Games 296 through 298 (WZ'99 Vexillium Cup), 01-25-300:

Game 296: Lexicon Islands - San Patricio:
 
The Technical Information:

Final score: LEXICON ISLANDS 1 - 0 SAN PATRICIO
Played in: Eddie Dean Field at Booster Park, Madisonia
Attendance: 86,000
Referee: Barry Vassiliev (Eastern Zartania)
Goals: Dibris (LEX, 61)
Yellow cards: Palontar (LEX, 32), Garcia (SPA, 43), Pecs (SPA, 56)
Red cards: None.
Substitutions: Smith-Jones for Madyarbanya (SPA, 46), Hampel for
Siliston (LEX 65), Liller for Lexico (LEX, 80), McNulty for Khaled (SPA,
85)

FLYING SAINTS FLY HOME.

The Lexicon Islands won the day today, removing the Saints through a
goal to Dibris midway through the second half.

This game saw a very coherant strategy from San Pat, shutting down
Raxxon completely in an attempt to stop him even having a shot on goal,
and firing back hard and fast on offense, attempting to feed Madyarbanya
the ball, playing him in a Raxxon-like role. However, San Pat failed to
see that their strike weapon could also be neutralised in the way Raxxon
was disposed of, and Madyarbanya was replaced after the break,
completely exhausted after trying to create chances throughout the first
half.

The first half of the game seemed quite desperate at times, both teams
so evenly matched on the field that they were pushing hard for the first
goal and the psychological advantage. Raxxon managed only 3 shots in the
first half, and with only one on target, it's pretty safe to say he was
put off his game. The same went for Madyarbanya, though, who had 4
shots, with only one on target, being completely neutralised by Komp,
the Lexican skipper, and seasoned campaigner.

Both teams went to the sheds at 1-0 with the intensity kept up
throughout the half, and the atmosphere pumping through the stadium. The
fans went crazy at half-time, entertaining themselves with the
Whitlamite wave, which looked absolutely brilliant sweeping around the
stadium.

Both teams came out to a similar ovation as before, with supporters
expecting an equally tense second half, and they most certainly got it.
The Saints didn't lay off Raxxon for a moment, and San Patricio changed
their attacking plan, Smith-Jones playing a more conventional role, and
somewhat settling the Saints attacking movements, with some highly
professional football.

Smith-Jones distributed the ball well, and created chances, but most of
the time, the defence was up to the task, though Fernandez was denied by
the post after some good lead-up play from his midfield.

The goal did come, but it came for the Lexicon Islands, through Dibris,
who recieved a pass from Raxxon (who had, by this time, given up
attempting a shot, looking out of sorts), on the edge of the arc.
Striking hard and low, and with no curve, the San Patrician 'keeper,
O'Doul, was caught out of position as the shot headed low and right like
a bullet. O'Doul had expected the shot to come from Raxxon, and was out
of position for a strike from Dibris. He dove for the shot, and the ball
tipped his middle finger, but continued its way to the back of the net.

This was a heartbreaking moment for the Saints, the goal having the
effect of breaking their hopes. It had had the psychological advantage,
though it didn't do too much to spark the Lexicon Islands to new
attacking raids. They continued with their game plan, and run into the
next round, facing either Christiana or Allacoa.

The Technical Information:

Final score: CHRISTIANA 0 - ALLACOA 4
Played in: Imperial Navy Memorial Stadium, Claw Anchorage, Eastern Zartania
Attendance: 77,900
Referee: Wilfrid Astnehmer (Westria)
Goals: Lopate (ALL, 47.), Sante (ALL, 48.), Sante (ALL, 79.), Timono (ALL, 83.)
Yellow cards: Smats (ALL, 9.), O'Kenney (CHR, 22.), Brigidson (CHR, 31.), King
(ALL, 55.)
Red cards: O'Kenney (CHR, 44.)
Substitutions: Edwardson for Monaigh (CHR, 11.), Andersen for James (CHR, 50.),
Hesedi for Van Has (ALL, 51.), Timono for King (ALL, 80.)

WHO _ARE_ THESE GUYS, ANYWAYS???

WOW!  Another sensation, and once again, it's football fans all around Vexillium
doing a double-take to make sure that the score is not accidentally written
backwards.  Once again it's Allacoa turning heads in a major way, after their more
than impressive win 4-1 over giant Armatirion, they came away with an INCREDIBLE
4-0 victory over the defending Vexillium Cup Champions, the Knights of Christiana!

Things got off to a real bad start for Christiana, when their best man, Monaigh,
twisted his ankle in just the 10th minute, inadvertently stepping on the ball in
full chase.  He had to be escorted off the field by medics, and was replaced by
Edwardson, who himself was not 100% due to an ongoing battle with the stomach flu,
that had left him dehydrated and weakened lately.

Thus weakened, Christiana found much more resistance than they bargained for
already in the first half.  Without Monaigh, they were having some trouble
executing at the front.  They had several good plays and crosses, but with Monaigh
missing, nobody was there to pull the trigger, not even Harrison could fill that
gap.

