Games 291 through 295 (WZ'99 Vexillium Cup), 01-23-300:

Game 291: Bowdani - Morania:
 
The Technical Information:

Final score: BOWDANI 2 - MORANIA 1
Played in: Solidairity Road, Crean, Whitlam
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Tetsuo Mimura (SBY)
Goals: Killehal (BOW, 35.), Selior (MOR, 51.), Killehal (BOW, 66.)
Yellow cards: Esteves (MOR, 11.)
Substitutions: Reghardt for Punneratau (BOW, 67.), Salengar for Moran (BOW, 68.)

Bowdani plays strategic match to secure group victory!

Bowdani today displayed a classic example of lead-preservation tactics, as they
shut the door firmly on the Moranian offense after pulling into the lead for the
second time.  Killehal had brought the Smallwickers up 1-0 in the first half, only
to see Moranian captain David Selior even out the score after a controversial goal
that smelled of offsides, but was given by the South Bay referee Mimura.  Smelling
blood, Morania then put extra effort towards scoring the winner, but in their push
lost control of their backfield, and gave Bowdani the opportunity to score through
counters, which Killehal once again did in masterly fashion after a brilliant
assist from Jake Ioe.

Bowdani then figured they had enough risk taken, and subbed two more defensive
players in, and from then on played it safe, leaving Morania no chance to recover
from their one-goal deficit, and preserving their lead to the very end, doing what
they needed to do.  This sort of clever play will surely help Bowdani in the
upcoming elimination rounds.  Their defensive master tactics were shades of the
former "WALLS", the Northern Gronkian team, who in their time, were the absolute
masters of preserving one-goal leads, and frustrating their opponents through
building defensive walls...  It worked for Bowdani this time around, let's hope
that their form will remain consistent.  So far, so good!

The Technical Information:

Final score: EASTERN DELGAMIA 6 - ULANOVA 1
Played in: Shenhua Oval, Forde, Whitlam
Attendance: 51,200
Referee: Eric Voucheve (Sylvian)
Goals: Abeiradela (EDE, 5.), Ie (EDE, 10.), Rykov (ULA, 33.), Cinziento (EDE,
40.), Cinziento (EDE, 51.), Dragunhe (EDE, 89.), Abeiradela (EDE, 91.)
Yellow cards: None
Substitutions: None

Eastern Delgamia ends VexCup dreams of Ulanova, Begral!

Ulanova entered the match with high hopes agains their rivals from Eastern
Delgamia, with the plan to attack agressively from the getgo - unfortunately for
them, this strategy turned out to backfire, as it was Eastern Delgamia which took
the wind out of their sails with two very early goals, completely destroying the
Ulanovan's intended momentum.  The Old Continent team continued to push harder,
however, and actually breathed a gasp of hope in the 33. minute, when forward
Rykov closed the gap to 1-2, but with Cinziento scoring just minutes before the
halftime break, the momentum once again turned against them.

In the second half, Ulanova missed a wonderful chance to turn things around one
more time, when Rykov, the scorer of their first and only goal, missed a penalty
kick that was brought on by a handplay from Boubem.  Rykov fooled the Delgamian
goalkeeper into the wrong corner, but got too cute with his execution, sending the
ball wide of the left post, to the great agony of his team.

With the stars obviously on their side, the Eastern Delgamians then more or less
took control over the increasingly deflating Ulanovans.  Cinziento was again key
man in sealing their fate, as he scored the 4-1 in the 51, minute, erasing any
doubt.  Team Ulanova finally just wanted to get off the pitch, which resulted in
an additional and somewhat embarrassing 2 goals for Eastern Delgamia - their
opponents disinterested and absent in any sort of motivation, the team from the
small nation on the Cislendian Ocean finalized their triumph that has them win
their group with comparative ease after the worrisome draw against Begral.
Eastern Delgamia showing more of the class they first exhibited in the VexGames,
where they played it up big, and ended up winning the Bronze Medal, beating the
likes of Westria and Christiana!  Oh, and it all started with a win over Ulanova
as well, of course.  If that is any sort of omen, watch out!

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTRIA 6 - 0 SYLVIAN
Played in: King Bruno Stadium, Imperial City
Attendance: 110,000
Referee: Bjorn Oelgasson (Caboteniasa)
Goals: Guydenvaldt (WES, 4), Salamanta (WES, 21), Spock (WES, 32),
Knapheyde (WES, 49), Salamanta (WES, 56), Guydenvaldt (WES, 76).
Yellow cards: Vergrimmelt (WES, 47)
Red cards: None.
Substitutions: Haverhill for Rodan (SYL, 45), Ptitsi for Galvron (SYL,
56).

