[Nogrod]

Group E at The Havens, round 3

The day came to the Grey Havens sneakingly as the sun arose somewhere behind a dark wall of clouds towering over the city. It felt like a mysterious fog had arisen from the sea and wrapped the whole town into it’s gentle but overwhelming embrace. Folks realised it was not a night any more not because of the light but because of the absence of pitch darkness. The men, hobbits and dwarves visiting the city for the games were nervous, for sure it was some kind of magic of the West. Some even packed their bags and sped off from the city just in case something strange and bad was to happen.

But even some of the elves felt disturbed. They knew Ossë could not be predicted at all, and even Ulmo, their great friend, was well, more of a god than a mate to them – “and you know what gods can be...” they whisepered to each other walking the foggy streets trying to take care of their businesses before the matches.

When the pre-game press conference started it was realised the Valar and the Maiar were nowhere to be found. Celebrian and Tar Aldarion were not able to fill in the hungry press, but Túrin was ready to speak: “You know Mandos hasn’t ever been my favourite, and I have lost my faith to those big ones during my life enough many times not to be bothered of them any more. If they do not appear into the pitch when the game is to begin then we will win by surrender. And if they come forwards, one fog isn’t going to stop me from hammering a few goals into their net…”

About an hour before the first game was set to begin a fresh wind started blowing from the sea and scattered the cloudy pillow sealing the city, letting in a bright sunlight like they had never seen. As the fog disappeared, the ships of the Valar and Maiar were suddenly spotted sailing up the river and anchoring beside the stadium – and they were glimmering and shining this extraordinary light making the park around them appear in an unnatural light which almost hurt the eyes of anyone daring to keep them open.

Now a wide-spread rumour, first reported by The Lhûnandarwinian says that seeing the grand entry, Túrin had whispered to his dad that: “So they are trying to intimidate us”, into which Húrin had answered: “Whatever it is they are doing, they mean business now”. Túrin had them paused for a moment and said: “Good, even if took some time…” The exchange of course can’t be confirmed by any independent source.


~*~

Every newsmedia had made their own calculations as to the different outcomes of the night’s matches and who would qualify with which combinations of results – and there sure were a wealth of possibilities. But one thing remained clear: winning a game today would mean qualifying – and that sure was a no-nonsense rule to follow.

Valimar came into the field shining bright and looking just awesome. Some football lovers complain that human football stars are too interested on how their hair is in the game or how their shots or cheering looks like in television, but the Valar and Maiar had clearly perfected the art of how they look… Somewhat against the flare of their appearance, the Valimar team started the game with its trademark defence suffocating Hithlum’s attempts at attacking with their strong midfield & defence co-operation, attacking themselves only when they had it in control and could build it up slow and carefully. But it was effective.

And just past the half an hour mark Valimar was given the prize. Andróg tackled Ilmarë while she was breaking through the Hithlum defences into the box after a long and tedious build-up. Andróg was righteously carded but that the referee gave a penalty-shot to Valimar was something one could argue for or against. The slow-motion replays show a contact and a succesful effort to bring Ilmarë off balance but did it happen inside the box or not? Many will speculate about that in days to come.

But it was a penalty and Mandos came to take a shot. He didn’t wait to deliver but just after a few backtracking steps from the ball made a short run immediately to the ball and shot it securely – and with astonishing power – into the middle of the goal when Aradan hunched the left corner. “Eru’s will completed!” he yelled as he ran to face his embracing team-mates.

Hithlum never kind of recovered from that on the first half, and even if they tried to build attacks the strong defence in front of them felt like an unsurmountable obstacle they just couldn’t get through or around anyway they tried.

But if someone thought Hithlum had given in they were very wrong indeed. If the first half had been about Valimar’s control, the second looked to be about Hithlum’s willpower turned into great performance.

Valimar played very conservative tactics in the lead. Vairë dropped down beside her husband Námo and Estë was seen more at their level in the defence than in the midfield. Both wizards took a more defencive stance as well so that they had only Ilmarë higher up to run for possible turnovers and Celebrian somewhere in the middle both threatening to make runs upwards or taking part in the defence.
But even with eight players under the ball most of the times Valimar couldn’t thwarth Hithlum’s passion and determination. And time and time again they managed to break through here or try a good shot there.

