Middle-Earth Football World Cup 2007

[Sleepy Ranger]

Here we are with the final round for Group A. The matches will be played simultaneously so that the results are not influenced. Angband have already qualified while both Valinor and Moria are in a must win situation. Erebor should make ith through with just a draw as many people have predicted that Valinor do not stand a chance against Angband. We'll have to see how things work out.

Group A

Angband 0 - 2 Valinor
(Eonwe 15th, Tulkas 36th)

Angband started off the match quite comfortably, creating the first chance of the game when Ulfang shot just wide of target. They maintained decent pressure for a while but then to everybody's shock Valinor scored a goal. Tulkas managed to get a pass forward after he was superbly marked out. The defenders failed to deal with the pass as it wound up with Eonwe who lofted in a shot despite being closed down. Angband nearly equalized moments later when Melkor blazed a header wide.

Much to everyone's surprise Valinor did the impossible, they scored again. This time Eonwe crossed in for Tulkas who headed the ball down and then volleyed it in quite powerfully putting Valinor in quite a good position. Angband seemed to be quite frustrated and weighed down. This was emphasized when Gothmog made a rash challenge earning him a yellow card. The half ended with Angband down two goals.

Angband played with a fire in their belly through out the second half managing to break on goal several times. They played masterfully but Valinor defended as if their lives defended on it. Angband looked good enough not only to equalize but also to go on and win it, instead poor finishing handed them a two goal loss.

Shots: 9(3) - 3(2)
Posession: 55 - 45
Bookings: Gothmog

Moria 1 - 0 Erebor
(Balin 5th)

What an amazing start for Moria. Durin headed the ball towards Balin who took it past a defender with his first touch and then blazed in a fantastic shot. Game on! The rest of the half was pretty fiercly contested. Both teams managed some very good build ups both unfortunately failed to really threaten.

Erebor completetly dominated posession in the second half but really failed to do anything with it. The second half was of fairly poor quality with neither team really creating anything. The match drew to a close with Moria ahead thanks to an early goal.

Shots: 4(2) - 4(2)
Posession: 40 - 60

***

Quite a shocking day. Both teams that were desperate for a win, Valinor and Moria, managed to win. Now let's see how things turned out, here are the final standings of Group A.

Group A
1st- Angband (6pts, +1)
2nd- Valinor (4pts, +1)
3rd- Moria (4pts, -1)
4th- Erebor (3pts, -1)

Valinor have managed to qualify, beating the team on form. They may have done quite bad in their first two matches but they've done the hard part to make it through. Angband and Valinor will be going on to the next round.