WESTRIA WHIP WHIPPING BOYS.

Sylvian, the team of unknowns, were handed another loss, as predicted,
against the Westrians. The Diamonds turned the game into the expected
shooting gallery, putting in 3 goals in each half, sometimes almost
lazily prying open the Sylvian defence, in a skilled, though subdued
display. Schrey didn't even bother ordering any replacements, giving
what was basically his "B" squad a full game, obviously pleasing the
players, who were never really physically taxed by the Sylvian
part-timers.

The scoring was bookended by Guydenvaldt and Salamanta, who scored the
first 2, and last 2 goals, Guydenvaldt's double both coming from strong
individual efforts, cracking open the Sylvian defence both times,
pushing the ball past the 'keeper. In the second case, he gathered the
ball after the 'keeper deflected the shot, took a second attempt, making
no mistake, a crowd of obviously Whitlamite fans chanting "Refund!"
after he had finally scored the goal (This is a common practice among
Whitlamite supporters, making note that the Goalkeeper has given the
ball back to the player, hence a "refund" Refund goals are a favourite
of Whitlamite fans, who love to see strong strikes hit the back of the
net).

Spock scored from a chip kick when he noticed the Sylvian 'keeper out of
position, and Knapheyde opened the second half with a smart headed goal
off a cross from Yoghurt. Salamanta's double came from a volley after
recieving a good ball from Knapheyde in the first half, and a sweet
tap-in after a wayward strike from Galaga found its way onto his boot in
the second.

The Sylvian squad did play to their ability, but unfortunately, 2 or 3
games a year does not a competative team make. They're heading home,
Westria move on to face the suprise packet of the competition,
Albion-Merité, who were able to win their tough group, getting over the
likes of Lendosa, and Ançalda. Looking at the great football played by
the Albionish and Meritéan players in the young team, it looks as though
Westria may have a game ahead of them.

The Technical Information:

Final score: EASTERN ZARTANIA 4 - PHOENIX TOWN 0
Played in: Eddie Dean Field at Booster Park, Madisonia, Eastern Zartania
Attendance: 86,000
Referee: Gunde Tofftsson (Eastern Islands)
Goals: Henrickson (KTZ, 1st), McBride (KTZ, 9th), McBride (KTZ, 55th), Faulkner (KTZ, 79th)
Yellow cards: Rohal (KTZ, 33rd)
Substitutions: Du Cron for Racine (KTZ, 69th), Faulkner for Utz (KTZ, 69th)

Hosts Go Through With No Surprises!

Pool number 14 has little variation when it comes to scorelines. In the first game, the red and blacks beat Wang Chung 4-0. In the second game the Talons beat Phoenix Town 4-0. And in the third game now, Eastern Zartania beat Phoenix Town, you guessed it, 4-0.

Everybody knew that the early rounds would be absolutely no problem for Eastern Zartania. They were put in a pool with two teams from tiny nations, one who was disorganised and in disarray, the other making an extremely new to football. And they didn't disappoint their fans.

Todd Henrickson was the first to strike. Not a powerful man, he was picked by Coach Christopher Delvana for his amazing ability to  be in the right places at the right times at the right altitudes when corners were being taken, and he proved that only a minute in. Krist Utz, the Goalkeeper/Forward, started off on a run at the whistle, and launched a shot, but the Phoenician keeper punched it away easily. So then the corner was necessary. Rino McBride took it from the right wing, found Todd Henrickson in space, and Henrickson redirected the ball with ease. One-nil to the Zarts, and the Madisonia crowd went crazy, with drums banging, klaxons crackling, horns tooting, and university students drunk already.

Only eight minutes later the roles of goal-scorer and corner-kicker were reversed. The corner needed to be taken from the other side, so Todd Henrickson took it, being the wing forward. The ball found Rino McBride, a hometown boy who plays for the Madisonia Eagles, who volleyed it past the distraught Phoenix Town keeper. Two-nil, and the people were just more excited now that a local boy had scored the goal.

For the remainder of the half, the Eastern Zartanians dominated offensively and defensively. Occasionally, the Phoenicians would get close enough to Zartania's goal to have a miniscule chance at scoring as opposed to an infitesimally pathetically miniscule chance of scoring, but Hagar Slaktun, who was relatively inexperienced, did not make any dire mistakes, receiving the half way shots and feeding them to his defenders to be taken back up field.

