The First Age 503 Football Finals by myrtaceaae

---

First Age 503: First Semifinal - Nogrod vs Doriath

---

Pregame

“And so we have it folks, Nogrod vs Doriath, first semifinal. As we know, Doriath are minor premiers, but they’ll have to put up a good defense against the dwarves of Nogrod.”

“Yes and Doriath’s defense is good, a specialty of theirs, having defended against Morgoth for so many years, but their offense is less strong.”

“And of course their key offensive player, Beleg Cuthalion in centre half forward, was sadly taken off the team by a nasty hamstring injury caused by fellow forward, Turin.”

“Yes, a nasty injury. And Turin had already bumped off another player in the Doriath team, Saeros, so he was really a destructive force against his own side.”

“Yes yes yes, a large loss for Doriath, losing Beleg, but they’ve taken out loose cannon Turin since that incident. Certainly a loss for Doriath’s offensive forward line, but overall I think the longevity of players will have been improved by that decision.”

“Yeah, and with Thingol having been injured too, as well as Melian’s 6 week suspension, just missing out on the finals, it’s been a tough year for Doriath”

“And here we have the Nogrod side. A strong turnout, they had a good season, but could never quite shine. We’ll have to see what they’re made of today, going against the top of the ladder.”

“They’re also a primarily defensive team, but Gamil Zirak can craft incredible plays at the inside fifty so we may see some of his brilliance today.”

“During the home and away, his contest with Thingol was incredible, definitely a contender for mark of the year, we’ll see if he can bring that energy today.”

“And we’ve got Telchar as a ruckman, known for his tackles, he can take a man down easily, so we’re looking forward to his showing.”

—

First Quarter

—

“And the first bounce, the Nogrod ruck Telchar has made a magnificent jump, really beautiful stuff, Nogrod starting strong there. Bringing the ball up the field, some really beautiful dodging from Nogrod centre Narlig and a tidy handball to Orik. Ah, a beautiful kick to the forward fifty line, but centre half back for Doriath,  Mablung, marks it! And he’s taking the free.”

“A nice drop punt into the back pocket, Galadhon marks it and he’s playing on, but Orik tackles him, Galadhon gets out of the tackle and he kicks up the ground, but Telchar marks it in the square.”

“Telchar is kicking back up towards the fifty, Gamil Zirak marks it, he runs, bounces, and kicks to half forward, Vitr.”

“Will Vitr take a shot at goal?”

“Well you know he’s a good kick, but that’s a long way out.”

“Is he going to take it? No, he kicks deeper, into the pocket to Khralin, who marks it and plays on, he kicks back to Vitr, but Ithilbor of Doriath takes the mark! He plays on, a good kick down the ground making space for Dior on the left wing in the midfield, then to Oropher in the centre.“

“From Oropher to Galathil down the central corridor, back towards Oropher, but Bori, Nogrod’s half back has marked it, has a run, bounces, bounces again, and right down the middle into the wing to Dworlim. A wonderful mark, play on, then a handball to Lodgrin, into the inside fifty, he fumbles but Ginnarr has come good, he runs, he grabs the ball, is he going to go for the goal? He does! And the first goal of the game to Nogrod.”

6-0

—

“In the square, and Telchar is dominating, but a wonderful tackle from Nimloth in the centre, and it’s a ball up. Can they get it out of the pack? Oropher grabs it, he’s tackled by Lorli–but Oropher gets its back, and manages to handpass it to Elmo in the left wing, Elmo takes a run, kicks it to centre half forward Evranin, just shy of the inside fifty.”

“Evranin hand passes to Gereth, and a good tackle by Annarr in full back, but Gereth kicks it deep into the pocket to Galion, a strong mark. Will he take a shot at goal, it looks like he is, and oh! Just shy of it; it’s a behind!”

“A tough angle, that one, but he has done it before.”

“Yes, it could be the nerves, finals season always brings the pressure”

6-1

—

“Ball up, and it looks like Doriath has won the contest, Galathil passes down the right wing to Elmo, and then to Elgol, into the inside fifty, but a strong tackle by Lorli. Elgol manages to get out, but their handball is intercepted by Dworlim, who kicks to space, but Lodgrin coming out of the fifty can’t get there in time.”

“The umpire throws the ball in, Oropher in the centre does a decisive punch, and Nimloth takes possession, an effective tackle by Lorli, coming up from the goal.”

