Games 235 and 236 (Friendly Matches), 12-20-299:

Game 235: Namuria - Eastern Islands:
 
 The Technical Information:

Final score: NAMURIA 5 - EASTERN ISLANDS 0
Played in: Port of Liberty Stadium, Phrasor, Namuria
Attendance: 265,000
Referee: Sergei Sakhov (GUW)
Goals: Muthras (NAM, 5.), Salasarien (NAM, 14.), Ebropa (NAM, 30.), Salasarien
(NAM, 55.), Muthras (NAM, 79.)
Yellow cards: Pedersen (EAI, 14.), Ise (NAM, 22.), Gandarro (NAM, 30.), Andersen
(EAI, 55.), Gnassergar (NAM, 61.)
Substitutions: Gnassergar for Ebropa (NAM, 45.), Enaja for Kardas (NAM, 45.),
Ibsen for Johannesen (EAI, 45.), Gabrielsen for Mogensen (EAI, 57.)

Another steamroll victory, as the Eastern Islands have little to say in lobsided
match!

After the thrashing of Islandia, everybody expected a clear win bu the home team,
and they were not disappointed.  EAI coach Jacobsen knew that the task was
monumental for his new team, still jetlagged from the long trip.  Namuria had also
dished out a healthy dose of intimidation, serving notice to all teams that, at
least at home, they are an awesome force to be reckoned with.  And they had to be
reckoned with by the Whales today.

Right off the beginning, Muthras impressed the home fans and vindicated coach
Nezgolar's decision to start him over the against-Islandia-lackluster Vabasta.
Muthras single handedly outplayed the Whale defense to score a clean goal in just
the 5. minute, and the Golden Eagles never looked back from there.  The Islanders
hardly were able to get the ball outside their own half, and even when they did,
Salasarien and Jaar seemed to always be there, forechecking aggressively, and if
they missed it, Kardas directed the defense beutifully.

Salasarien and Ebropa, meanwhile, were all over the Eastern Islands half, and
scored the next two goals.  Ebropa seemed to play well with Muthras, they had
several awesome combinations.  Namuria was 3-0 for halftime.

Coach Nezgolar then took out Ebropa and Kardas, and brought in Gnassergar and
Enaja.  EAI coach Jacobsen meanwhile also tried to reverse his team's fortunes by
strengthening the attack.  The two new Namurians proved to be rather
disappointing, however.  Gnassergar was nowhere near Ebropa in performance, and
without Kardas, the Namurian defense started showing a few waeknesses.  For the
first time, we could now see the Eastern Islands in the Namurian half, and even
taking a few chances with shots on goal.  Their new additions Ibsen and Gabrielsen
proved dynamic, and did their best to generate chances within the supremacy of
their opponent.

What primarily kept Namuria's field advantage going in the second half, and
ultimately ensured a clear victory, was the neverending brilliance of Salasarien,
who once again seemed to be *everywhere* on the pitch.  He scored in the 55.
minute again, and assisted Muthras, who got little help from Gnassergar, with his
second goal later.

Despite the weakening in the second half, Namuria thus went on to their second
impressive victory, although this one was certainly against a weak opponent once
again wide-eyed in the noise and spectacle of Vexillium's largest stadium.
Namuria next faces SS'99II champions Lendosa, for what should be a much sterner
test of their abilities, albeit still on home soil.  Eastern Islands must now
rebuild their confidence before departing to the Vexillium Cup, in which they will
hopefully do much better.

How good is Namuria really? Only time will tell, but they have certainly raised
some eyebrows.  It will be interesting to see them perform away once more.

Final score: WOO 0 - AROS 1
Played in: Campus Bella Sporting, Daskelion, Westria
Attendance: 40,700
Referee: Randie Stickx (ARM)
Goals: Vaio (ARO, 86.)
Yellow cards: Ellis (ARO, 4.), Jenkins (ARO, 42.), Etienne (ARO, 74.)
Substitutions: Vaio for Ellis (ARO, 45.), Pularumpi for Wonamini (WOO, 45.)

Aros FINALLY wins one, albeit a close one, and not until the very last minutes!!

Aros' long dusty road finally hit an oasis today, as they finally managed to bag a
victory against Woo in Westria.  In the "Basement Battle" of the two worst-ranked
teams of Vexillium, the Fiarrians ended up with the upper hand after the
Kangaroos' defense began to lapse just minutes before the final whistle.
 

The match remained fairly even all throughout, with the teams pretty closely
matched.  Both were playing rather conservatively though, hoping for their chance
to come away with a victory - after all, for the two lowest ranked teams playing
each other, chance of victory has never been better.  Despite numerous chances on
both sides all through the game, everything pointed towards another draw, and that
a rather unspectacular 0-0 for that matter, but after said defensive weakening and
loss of concentration, substitute forward Mehei Vaio, who had come in to replace
the lackluster Robin Ellis, managed to pull off a neat double-pass with Vzaxogram
to gracefully kick the leather into the far corner, unreachable for desperate Woo
goalie Mungatopi.

The somewhat unexpected goal this late to an extent made up for the otherwise
scoreless match, as the drama with the Aros players hopeful celebrations, and
their intense concentration not to lose the match in the final minutes, to finally
come away with their first victory!  About 40,000 spectators had come to watch the
planet's worst teams duke it out, a good indication just how soccer-mad Westria
really is!

Aros' first win is a glimmer of hope, although it has to be said that, if they
didn't beat the only team that was ranked BELOW them, there would have only been
one place to go, and that's where Woo is... in DEAD LAST spot!!  Aros will carry
on with their grueling schedule, playing Djeriga next, already tomorrow, in what
promises to be an interesting game, and Deucoland the day after that.  It remains
to be seen as to how the fatigue factor will come into play.