Christiana had already entered their match with limited confidence after their
shaky victories in the group play, and today, they found their nemesis in
Allacoa.  After a relatively even first half, in which Christiana actually had the
considerably better chances, albeit lacking the final execution, it was the events
in the second half that proved a disaster for the Knights.  The main reason was
defender O'Kenney's second yellow card just before the break... the ejection
proved a lethal blow to the already shaky confidence of the still reigning
Vexillium Cup Champions:

Without Monaigh, and with only ten men, and confidence levels fast dropping,
Christiana ran into an open knife right after the break.  Allacoa cunningly
capitalized, correctly anticipating the Knights' state of mind after the
late-first-half ejection.  They came out storming hard, and delivered what turned
out to be the premature death blow, with the same disarming spirit they exhibited
while forcing Armatirion into submission.  A one-two double strike within less
than two minutes left the Knights totally stunned and confused.  Isaac Lopate was
first to score, after a pass from revelation Heraq Sante.  Only minutes later,
Lopate returned the favor by assisting Sante with a clever cross pass, which the
new Allacoan superstar coolly bounced past Jorgensen.  Allacoa was up 2-0 just
minutes after the second half had begun!

Christiana was in shock, and they never really recovered... in retrospect, they
were a bit lucky not to receive any more goals in the minutes immediately after
the Panthers' double-strike.  The Knights tried to recover and generate some, any,
kind of momentum by bringing in another striker, but Allacoa would not allow ten
men to play freely, and their defense, now dominated by the also freshly subbed
Hesedi, left the Knights considerably less chances than in the first half, which
by now must have seemed like a dream to the befuddled Christiana team.

As the match went on, Allacoa again succeeded in waering down their opponent, who
increasingly had no choice but to play just to run out the clock.  They would not
get away cheaply, though.  With the increasing realization by Christiana that they
were not going to defend their precious title, also came an increased energy level
by the Panthers.  The physically outstanding Melanians seemed to gain speed the
longer the match took, and ended up scoring twice more to humiliate the limping
Knights with a stunning 4-0 victory that surprised even the most liberal football
experts!

The 4-0 is automatically the newest biggest upset in thei Vexillium Cup, and no
doubt even tops the game against Armatirion for the Panthers, who all of a sudden
are in the quarterfinals of the Vexillium Cup, and also still have an undefeated
and more than impressive record against strong opponents... who ARE these guys?
Better get used to the names!  The Panthers are definitely here to stay, and they
will face their next formidable challenge in just a few days time: last year's
VexCup Finalists, the Lexicon Islands.  Certainly, this will be a most highly
anticipated match!

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTERMARC 2 - DAVENPORT 3
Played in: Shenhua Oval, Forde, Whitlam
Attendance: 57,000
Referee: Ingemar Hatt (Brolecia)
Goals: Rénard (DAV, 39th), Foit (WMC, 45th), Gaspé (DAV, 46th), Harbour (DAV, 61st), Foit (WMC, 79th)
Yellow cards: J. Darena (DAV, 13th), Guëyga (WMC, 42nd), Singhraj (WMC, 50th), Deveng (WMC, 81st)
Substitutions: Fooey for Rasthanya (WMC, 54th), Maccan for Harbour (DAV, 62nd), Schwartzmann for Dooley (DAV, 70th)

Men In Royal Turn Sting On Serpents!

The Davenport Men In Royal pulled off a totally unexpected victory against the Westermarc Serpents today, and advanced triumphantly while the Westermarc fans went home depressed. The fans knew that Westermarc had little chance of winning the tournament against heavyweights like the Diamonds, the Barons, the Dragons and the red'n'blacks from KTZ, but they didn't expect them to get knocked out in the first round!

And for the first half Westermarc was Davenport's equal. Davenport was playing better than they were expected to against Westermarc, and the first half almost went scoreless until Jean-Paul Rénard pulled off a ten-yard shot that came off Chai and into the goal, to put the Men In Royal one up. But the Serpents stung back before the half was up, with K. K. Foit getting one in in the dying seconds of injury time.

After the break, however, something just snapped in the Westermarc play. They were just playing a hell of a lot worse, and Davenport were extremely surprised. However, they knew a good thing when they saw it, and took full advantage, with Claude Gaspé scoring a goal off a run from the edge of the centre circle, and from there things only got worse for the Marcians.

Seven minutes after a midfield change-around for the Serpents, Fooey for Rasthanya, the Davenportians struck again, with Jean Harbour bringing up their third goal of the game, and at that time, the Westermarcian fans began to get a bit worried that their team might actually lose this game. Time wore on, and their fears became reality.

Around ten minutes later, Davenport Coach Bruce Darena did a goalie change-up, bringing off his regular, Jeremiah Dooley, for an inexperienced rookie, Alvin Schwartzmann, to give him some practice. It was as good a time as any, especially because the Men In Royal were two goals up. Despite that, Alvin Schwartzmann didn't play confidently, in fact, he could be seen shaking at some points. The Serpents only scored one goal off him, though, K.K. Foit scoring the final goal of the game, and Westermarc's final goal of the tournament. 3-2 The Men In Royal, and Davenport advanced, although it was a close mistake by putting Alvin Schwartzmann on.

Westermarc heads south of the border to nothing like a ticker-tape parade for them, but Davenport heads north of the border to Madisonia in Eastern Zartania, where they will play either Eastern Zartania or Namuria, depending on the outcome of that game to be held tomorrow in SF Memorial Stadium in Cazniev.