And who else but Túrin evened the game on the 68th minute! Túrin managed to outwit Amrod and Amras dashing through them, and with a nice pass from his dad he got the ball behind the defences, had cool and nerves to just wait Mandos sliding in trying to cover the coming shot and with a short side-pass to himself repositioned and let the boot swing leaving Manwë no chance to relocate. Some spectators claimed they had seen Túrin passing a self-righteous grin to Mandos as the Vala was still on the ground and Túrin passed him just starting to celebrate the goal.

There was twenty minutes of the game left and it was even 1-1. Even if the winner would secure a place in the qualifiers, to Hithlum this was already a good result as they would be ahead of Valimar in the final tally with better scoring – so whichever team won the other match Hithlum would qualify alongside them. And the two other teams would have to play 3-3 to outscore Hithlum. So even if Hithlum did continue pressing they did it in a bit more careful fashion trying to make sure Ilmarë, Celebrian or either of the wizards didn’t have chances for quick turnovers.

On the other hand Valimar knew their situation was grave, but having played for defence more or less all the game and with Hithlum now having the drive on they found it hard to change gear even if they wished to – especially with Hithlum backing off their all-out attack just enough to shut out any hopes for fast counter-attacks Ilmarë or Celebrian could run for. And in a dire situation both Alatar and Pallando seemed more or less frozen. Maybe there was a reason they were sent to the east for easier tasks than Olórin back then…

And so the referee blew his whistle ending the game… in a draw once again.

Hithlum 1-1 Valimar
on target 5-3
tot shots 14-9
GOALS:
*31, 0-1 Namo
*68, 1-1 Turin (Hurin)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Hithlum- Androg
*Valimar- Pallando, Amras


The last game of the group was about to begin and the tension was mounting. The men of Hithlum had kicked Valimar off the tournament despite the show-off of Valar, but how would the hosts fare with the dangerous-looking team of Ainur combined with the Númenorian talent for scoring?

Ulmo and his vassals were awe-inspiring when they came to the field. Ulmo himself had put on his glittering green armour and at times it was hard to tell his wavelike being apart from the storming Ossë. The blows from Salmar’s horns sent thrills into the backbone of every spectator making them tremble while Uinen felt like a summer-rain spreading throughout The Sea’s half of the field. It was a magical entry to say the least.

But if there was a plan to make the hosts react in some way favourable to the Sea, it didn’t seem to work. The Havens started with a mighty pressing making the homecrowds go wild with support after they realised the team doing the attacking was their own. It looked like Ulmo’s team was busy kicking the ball away from their half when it was there again. Before the first ten minutes had been played Eärendil had already hit the post and Andreth had forced Voronwë to a save of the day. The magic sometimes wears thin pretty fast.

After the initial attacking-frenzy by the Havens the game evened and calmed down little by little. But it had sowed a seed of hope into the elves of Grey Havens and little by little they started chanting ever more loudly. They had thought throughout the games in their hearts that Ulmo’s team was just far too strong for them, but the first ten-fifteen minutes had shown otherwise. And halfway through the first half the homecrowds were becoming bolder and bolder in their chanting requiring a goal from their team.

Aided by the fanatic crowd the players found the extra momentum needed and the scales started to turn towards The Havens’ favour once again. And on 40th minute the stadium plain exploded when Aegnor’s center went in taking a bounce from Tuor’s missed header totally surprising Voronwë at the goal.

And what a boost that was! The Havens started pressing after the goal – probably also half-willing to show they could score also without the aid of dear lady Fortuna. And Aegnor did finally hammer the ball in just a minute before the half-time after a nice dribble around the edge of the box and a furiously twisting shot that left Voronwë armless a second time.

The home team was leading 2-0 on half-time! The Havens and Hithlum were qualifying leaving the pre-tournament favourites Valimar and the Sea behind. The elves of Grey Havens on the stands and all around the city were getting a hang of the game called football… and as the word spread the inhabitants started massing towards the Lhûnarena to get at least a glimpse of what was going on via the audio-commentary at the Riverside Gardens and to join the celebration.
Those elves who knew something about football were biting their nails though as they knew a match lasted 90 minutes and they were only halfway through – and it was unthinkable that Ulmo would just give up and go home like that, especially after all the pomp and circumstance of the early day.

