Official Game Statements:

Games 85 and 86  (Davenport-Neonesia and Westria-Mauretanie) 11-16-298

Game 85: Davenport-Neonesia (Vexillium Cup CD'98) - SECOND ROUND

IVEFA announces the result from today's match played in the Vexillium
Cup CD'98, November 16, 298:

The Technical Information:

Final score: DAVENPORT 3 - NEONESIA 0
Played in: Norseton, Christiana (Jorgensen Memorial Stadium)
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Vasco Contara (Estontetso)
Goals: Mohran (DAV, 15.), Harbour (DAV, 50.), Harbour (DAV, 75.)
Yellow cards: Coughlan (DAV, 47.), Enaja (NEO, 59.), Rivujpa (NEO, 62.)
Substitutions: Ajttajra for Ujtujma (NEO, 45.), Tzeng for Worthington
(DAV, 60.), Piveta for Ojxawfa (NEO, 55.)

Match commentary:

Davenport keeps the dream alive as they dispose of Neonesia!

Davenport is looking ever stronger.  After winning all their preliinary
rounds, they today added another impressive victory that sees them
through into the quarterfinals.  It was Davenport's day today, as the
team was "on" - great midfield passing, engineered as always by Gaspe,
good powerful surges from the resurgent Mohran and Harbour, and again
the perhaps best defender in the game, Crowley, together with perhaps
the best overall defense team, Coughlan, Robichaux, and Vaudroy, all
together gave Neonesia little chance, and this was evident right from
the beginning.

The Men in Royal took charge right away, and soon found themselves in
the lead after a corner-headball be Mohran in the 15. minute.  Davenport
was pacing itself today.  It was obvious they were in control, and they
carefully planned their game.  Neonesia's attempts were mostly foiled by
Crowley, Coughlan & Co. in their upstarts.  Not even Ebropa could launch
too many convincing attacks.  In fact, he was well covered by Robichaux
directly throughout the game, which essentially neutralized his
dangerous striking ability!

Neonesian keeper Ojxrala was the best of his team today, and he
single-handedly (sometimes literally!) kept Neonesia out of deeper
trouble with some amazing reflexes that at times frustrated the
Davenport attackers.  So it was only 1-0 Davenport at halftime, despite
clear advantage for the Maen in Royal.

Neonesia introduced another striker, and for a while, they were gaining
some momentum - early in the second half, they had their best chances of
the game.  Coughlan had to resort to a foul to stop the breakaway Ebropa
once to prevent the worst.  The resulting free kick, after a yellow for
Coughlan, ended in a pulled shot from Icxota, well left of the goal.

Neonesia was now playing more recklessly, sometimes dangerously exposing
their back field, and sure enough, Davenport took full advantage.  A
long pass from Crowley found Springer, who let roll for Worthington, a
short pass to Mohran, off to Harbour, and a powerful shot - GOOOOAL!
Into the upper right corner, leaving even the superb Neonesian goalie
without a chance!

That goal was a momentum-stopper for Neonesia, who from then on markably
throttled back their offensive efforts, leaving the field to Davenport,
who once again began to take control.  Coach Darena brought in Tzeng, as
planned, and Davenport had a firm grip on the South Seas Compasses until
the end.  Harbour scored again after an ingenious double-pass with Tzeng
in the 75. minute, to finalize the result at 3-0, a deserved win for
Davenport.

Davenport will now face Lexicon in an Austral Nations clash!  For
Neonesia, the cup is now over after two good victories in the prelim
rounds.  Overall a good result for Neonesia, who just recently became
more serious about their national soccer side.



Game 86: Westria-Mauretanie (Vexillium Cup CD'98) - SECOND ROUND

IVEFA announces the result from today's match played in the Vexillium
Cup CD'98, November 16, 298:

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTRIA 2 - MAURETANIE 1, in overtime
Played in: Port Celt, Christiana (Great Southern Stadium)
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Mark Hansen (Maryport)
Goals: Salamanta (WES, 32.), Escartefigues (MAU, 89.), Vraseydenhout
(WES, 111.)
Yellow cards: Yoghurt (WES, 21.), Boutboul (MAU, 39.), Khader (MAU, 67.)
Red card: Yoghurt (WES, 49.)
Substitutions: Mouloud for Khaled (MAU, 45.), Alkentorff for Hallsetter
(WES, 53.), Walid for Fernandez (MAU, 94.), Nischel for Umsatz (WES,
94.)

