Icecliff Domestic Sports

[Icecliff]

Icecliff Domestic Football: Preseason Champions League Rankings

---

The Icecliff Daily

---

​We are all ready for even more football, despite the slew of Icecliff National Team tournaments. As tonight begins the Icecliff Champions League, let us begin with the rankings:
​1. Wolves United​​: ​With a strong and experienced team with a lot of chemistry, WU is a top contender.
​​2. Blackpool Panthers: ​Despite being a young team, this is easily the most skilled squad, and could certainly​ make a run for the championship.
​3. Eastbourne Explorers: ​A team renowned for its prioritizing of mental training over physical training, Eastbourne has the most mentally tough players in the league.
4. ​Ice Bears FC:​ A young but strong team, known for its conservative attacking ideology.
​5. Fernswourth Foresters:​ A so-so team with good team chemistry and a balanced strategy, Fernswourth certainly has a chance.
​​6. Acton FC: ​Another so-so team, this with a defensive strategy.
​​7. Bellmare FC: ​So-so in skill, but chemistry is a huge problem for this team.
​8. Tergaron Towers: ​Same as Bellmare.
​9. Dragonslayers: ​A quite bad yet highly determined team that should not be written off.
​10. Armorers FC: ​Another unskilled team, Armorers runs an aggressive strategy that could still prove a threat.
The structure for the league is as follows:

To begin with, there will be a 18-match league round. The winner of this receives the League Trophy.
Following this, the top 4 teams will compete in the Cup of Champions, a round robin for seeding followed by a two-stage knockout tournament. The winner receives the Cup, the highest honor in Icecliff football.
Finally, all 10 teams will play in the Icecliff Cup, in a two-group round robin followed by a two-stage, eight-team knockout tournament.

Up-to-date results, news, etc. may be viewed at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/index.html

[Icecliff]

Icecliff Domestic Football: Matchday 1 Scores

---

The Icecliff Daily

---

Let's take a look at yesterday's matches:

Acton FC 1 - Wolves United 0

WU was dominant for most of the game, with 54% of the possession but only managed one shot on goal. Acton managed four shots, the last going in with seconds to go in the game for a 1-0 win.

Armorers FC 1 - Eastbourne Explorers 2

Eastbourne scored early in the 25th minute and maintained over 60% of the possession throughout the game. A comeback looked possible when Armorers scored in the 64th minute, but any hopes were quelled 14 minutes later as Eastbourne scored the final goal.

Blackpool Panthers 1 - Bellmare FC 1

Blackpool was favored heavily in this match, but despite having nearly 70% of possession, shots were about equal and Bellmare pulled out the draw.

Dragonslayers 1 - Ice Bears FC 1

Ice Bears was also favored heavily, but any idea of domination ceased as Dragonslayers scored in the fourth minute. Only an Ice Bears goal late in the 63rd minute prevented disaster.

Tergaron Towers 0 - Fernswourth Foresters 0

A scoreless and rather boring game with zero shots on goal and very equal stats.

The official league-reported results can be found at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/results/162644795/1_467752930/-1/-1.html

[Icecliff]

Icecliff Domestic Football: Matchday 2

---

The Icecliff Daily

---

Let's take a look at how teams fared last night:

Bellmare FC 1 - Acton FC 0

Bellmare managed to take out one of the top teams from Matchday 1 with a goal in the 75th minute of an otherwise evenly matched game, putting Bellmare into second place and dropping Acton down to fourth.

Eastbourne Explorers 1 - Dragonslayers 0

With a lucky last-minute goal on their only shot-on-goal of the game, literally in the 91st minute, Eastbourne saved a win and kept themselves clearly in first place. Meanwhile, Dragonslayers dropped their second game in a row and are struggling.

Fernswourth Foresters 1 - Armorers FC 0

Fernswourth dominated this game despite sharing possession with Armorers 50-50, outshooting the opposition 6-2 and winning 1-0 with a goal in the 50th minute, launching Fernwourth up to 3rd place in the league and keeping Armorers dead-last.

Ice Bears FC 0 - Blackpool Panthers 0

This game between top-tier teams was evenly matched, resulting in a 0-0 score. Blackpool dropped from 4th to 5th following this match.

Wolves United 0 - Tergaron Towers 0

Wolves dominated this game, with over 60% of the possession, but Tergaron is tied with Fernswourth for the best defense in the league, and they managed to counter nearly every Wolves attack, allowing just one shot on goal.



CupWatch:

Fernswourth jumped up to 3rd place after beating Armorers and Blackpool fell out of the Top 4 after a draw with Ice Bears.