“Yes Lorli has started off strong today on the defensive, we’ll see if he can keep it up.”

“Lorli kicks into the centre to Narlig, who handballs to Dworlim, then back to Narlig, and then again to Dworlim, a good bit of teamwork there, then a kick to the forward line Naugladur takes the mark, plays on, and a lovely tackle by Finglas. He handballs into the centre to Elgol, and Elgol is under pressure, the Nogrod side are everywhere, he kicks to Galathil, but Nidi running in from the wing gets under the ball, and takes a screamer of a mark!”

“Yes, a highly contested mark, and Nidi just cut straight through.”

“Yes, he timed it perfectly.”

“Ok, Nidi taking the free kick, kicks to Telchar, who handballs to Orik, he kicks down the corridor  to Lodgrin.”

“Nogrod were really controlling the central corridor there.”

“Yes, that was lovely teamwork.”

“And Lodgrin is tackled by half back Finglas. Finglas handballs to Ithilbor, who is tackled by Ginnarr deep in the pocket, Ithilbor goes for goal… and it’s a behind.”

“Yes, and you can see he’s not happy with it.”

7-1

—

“Another goal to dwarves.”

13-1

—

“A behind, and from a set shot as well, Ginnarr in full forward will be kicking himself.”

“Yes, that’s his second behind, usually he’s quite an accurate shot.”

14-1

—

“And a goal for Doriath!”

“Their first goal of the game, and that should make them happy.”

14-7

—

“Some rough tackling going on, good pressure from Doriath, dominating that central corridor, really making Nogrod work for possessions.”

15-7

—

“Telchar torpedoes the ball into the inside fifty, it’s marked by Naugladur, who plays on, and a lovely tackle by Galadhon. He takes possession, kicks wide into the midfield to Nimloth, and on to Luthien deep into the inside fifty.”

“Yes, a kick to Galion deep into the pocket, and back across to Luthien, and a lovely mark, right in front of the goal.”

“Yes, that was a beautiful mark! She hasn’t had much of the ball yet, but she is a really decisive player, and has the goal count to prove it.”

“And Luthien has kicked the goal!”

“That brings it up to a margin of 2 at quarter time.”

“Yes it was a strong quarter, both sides have worked hard, and there have been some wonderful contests, both sides doing some very effective tackles.”

“And there seems to be a good matchup, remembering that if Doriath loses this game, as the minor premier finishing at the top of the ladder, they’ll have a chance to challenge who wins the final, but for Nogrod this is their only chance.”

15-13

Second Quarter

“A strong start from Doriath in this second quarter, across the field into the wing to Elmo, then a handball to Galathil, who runs it down into the fifty, handballs to Evranin, a kick to half forward Luthien, but she’s tackled, and taken down by Bori, he gets the ball out, and kicks towards the middle of the ground, and then a mark from Galathil.”

“Yes, advantage, a kick to Dior in the wing and a handball to Gereth deep into the inside fifty, and a goal!”

“A strong goal from Doriath, so early in the quarter, and Doriath is now leading by 4 points.”

15-19

—

“Nogrod ruck Telchar has done a good job, and Narlig takes possession, bounces, a strong tackle by Galathil, but Narlig keeps his feet, hand passes back to Telchar, who kicks to Dworlim, and play on, he kicks towards the fifty to Naugladur, and a wonderful tackle by Galadhon, he snaps a kick to Elmo in the wing, who kicks back to Galadhon.”

“Ah, but Vitr intercepts, and takes a great mark.”

“He’s outside the fifty, kicks to space and finds Lofar coming out of the pocket, strong tackle by Bregalad, but Lofar evades, and kicks towards Ginnarr right in front of the goal. He fumbles it, and is tackled by Doldun of Doriath, but Ginnarr evades the tackle, goes for goal … and hits the post.”

16-19

—

“Good pressure from Doriath’s defenders there, I can tell already that the Nogrod forwards are going to have some trouble keeping the ball in their hands.”

“Kick from Doldun to Finglas, back to Doldun. Down the ground from Doldun, into the wing, and the ball finds Elmo, he runs, bounces, looking for space but the Nogrod midfield are covering Doriath well. Elmo bounces again, kicks wide to Galathil.”

“From Galathil across the ground back to Elmo, then down towards the fifty, good pressure from the Nogrod midfield.”