Match commentary:

Westria battles it out and hangs on to win one man short in overtime!

This was another thriller!  Heavy favorite Westria had to cope with a
surprisingly tough Mauretanie one man short, after Yoghurt was ejected
early in the second half for his second yellow foul!

Westria began strong, as expected, and really played Mauretanie against
the wall for a while.  Thanks to impressive play by Boutboul and
Ghannouj, Westria still did not manage to score until finally in the 32.
minute Salamanta broke the ice for Westria after a barrage of chances
that were either foiled by the attentive Mauretanien defense, goalie
Favre, or just missed.  The Diamonds were back on schedule with their
1-0, or so everybody thought!...

Valentin Yoghurt, Westria's midfielder, had received the yellow in the
21. minute after a push on Escartefigues - and just after the break, in
the 49. minute, another foul, this time a stab from behind, brought out
the yellow again!  Two yellows make a red, and Maryport referee Mark
Hansen sent Yoghurt off, leaving Westria only one goal up with one man
down!  Coach Schrey now had to rethink his strategy - he brought in
allround-midfielder Alkentorff for novice striker Hallsetter, to add
some overall stability to the team, and allow for more flexibility in
quickly sqitching from offense to defense, and vice versa.

Mauretanie, however, smelled the blood!  They were one up, and began an
Ice-hockey like power play, essentially for the entire second half.  It
was only because of Westria's outstanding teamwork, and their still
apparent technical superiority, that they could hold off the charge,
most of all Escartefigues, who was again most impressive!  So Westria
managed to wind down the clock with smart and controlled play, even had
some good chances to score again themselves, and everything looked like
they would squeak through with a 1-0 victory!  Just a few more
minutes...

And then it happened:  Escartefigues found the hole he had been looking
for, and to the great surprise of just about everybody, took a swipe,
and somehow bumped the ball between four pairs of legs into the goal, to
give Mauretanie the shocking equalizer!!  Westria was stunned!  They had
held on for so long, and now, just minutes before it was supposed to be
over, they had to face an overtime, again only with 10 players, who
began to increasingly tire!

Both sides brought in their last sub to start the overtime, and the
tension was so thick in the staduim, you could cut the air with a
knife.  This time, it was Westria with their backs to the wall, and
Mauretanie still showed no signs of respect, as they kept pushing.  It
took a flawless effort of the "Marginot-Line" to keep Mauretanie from
scoring, but Westria was shrewdly awaiting THEIR chance.  Finally, in
the 111. minute, it came:  A missed pass by Ghannouj ended up before
Theunissen, he turned 180 degrees and started towards the Mauretanie
goal - Vraseydenhout was catching up to him on the right side, but
Theunissen was going solo!  He tricked one defender, two defenders, two
more were coming towards him now, and just in the last moment, he passed
off to Vraseydenhout, who was UNCOVERED on the other side!  Frantic
attempts by Favre to save came futile, as the talented striker scored
his most important goal yet with a calculated lift shot, to bring
Westria up 2-1!!  The Diamonds were ecstatic!  Captain Hasenpfeffer had
to calm them down, after all it was not over!  From then on, Westria was
just trying to somehow hold on, to the ball, as well as the win, and
they used every trick in the book to kill time!  Mauretanie was getting
frantic now, as again the game's momentum had changed.  Everybody was
getting tired, and it is easier to defend than to attack when you are
tired.  So Westria managed to salvage their narrow victory, despite
their one-man-discrepancy, in a suspenseful match!  They had avenged
their Rugby team's loss, but only barely!

More importantly, Westria moves on to the quarterfinals, where they must
face a truly formaidable opponent now - Eastern Zartania!  What a game
that will be!

Mauretanie goes home after a good showing, that almost saw them pull off
the big surprise versus Westria today.  They have nothing to be ashamed
of.



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