The most up-to-date standings may be found at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/standingsForDate/467752930/2/-1/-1.html

[Icecliff]

Icecliff Domestic Football: Champions League Matchday 3

---

The Icecliff Daily

---

​Let's take a look at yesterday's scores:
​
Acton FC 2​ - Blackpool Panthers 0

Acton took the lead early with a goal in the 10th minute and never gave Blackpool a chance, outshooting them 6-1. This put Acton up to 2nd and Blackpool, an early favorite, down to 9th.

Armorers FC 0 - ​Wolves United 1​

Wolves dominated the game with 61% of possession, and finally managed to rise in the rankings following a dreadful start.

Dragonslayers 0 - Fernswourth Foresters 0

Dragonslayers outshot Fernswourth 3-0, but simply couldn't put a shot into the net. This is unfortunate, as a win would've put them up in 5th place.

Eastbourne Explorers 0 - Ice Bears FC 1

​In a close game, Ice Bears eeked out a victory over the top team in the league until then, Eastbourne, with a goal in the 51st minute.

Tergaron Towers 0 - ​Bellmare FC 1​

Bellmare put themselves into 1st place with a goal in the 51st minute of a hard-fought game.


CupWatch:

Bellmare takes 1st
Acton back in 2nd
Eastbourne drops to 3rd
Ice Bears rises to 4th
Fernswourth drops out of Top 4
Wolves up in 6th

Up-to-date standings may be found at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/standingsForDate/467752930/2/-1/-1.html

[Icecliff]

Icecliff Domestic Football: Champions League Matchday 4

---

The Icecliff Daily

---

​Let's take a look at what transpired last matchday:

Bellmare FC 0 - Armorers FC 0

Despite dominating possession, Bellmare didn't manage any goals and equaled Armorers in shots on goal, resulting in a tie and Bellmare being thrown down into 3rd place. Armorers, meanwhile, picked up their first points of the season but stayed dead last in the league.

Blackpool Panthers 1 - Tergaron Towers 1

In this well-fought game, neither team really had an advantage. Both teams went up a rank with the point gained.​

Fernswourth Foresters 2 ​- Eastbourne Explorers 0

Fernswourth only had 36% of possession, but made the most of it, managing four shots and two goals to Eastbourne's one and zero. Fernswourth's win put them in second, while Eastbourne continued a skid from the top spot back in Week Two.

​Ice Bears FC 4​ - Acton FC 1

Ice Bears absolutely dominated this game, taking the ICL's first blowout and putting themselves in first with a second straight win, dropping Acton out of the Top 4 in the process.

​Wolves United 1​ - Dragonslayers 0

Wolves finally managed to regain some dignity by winning this hard-fought game against Dragonslayers, putting them into fourth place, quite the gain from dead last in Week One.


CupWatch:

Ice Bears and Fernswourth have put themselves into good positions, though we don't know how long this will last. Bellmare dropped down to 3rd, and Wolves finally put themselves where they should be, in the Top 4. Acton has taken a hit after getting handily crushed by Ice Bears, and Eastbourne is continuing their losing streak.

The most up-to-date standings may be found at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/standingsForDate/467752930/2/-1/-1.html

[Icecliff]

Icecliff Domestic Football: Champions League Matchday 5

---

The Icecliff Daily

---

​

Before we get into the Icecliff Cup, let's take a look at the scores from last matchday:

Armorers FC 1 - ​Blackpool Panthers 3

​​Not much to say here besides noting the Blackpool crushed Armorers. Blackpool put themselves into 6th with this win.

Dragonslayers 0 - ​Bellmare FC 2

​​Another game, another domination. Bellmare got back into 2nd place with this win.

​Eastbourne Explorers 0 - ​Wolves United​​ 1

​In the third of what would be five wins for visiting teams on the day, Wolves took out former top-of-the-league team Eastbourne.

Fernswourth Foresters 0 - ​Ice Bears FC 1​

Ice Bears kept their hold on the top of the table with an 82nd-minute goal against Fernswourth.

Tergaron Towers 0 - ​Acton FC 1​

Acton took out Tergaron in what was the closest game of the day, managing the only goal despite being outshot 3-2.

The biggest thing to look for this next week is the opening of the Icecliff Cup. This is the biggest national tournament, and is sure to be a spectacle. The groups are quite even, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Champions League standings can be found at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/standingsForDate/467752930/2/-1/-1.html

Icecliff Cup standings can be found at https://iceclifffootballcenter.leaguerepublic.com/l/fg/2_382896879.html

Note: Icecliff Cup updates will be posted sporadically, usually after each round.

[Icecliff]

Announcement: The Icecliff Daily will begin writing articles on domestic football more sporadically as the current schedule placed too much stress on writers.

Articles will now be written for only:
Season Halfway Point
Icecliff Cup Group Stage
Icecliff Cup Quarterfinals
Icecliff Cup Semifinals
Icecliff Cup Finals
Season End
Cup of Champions Group Stage
Cup of Champions Semifinals
Cup of Champions Finals