“Elmo kicks down to Luthien, a marvelous tackle by Harr but Luthien evades, and handballs to space, the ball bounces wrong and is picked up by Lorli, who kicks it down through the central corridor into the centre, to Orik.”

“He kicks towards the pocket, to Vitr, but a spectacular mark by Doldun, the Doriath full back, who has come out of the goal to get under the ball. He does a long kick down the field to Galathil, he plays on, and kicks to Oropher in the square, who kicks down into the fifty, and the ball is marked by Beren just inside the fifty.”

“Now, he’s not been in the action much so far.”

“Is he going to take a shot at goal?

“I’m not sure, it’s quite a way out, but he’s done it before.”

“Looks like he isn’t, kicks into the right pocket to Denweg, who is tackled by Radsvidr but keeps his feet, quick handball back to Beren and a goal!”

“Good set up there, and Denweg kept his feet well, bringing the margin up to 9 points.”

16-25

—

“Telchar in the ruck, decisively winning the contest, kicks across the wing to Nidi, he kicks back to Telchar, a handball to Lodgrin, to Nidi, down into the inside fifty, marked by Vitr.”

“A smooth start.”

“Yes. Vitr to Ginnarr, down to Khralin in the left pocket, tackled by Bregalad and, he handballs the ball towards Galadhon, who is then tackled by Ginnarr, the ball is kicked down to Lofar, again tackled by Finglas, Lofar kicks to space but Galadhon gains possession, and he’s looking for options.”

“Plenty of disposals by Galadhon, he’s really showing himself to be a central player today, but it seems like the Nogrod players are everywhere.”

“‘Play on’ says the umpire. Galadhon’s still looking for options, and he decides on a rushed behind.”

17-25

—

“Kick in by Doldun, who finds Finglas, he kicks wide towards Mablung, and what a mark by Nidi! He just launched himself up there behind Mablung.”

“The ball is kicked towards Gamil Zirak, but Nidi overshot it, and it’s out. Throw in by the umpire, and there’s a strong contest, Ithilbor makes it out, but his handball goes astray, Dworlim picks it up, handpasses to Lorli just inside the fifty, he’s a way out, he’s done it before from this distance, and he does it again! A good goal from Lorli!”

“That was a long kick, but he made it look easy.”

23 - 25

—

“Centre bounce, the rucks are flying high, the ball goes to ground, and it’s not coming up, ball up by the umpire. Narlig gets it out of the pack and kicks it wide to Nidi, he fumbles, but he’s got it again, bounces, and handballs to Naugladur. He kicks it to Khralin, and a marvelous tackle by Bregalad. Khralin can’t get out of it, and Mablung scoops up the ball, and does a quick handball to Dior, Dior runs it down the ground, kicks to Evranin into the inside fifty.”

“Now this is going to be tricky, there are Nogrod players everywhere.”

“Yes there are, they’ve set up a good defense.”

“Evranin kicks deep into the pocket, but Denweg in the pocket is tackled by Althiofr, looks like it’ll be a ball up.”

“Yes, ball up, the contest is heated, the ball is passed out to Denweg, intercepted by Anarr, and a mighty tackle by Gereth. He gains possession, and does a quick handball to Evranin, she kicks wide to Luthien, Luthien does a short boot to Gereth, Gereth is tackled by Radsvidr, but Gereth manages to get the ball out to Beren, Beren judges the angle and… he judges wrong. A behind.’

23 - 26

—

Kick in by Anarr, to Althiofr in the pocket, and he kicks it down the ground, marked by Orik. He plays on, and handballs into the left wing to Dworlim, who passes it on, into the fifty to Vitr. He kicks it down into the left pocket, Lodgrin marks it!”

“A tricky angle, he seems to be going for goal… and misses. A behind.”

“That was a set shot, he’ll be kicking himself.”

24 - 26

—

“Well it’s half time, and neither team has truly distinguished themselves.”

“Yes it’s been a low scoring game, but I’ll certainly be interested in how each team approaches the second half.”

24 - 26

Third Quarter

“Third quarter, and I think we can safely say that the loss of both Thingol and Melian from the Doriath side has made a huge effect on the team.”

“Yeah, they seem to have kept their morale, but the loss of their star forward and their full back defender has been a crushing loss heading into this semifinal.”

—

The centre bounce, and Telchar decisively wins the tap, Narlig takes possession, passes to Nidi, a wide kick down to Lodgrin, who kicks to Khralin in the pocket, can Nogrod get an early goal?”