To the great relief of the cognoscenti at the stands and to the great joy of all homeside fans The Havens came in to the second half inserting pressure to the Sea and almost scoring a third with a fiery shot by Eärendil just five minutes into the half. But the Sea was slowly gathering it’s force and like a tsunami which first draws back to gather momentum they allowed the Havens to bring it on them before they suddenly unleashed their whole power against the Havens defences. And the tables were turned.

The shots started raining on The Havens’ goal – on target, hitting the frame or going just a little off – finally putting Cirdan to a test for real. And Cirdan was standing to the test. He made two brave saves in ten minutes and Tar Minastir’s breakthrough was called offside by the linesman. But finally Cirdan’s old friend, the Commander of Men Vëantur outwitted him closing in from the left and booting the ball behind the great elf from between him and the near post.

With roughly 20 minutes of the game left the Havens still led by two goals against one. And the game turned into a thriller.

A tidal wave called the Sea now roamed over the pitch but The Havens defended courageously blocking shots with daring that brought back memories of some rougher times past. Olwë himself blocked a hammering shot by Ossë running up from his side and had to be attended to by the medical staff after losing all the air from his lungs by the force of the shot.

The clock was ticking the minutes away from the Sea.

The excessive attacking opened up chances for the home team as well. At five minutes before the full time Lindo’s intelligent long break sent Aegnor into a half break-through from the midfield. Aegnor ran like crazy having a second goal in his sights but Ossë was swifter and overcame him snatching the ball away into a throw for The Havens. With most of the players now stacking the Sea’s half Angrod threw the ball searching for Tuor’s head at the middle beside the box only to be cut off by Salmar.

There was a sound of a great horn blowing freezing most players to where they stood. Ulmo looked furious calling his team to attack, all of them. And the Sea rolled forwards, all of them. The Havens were almost panicking even if Tuor and Olwë tried to calm them down while concentrating… on running.

Salmar had passed the ball to the Stargazer Meneldur who sent it again forwards to his son who’s adventurous nature he didn’t always appreciate that much, but now the son was making some great progress advancing far into the Havens’ defencive territory. Olwë and his daughter Eärwen were facing him though and his wannabe-breakthrough came into a halt.

But there were the horns again as Ulmo himself dashed through the field like a roaring thunder. Tar Aldarion was shook by the horns like everyone, but was alert and cabable enough to pass the ball diagonally forwards… and there was Ulmo himself passing the running defenders like a giant wave passes through everything on it’s way. And Ulmo just ran the ball in almost ending up in the net himself.

No one could blame Cirdan for that goal as many speculated afterwards could even Manwë himself have been able to stop the fury and strength of Ulmo they witnessed there and then.

So it was 2-2 with four minutes to go and it seemed both teams had used all their energy. It was clear neither team wished for a draw but they had just ran out of new gears to change into. And so the game ended 2-2 with the audience and even most of the players unsure about what that would mean.

The Havens 2-2 The Sea
on target 7-6
tot shots 16-13
GOALS:
*40, 1-0 Tuor (Aegnor)
*44, 2-0 Aegnor (Earendil)
*68, 2-1 Veantur (Tar Minastir)
*86, 2-2 Ulmo (Tar Aldarion)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Havens- Annael, Angrod
*Sea- Uinen


Group E final results
Hithlum 3 0-3-0 5-5
The Havens 3 0-3-0 5-5
The Sea 3 0-3-0 5-5

Valimar 3 0-3-0 3-3



All teams ended with three points (three draws) so a difference cant be made on the basis of points or even matches between the teams, or the goal differentials. So it comes down to how many goals they have scored. That drops Valimar out of the competiton but doesn’t yet make a difference between Hithlum, The Havens and the Sea.

The tournament jury announced the ruling in this case soon after the late game ended.

There would be a shoot-out competiton the following day between the three teams and it would be played as long as an order between them would be reached. A special report of that hair-rising event will follow as soon as the competiton takes place tomorrow.