead going into halftime!

When Gondolin emerged from the tunnel after the half they changed tactics drastically, asking their midfielders Duilin and Elemmakil to make aggressive runs forward and feeding them. Already in the second minute a nice through ball from Meleth found Duilin in stride and he fired a laser between the posts, forcing Turgon to make a fantastic save.

Just minutes later Gondolin sprung a nearly identical play, only this time Inter was ready and converged swiftly- which was what Gondolin hoped for. Duilin immediately sent it over to the freed-up Maeglin dashing full speed towards the right post. The panicked defense scampered to recover and stop the fabled "keen-boot" of Gondolin, but he unexpectedly skipped it back over to the forgotten Duilin who couldn't fail to put it in from five yards. The score was tied!

Inter fans grew quiet as Gondolin pressed forward yet again, bringing their full force forward. Turgon's defense was hard-pressed, and he was forced to stop a couple shots himself. At minute 56 Gondolin earned a corner, but Maedhros gained position and rose up high and headed it downfield. Fingon was waiting to dash the opposite way, and Baragund and Forweg were also moving the same way from the far side of the box, starting their run the moment they guessed the ball was coming out from the near side of the goal.

Baragund was first to it, splitting Aranwe and Galdor, who didn't recover quickly enough. With Fingon on the left and Forweg the right Baragund took two touches to draw Egalmoth closer and sent it over to Forweg, who on the first touch sent it forward to Fingon, who outpaced Pengolodh to earn an unopposed attack on Rog.

Fingon dashed forward and deftly faked a shot, then moved to slot the ball home to the near post- or so it appeared to Rog. Instead Fingon sent it sideways into empty territory where it was met solidly by Baragund to give Inter the lead!

Inter fans exploded while Gondolin supporters sat down heavily in stunned silence. Football could turn quickly, and here was the proof.

Turgon organized his defense for the final push they would inevitably face, and Inter went into full time-wasting and possession mode. They would attempt to bog things down and hold on for the victory. Gondolin pushed forward for the draw with everything they had. Inter staved them off again and again and nearly gained a counter opportunity, but the score remained the same.

Finally as time neared 80 minutes Gondolin's persistence paid off. Gothmog finally got the better of his mark and headed in a spectacular cross from Elemmakil, and the score was level once more!

Now on even footing, both teams looked to gain the winning goal, but both somewhat tentatively, not wanting to make a mistake that would concede the winner. Maeglin earned Gondolin a good look with some nifty footwork in the closing seconds, but Turgon made the stop to preserve the draw. The locals applauded the game enthusiastically, not only because they'd witnessed some quality football, but because each team gaining but one point left things open for Arnor or Eriador to move forward.

Inter Beleriand 2-2 Gondolin
on target 6-9
tot shots 14-22
GOALS:
*43, 1-0 Fingon (Maedhros)
*50, 1-1 Duilin (Maeglin)
*56, 2-1 Baragund (Fingon)
*77, 2-2 Gothmog (Elemmakil)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Inter- Forweg, Gorlim
*Gondolin- Galdor

The last remnants of cloud cover drifted away before the start of the late match, exposing the arena to the sun at last. When Arnor and Eriador trotted onto the field for warmups the grass was half in shadows, and the stadium was similarly split between the supporters of the squads, though Eriador probably had a few more thanks to the late-arriving Orcs, most of which sported Witch King replica jerseys.

And those same Orcs were riotous indeed when their hero rifled in the game's opening goal! The only thing they seemed to enjoy more than the goal was when Witch King got carded for a rough tackle on Valandur- almost to remind Arnor that though he was playing the part of good teammate on Eriador, he hadn't forgotten his old rivalry with the men of the North.

As the minutes moved along Eriador was controlling things nicely, and the defense of Arnor was kept running by their fine ball movement. And just before the end of the half, Eriador struck again- but this time the section of Gondolin Elves was given a special reason to cheer, as it was the beloved Glorfindel booting it past Arvedui.

In the second half Elrond ordered a full defensive lockdown, and Eriador went to it with model efficiency. Arnor managed to make Elrond move a couple times, but they were distance prayers with no real hope of getting past a keeper of his caliber. At minute 74 however things got interesting again. Araphor made a superb move past the defense and got to the end line to send a cross, but Gil-galad got in the way and deflected it out for a corner to Arnor.

Elendil sent in a pinpoint corner to his son and Isildur, after using his size to shield his defender, gained the header. Elrond shifted into position to make the save, but the header took an unfortunate deflection to the other side where Araphor made a heads-up reactionary play and kneed the ball into the netting to close the gap to one goal!

The newly energized Arnor faithful began chanting and stomping, but Eriador professionally bounced back from the setback and took full command of the ball and choked off all the action to preserve the margin of victory. The favorites had the early lead in Group B!

Arnor 1-2 Eriador
on target 5-6
tot shots 12-14
GOALS:
*24, 0-1 WitchKing (Arahael)
*41, 0-2 Glorfindel (Arveleg)
*74, 1-2 Araphor (Isildur)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Malvegil
*Eriador- WitchKing