“And yes they can! Nogrod opening the term, Nogrod with 30 to Doriath’s 26.”

30 - 26

—

“The centre, Telchar dominating the centre bounce again, Dworlim in the wing takes the ball, but a good tackle by Oropher and  Dworlim goes down. He can’t get the ball out, and it looks like it’s going to be a ball up.”

“Touched by Doriath, passed to Nimloth, then down into the wing to Elmo, kicked forward to Evranin.”

“A good mark, but a bit far out for a goal I think.”

“Yes it is. Evranin kicks into the pocket to Galion, he’s tackled by Althiofr, Althiofr gains possession, kicks down to Bori, good pressure from Nogrod.”

“Bori kicks into the central corridor to Nidi, a snappy handball to Narlig, back to Nidi, then down to Vitr. Vitr takes his time, kicks to Lofar, he handballs to Ginnarr, back to Lofar, a snappy kick, and another goal for Nogrod!”

“That’s two quick goals to start the third term for Nogrod, they must be pretty happy with that.”

36 - 26

—

“A hot contest in the centre square, Galathil manages to get the ball out to Elgol, then on to Dior in the wing, back to Elgol, then to Nimloth. Nimloth is looking for options, finds Galion free, a long kick, and a glorious mark.”

“It’s a bad angle for a goal, Galion kicks to Beren, he’s under pressure, tackled by Anarr, goes to ground, and it’s a ball up.”

“A messy contest, Galion comes away with the ball, goes for goal, and misses. A behind for Doriath, when they could have really used a goal.”

36-27

—

“Kick in from the goal by Anarr, down to Harr, towards Nidi in the centre, to Telchar right in the middle of the field, then down into the fifty to space, I’m not sure who he’s hoping to find, and a great mark by Mablung!”

“A great mark, but a nasty landing, it looks like he might have been hurt. He takes the kick anyway, down the ground into the centre to Oropher, but the runners are out there, and it looks like Mablung is being helped off the ground.”

“We'll have to wait and see if he’s ok, but this is a blow to Doriath, having their key defensive player injured.”

“Back down the ground, Oropher has handballed into the left wing to Elmo, Elmo handballs on to Luthien, but she fumbles, and Bori scoops up the ball. He wastes no time kicking it down into the centre to Gamil Zirak, and on into the wing to Dworlim. Then towards Harr, and he marks it inside the fifty.”

“And as you can see, with Mablung gone, the Doriath defense is left wide open. Interchange player Fladrif has come onto the ground, and he is doing his best, but he’s a bit slow, so he’ll have to work hard against the Nogrod forward line.”

“In the inside fifty, Vitr is looking for options, he sees Lofar free, kicks to space, and a good mark from Lofar.”

“Now he’s in a good position to go for goal, and he does! A great goal from Lofar, bringing the margin up to 15 points.”

“Nogrod are pulling in front, and Doriath really needs a goal.”

“Yes, without Mablung in their defense, the pressure is on for the Doriath midfielders to keep the ball out of the Nogrod fifty, I think if Nogrod gets the ball inside their forward line, there’s not much Doriath can do about it.”

42 - 27

—

“Down the field to Gereth, a quick kick to Beren and a much needed goal for Doriath.”

42 - 33

—

“Back up to Doriath forward line, centre half forward Evranin kicks it into the pocket to Denweg, but Althiofr gets his hands on it, kicks up the ground to Nidi, then up into the centre to Orik, a quick handball to Vitr, and he’s inside the fifty, he runs, he bounces, he goes for goal, and he gets it! Another goal for Nogrod!”

48 - 33

—

“Nogrod is leading by 15 at the end of the third quarter, and we’ve just had confirmation by the doctors that Mablung has a knee injury. Not sure how bad it is, but he’ll be out, certainly for the rest of the game, and maybe for the rest of finals.”

“Yes, a nasty injury, and at the worst time.”

“This means that three key players from Doriath are out, and without Melian and Mablung in the defensive setup, Doriath is going to have to work hard to keep the ball out of the Nogrod inside fifty.”

“Yes, without those players, the Doriath defense is way under power, so it’ll be tricky to stop Nogrod from scoring.”

48 - 33

Fourth Quarter

“It’s been a low scoring game, Doriath going into the final quarter down 15, can they close the gap?