The crowd was enjoying the game, and their convictions that Eastern Zartania would win were just as strong as they were before the game. Of good news to the crowd ten minutes after the break was that the local boy, Rino McBride, scored his second goal of the game to put the KTZ three in front.

And a quarter of an hour after that, their beloved Coach Christopher Delvana did a double substitution: James du Cron of the Madisonia Eagles for Hermann Racine of the Planets, and Johan Faulkner of the Madisonia Eagles for Krist Utz of the Sharks. The crowd definitely liked that, because they would always prefer an Eagle to another team member, just as they would always prefer a Zartanian to a foreigner.

Evidently Delvana made the right choice, because ten minutes later, Faulkner, the substitute, scored a goal, and he was supplied the ball by Du Cron, the substitute, and both with the Madisonia Eagles. The crowd cheered even harder, and that was the end of game scoreline.

Eastern Zartania now goes through to the playoffs, where they will face Namuria in the first round.

The Technical Information:

Final score: WHITLAM 5 - UNITED TERRITORIES 0
Played in: The Gazelle Ground, Fisher, Whitlam
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Vasco Contara (Estontetso)
Goals: Walford (FRW, 23rd), Walford (FRW, 35th), Zaytseva (FRW, 45th, pen), Maiduguri (FRW, 64th), Walford (FRW, 70th)
Yellow cards: Storry (FRW, 50th), O'Connor (UNT, 55th), Boyle (UNT, 90th)
Substitutions: Maiduguri for Blacklock (FRW, 62nd), Bayssari for Ouagadougu (FRW, 62nd), Lampwick for Cook (UNT, 72nd), Johnson for Macghileagh (UNT, 72nd)

Dragons' Fire Burns Lions!

Whitlam beat Territories very nicely in front of an 80,000-strong crowd that cheered the Dragons to success over the Lions.

But the Lions weren't all bad. In fact, the Lions had the edge in possession (51% to 49%) over the Dragons, which was very surprising. But once Territories had possession, they couldn't convert it to goals. The forwards of Norman Cook and Séamus Macghileagh were not performing at their best, in fact they downright stank. It was said that it was unfortunate that the United Territories were in Whitlam's group, because the United Territories could be a Pool A contender (top 16 teams). However, in the game today that was dispelled.

Sure, the Dragons played good quality defence. But the Lions' offence was hardly up to scratch for their average, let alone the skill needed to give a team like Whitlam a good run for their money.

Half way through the first half the first goal came about, by Captain Ricky Walford, his fourth goal of the tournament, which was a nicely placed header which was a rebound from one of his shots that hit the keeper and went high in the sky. And twelve minutes later he followed up with another one. He received the ball, dribbled it around 5 feet, and then lobbed it over the keeper David Bragg at the precise moment necessary, not too early, not too late.

The half was then rounded out with an unfortunate tackle by Dean Thayhill in the box on Nathan Blacklock. The Whitlamite goalkeeper, Anatoly Saytseva, took the penalty as he usually does, because he is the best player in the Dragons' squad when under pressure. The penalty was no problem for him, putting it past David Bragg with no problem.

Half time had arrived and Coach Tam Doughty of the Lions was forced to do some serious talking with his players, who hadn't even scored a goal, and conceded three. They had to admit that Whitlam was a great team, no one could deny that, but they figured that on a normal day they could hold par with them. Today was not a normal day.

After the half, the two bumbling forwards continued to miss even more chances, including a penalty! Five minutes after the break, Andrew Storry did a clumsy tackle on Norman Cook in the box, getting himself a yellow card for the trouble. Norman Cook was told to take his own penalty, but he screwed up big-time, the ball flying a goal's height over the crossbar and into the second tier of the stand.

Twelve minutes later, Coach John Gray of the Dragons made two substitutions: A forward, Nikita Maiduguri replaced Nathan Blacklock, and Ahmed Bayssari came on for Chrigi Ouagadougu in the midfield. And that was smart.

Only two minutes later, Nikita Maiduguri scored the Dragons' fourth goal of the match, and the tenth of the tournament, which wasn't a bad choice by John Gray, who is also the author of a best-selling book called "Men Are From Burgium, Women Are From Standartis".

And six minutes later, the Dragons scored their final goal of pool play, with Ricky Walford bringing up his second hatrick in as many games. Five-nil to the Dragons, and it stayed that way, despite Tam Doughty trying to salvage some pride by getting rid of his two forwards and bringing on two new ones.

The Dragons advance to the playoffs where they will test Moún's will in the first round, playing against Djeriga. Most people see that clash as no problem to the Whitlamites.