Games 37 and 38  (WES-LEX and KTZ-WMC) 10-17-298

Game 37: Westria - Lexicon Islands (Friendly Match)

IVEFA announces the results of today's friendly match played between
Westria and Lexicon Islands in Montroy:

Date: 10-17-298

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTRIA 3 - LEXICON ISLANDS 1
Played in: Montroy, Westria (Casino Palace), attendance: 86,440
Referee: Brad Barkley (Lamb's Cove)
Goals: Salamanta (WES, 6.), Vraseydenhout (WES, 19.), Umsatz (WES, 31.),
Fotonaro (LEX, 60., penalty)
Yellow cards: Flisher (LEX, 33.), Voyden (WES, 70.)
Substitutions: Eckin for Palontar (LEX, 33.), Duelingen for Theunissen
(WES, 45.), Halterabal for Hasenpfeffer (WES, 45.), Liller for Lexico
(LEX, 45.)

Match commentary:

Westria off to a quick start, and never looked back!

Lexicon's coach Hefter's strategy was to try and keep Westria away from
the Lexicon goal especially in the first few minutes of the game, but
unfortunately, exactly the opposite happened:  Westria made pressure
from the get-go, and to the great shock of the Lexicon team, Salamanta
snuck the ball into the goal with a nonchalant bump in only the 6.
minute!  To make things worse, in the now ensuing chaos amonget the
shaken Lexicon players, in the 19. minute Vraseydenhout went
unchallenged before the goal, leaving the sole defense up to keeper
Munstasi, who threw himself towards Vraseydenhout, but to no avail.  Now
the Vikings were really rattled.  For a while, their game became
defensive, and they hardly ventured into the other half.  Westria had
several good chances, and again in the 31. minute, midfielder Umsatz
scored for Westria.

Now, some activity could be seen on the Lexicon bench.  Coach Hefter had
a few firm words with his captain, and striker Eckin entered the game.
And indeed, Lexicon seemed to have taken new heart, and for the rest of
the half, they had several close chances, while Westria seemed to relax
a little.

During the break, Coach Schrey pulled out two of the team's stalwarts to
give his backup-men some experience.  Halterabal tended the goal for the
first time in an international bout, and Duelingen took over as midfield
architect from superstar Theunissen.  In the second half, we could see a
distinctly changed Lexicon team.  They seemed to play freely and without
blocks, much unlike the cramped style of the first quarter.  By now
means were they now dominated by the Westrians, especially without
Theunissen.  Dibris had a great chance that missed just left, Eckin hit
the outside net on a tricky shot from the flanks.

In the 59. minute, Fotonaro passed to Eckin, who was pushed down in the
penalty box by Marginot, and referee Barkley gave the penalty.  Fotonaro
was there for the much-needed, and really much-deserved goal for
Lexicon.  The rest of the game was faily even, with several medium
chances for both sides.  Eckin again narrowly missed in the 88. minute,
when he hit the crossbar only.

Overall, Lexicon, after overcoming their starting chitters, have shown a
lot in this game, namely that they can play with a team of Westria's
class, who themselves have proven that they can play with the best.
With one of the easier draws in group D, expect to see the Vikings in
the playoff rounds of the Vexillium Cup!  As for Westria, they are
certainly ready for the Cup.  To prevent injury, this will have been
their last match before the Cup.  They will now return to training camp
in Cronenbourgh, before eparting for Christiana on October 30.

Date 10-17-298

The Technical Information:

Final score: EASTERN ZARTANIA 2 - WESTERMARC 0
Played in: Imperial City, Eastern Zartania (Royal Crown Stadium),
attendance: 84,900
Referee: Greg Stoneley (Whitlam)
Goals: Fouberg (KTZ, 45.), Faulkner (KTZ, 85., penalty)
Yellow cards: McBride (KTZ, 21.), Jung (KTZ, 32.), Singhraj (WMC, 50.),
Ayers (KTZ, 66.)
Substitutions: NONE

Match commentary:

Eastern Zartania ends Westermarc's Cup hopes in strong game!

Before Royal eyes, Eastern Zartania today looked for some redemption
after the draw with Whitlam yesterday, because draws are never good
enough for these warriors.  So the Zartanians wanted to make a statement
in front of their home crowds, almost a complete sell-out!  With the
Royal family in attendance, failure was not an option.

In the first half, however, team KTZ was quite evenly matched with
Westermarc, who came in full anticipation of a difficult match that
would see them against a very offensive team, which frequently like s to
play rough.  Furthermore, the home crowds were willing them on!

So Westermarc did a good job in containing the thrusts of KTZ, and took
their chances counterattacking.  PC Nuur also helped the effort with
some good reflexes.  So this game of attack-contain-counterattack went
on for the first half, and the teams kept each other in check.  This is
what Westermarc was looking for, to prevent an early steamrolling by the
KTZ attack, and the Westermarc players seemed much happier than their
counterparts when they went to break!

As the teams came back, some whistling was heard from the demanding
crowds for the home team, who had failed to score the much needed
goals.  But the King then rose and gestured to the crowds, and the
whistling jeers turned into cheers.  This heartened the KTZ squad, and
right after kickoff, before Westermarc had even noticed what was
happening, there came the steamroll all of a sudden, 5 men strong on all
sides.  Goalie Nuur was also caught by surprise, just seconds before had
he reached the goal coming back from the break!  With this sudden
attack, Westermarc failed to respond, and Fouberg easlily scored with
the aghast Westermarcians looking on in astonishment and horror!

Now, the crowds really came alive!  This had given the KTZ team the much
needed spark, and for the next 15 minutes, Westermarc had their hands
full to prevent further goals!  Huge defender Singhraj was instrumental
in controlling the damage, which cost him a yellow card.  But they were
holding up, despoite the pressure.

Eventually, later, KTZ seemed to throttle back a bit, and Westermarc
launched an offensive.  The snaking passing play by the Westermarcians
resulted in many decent chances, but goalie Jenkins was on his toes, and
single handedly prevented at least two sure goals by superb reflexes.
Still, Westermarc was now pushing hard to score the equalizer.  Time was
running out, and a loss would mean that they were without a chance to
win the cup, no matter what happens in tomorrow's game vs. Whitlam.  But
as they were pushing forward, all of a sudden KTZ started a counter
after a long pass, and McBride started towards the Westermarc goal, only
closely followed by Singhraj, who was desperately trying to catch up.
The chase went on for about half the field, and finally, Singhraj
reached McBride, and threw himself kicking at the ball.  Mc Bride jumped
up, and very theatrically fell down, barely inside the penalty area.
The crowds went wild, and sure enough, referee Stoneley was impressed
enough by the performance to call for the penalty, despite heavy
protests by the Westermarc players, who claimed Singhraj had only played
the ball!  But the decision was final, and Westermarc was helplessly
watching as Faulkner scored easily from the 11-meter mark.  They knew it
was over.

The celebrations were intense now in the stadium.  Zartania is now in
the best position to gain the Tom Koh Trophy.  The only thing preventing
KTZ from winning the Trophy is a win by Whitlam tomorrow in Kikikira
with at least two goals difference!  That remains to be seen, but is
seems a tall order considering the decent performance by Westermarc
today...

KTZ is done playing now, and can only watch to see who will hoist the
Trophy.  Their team will be present in Kikikira tomorrow in case they
will be awarded.  Watch out for Eastern Zartania at the Vexillium Cup!
Of course, there the rivalry with Whitlam will be renewed in group C!