—

“Centre bounce, and Galathil in ruck decisively wins the contest, handballs on to Oropher, then kicked wide into the wing to Dior. He kicks down the field to  the pocket, Denweg marks it, and kicks to Beren. And Beren snaps a quick goal!”

“Just what Doriath needs to start this quarter, hopefully they can keep it up.”

48 - 39

—

“The centre square, once again Galathil gains the ball, passes to Oropher again, but he is tackled by Nidi. Oropher gets the ball out, but Narlig scoops it up, a decisive kick to Naugladur at the fifty, and then on to Lodgrin.”

“The gap in Doraith’s defense is very obvious.”

“Yes, Fladrif has a very different playing style to Mablung, and he prefers full back to half back, he’s not had a lot of experience on the forward line.”

“Doriath will have to adjust to different tactics in their defensive structure, but I’m not sure that they’ll manage that today.”

“Lodgrin handballs into the pocket to Lofar, then on to full forward Ginnarr, and a goal from Ginnarr!”

“The dwarf forwards are working smoothly, they evaded the elf defensive line well, truly a dangerous combination.”

54 - 39

—

“Telchar dominates the centre bounce, handballs to Narlig, he fumbles the ball, and Nimloth picks it up, kicks into the wing to Elmo, he kicks on to Luthien, who handballs into the pocket to Galion, but Radsvidr gets in front and takes possession. He kicks to Lorli, Lorli kicks forward on to Dworlim, a handball to Orik, he keeps the ball moving, Naugladur gets his hands on it, looks for a player, but there’s good pressure by the Doriath side. Naugladur runs, bounces, he’s getting deeper into the fifty, will he go for goal?”

“No, he does a short kick to Khralin, who snaps a kick back to Naugladur, and a goal from Naugladur!”

“Doriath was giving good pressure, but the Nogrod forward line worked so well together.”

60 - 39

—

“The centre bounce, and Doriath is looking pretty desperate. Galathil handballs to Dior, kicks into the centre to Elgol, advantage, and he handballs to Evranin on the forward line. She takes the advantage, kicks down into the pocket, and Denweg marks it. He is tackled by Radsvidr, but Beren gets it out of the pack, kicks to Galion.”

“Will he go for goal?”

“It’s a tough angle, but he’s done it before–he manages it this time as well! A well timed goal to Doriath!”

60 - 45

—

“Heading towards the end of the final term, Doriath needs 3 goals to draw even, do you think they’ll manage?”

“I think if they had their key defenders they’d be in with a chance, but the Nogrod forward line is just too strong. However, as the minor premiers, they will have a chance to challenge the winner of the next finals, so even if they lose, they’ll still have a shot at winning the grand final.”

“Yes, it’s Nogrod for whom this win is important, and I think they’ll manage it tonight.

—

“The clock is running down, the rucks are going up for the contest, the ball goes to ground, and there’s a ball up.”

“Nimloth gets the ball out, Oropher grabs it, handballs it to Dior, who torpedoes it down into the fifty.”

“Ahh and Althiofr marks it. He looks for a player, but they’re all being closely tagged by the Doriath players, he kicks out towards the wing, it bounces, and it’s out.”

“Umpire throws in, a strong contest, but Doriath wing Dior gets the ball out, creates space, and kicks into the centre to Elgol, advantage, and a handball to Elmo, he runs, bounces, kicks inside the fifty to Galion.”

“30 seconds left, will he go for goal, do you think?”

“He kicks to Luthien, who handballs back to Galion… and there goes the siren.”

60 - 45

—

“A decisive win for Nogrod.”

“Yes, it was well played by them, things were close but Nogrod was consistently up on the scoreboard in the second half, and held that advantage for the rest of the game.”

“It’ll be interesting who they’ll be facing in the final.”

“Yes they’ve got a strong side, but they’ll be facing the Petty Dwarves next week, and there’s some rivalry there, so we’ll see how things turn out.”

“And of course Doriath will be able to challenge whoever wins the final, so it’s possible we might see a rematch in two weeks.”

---

Chapter End Notes

A great grand final: Entire 2008 AFL Grand Final, with commercials. Channel 7.

Another great grand final: 2017: Grand Final Richmond v Adelaide

Perfect Mablung song for this AU 

Big thanks to my betas: Enid, morbid.covid, and LaOriE from discord.

I will be writing at least two more games to complete this finals series.

Any constructive criticism is welcome, and I am particularly looking for someone familiar with the game to beta read the rest of my works and check that the actual gameplay is correct.