Long Shot (9 page)

“All right, Jimmy?” Roddy checked before they ran out.

Jimmy gave him a nervous grin. “Hope so,” he said.

“Come on, you two,” said Keira. “Chin up! With luck, we'll have a walkover today.”

Jimmy gulped. “Yeah,” he agreed. “With luck.”

“Don't be silly, Keira,” said Roddy. “Luck's got nothing to do with it!”

Keira clapped her hand to her mouth. “Sorry, Jimmy. Take no notice of me. Come on. Let's get out there!”

The teams are arriving on the pitch now, and it could be tough for Stiles today. They are without their captain Jack Carr, while the Charlton team are still buzzing from their victory against Moore. With first team call-ups around the corner, everyone will be aiming to impress today, so there should be plenty of skills on show. Thirsk, the Stiles vice-captain, shakes hands with Sanders, and tosses the coin. Charlton will kick off the first half.

Dvorski and Perotti start the ball rolling in the centre circle, before passing back to Sanders. Sanders lays it left to Jones, who holds onto it for a while, before setting off down the pitch with the ball at his feet. He passes outside to Eboni Nagel, and surges forward, waiting for the return. He gets it just outside the area, and dummies a pass to Perotti, but keeps going himself. He's one on one with the keeper, and surely this is only going to end one
way. Jones slows his pace, then fires a shot across the goal to nestle in the bottom corner! That's a magnificent run and goal from Jones, and Charlton are ahead in the first minute!

The Stiles players stood about in shock, as Roddy's team-mates mobbed him.

“Amazing!” screamed Keira. “Simply amazing! You'll get into the first team no problem, playing like that.”

Jimmy was yelling praise, too, and looked much happier.

Roddy grinned, and shrugged off the comments. “It's just one goal. We've got the rest of the match to play yet. Come on, the ref wants to restart the game.”

After that incredible beginning, Stiles are going to need something equally brilliant to get back into the game. They pass the ball around the midfield for a while, but Mbeki is harassing them, and the Charlton defensive
midfielder soon gets in an interception. He feeds the ball to Jones. Could we see another bit of magic from the young Welsh-Brazilian? No, he sees his captain making a run and plays a nice ball, perfect for her to run on to. Sanders takes it in her stride, and hits a searching pass ahead of her, looking for Dvorski. Dvorski flicks the ball on for Perotti, who sees the keeper off his line and tries the lob. Is it dipping fast enough? Yes! It's two for Charlton! The Stiles players look shell shocked.

“Fantastic stuff!” shouted Sam from the touchline. “Keep it up. You've got them on the run. Keep it tight at the back and there'll be no stopping us!”

This Charlton side are showing all the signs of a winning team. They've got lots of attacking flair, and great spirit, too. This could become embarrassing for Stiles; they need to concentrate on damage limitation now.

The Stiles defence gradually managed to get their act together and, after a couple of scares, they scraped through to half-time without conceding again. The Charlton team were bursting with energy. All they wanted to do was get back out onto the pitch for the second half. Another goal or two could mean vital points at the end of the season.

It's the start of the second half, and Charlton are looking all fired up. But Stiles look like they'd prefer to have stayed in the dressing room. Stiles kicks off, but the team is playing some very negative football. Ashanti Nagel wins the ball in her own half and sets off on a run. Sanders and Jones are offering support, but she's going it alone! She beats one, two, three players down the right wing, before playing it square into the box. Perotti is waiting on the penalty spot to score his second goal of the game, and Charlton's third!

From then on, there was nothing Stiles could do to stop the onslaught. Marek scored a powerful header, and Geno bagged his third goal just before the final whistle. Charlton had won 5–0.

“That's 400 points towards the House Cup!” squealed Sam as they walked off the pitch.

“How do you reckon that?” asked Roddy, who was too tired to add everything up. His legs were aching, and he had a bruise coming on his shoulder from falling heavily after making a tricky tackle.

Keira had the figures in her head. “250 for a win,” she explained. “And 25 for each goal, that's 125 to add on.”

“Plus we get another 25 for a clean sheet,” broke in Jimmy excitedly.

“400 points is a
magnificent
result,” said Sam, grinning. “You're going to be Charlton heroes when everyone hears about this!”

Roddy knew that it wouldn't be so easy when the teams met next term, with Jack on the field, but for now, they could celebrate their win. Hot, muddy and elated, they hurried off to get showered and changed, before a well-deserved tea.

Roddy was so busy chatting to Geno that he almost bumped into Mr Mustard, who was coming the other way round the corner. “Sorry!” said Roddy, afraid he was heading for a telling off, but it didn't come.

Instead, Mr Mustard gave a slight smile. “I saw you on the field this afternoon,” he said. “You both did very well.”

Once he'd gone, Roddy and Geno looked at each other. “Things really
are
looking up, aren't they?” laughed Roddy.

Mr Jenkins came into the dining hall as Roddy was scoffing his second piece of cake. Word had got around that the first year squad
was going to be announced that evening, so everyone was eager to find out if they'd got a place. Charlton's unbeaten start to the season had given all their players a great chance.

“You'll get in for sure, Roddy,” said Keira encouragingly. “You've played brilliantly all term.”

Roddy smiled nervously. “You, too. How can they not pick the captain of the team at the top of the table?”

In his own mind, Roddy couldn't help wishing he'd been captain and was now guaranteed a place. It seemed a pity that the leadership qualities Keira had praised him for would remain a secret, but the whole Charlton team were playing so well under Keira he couldn't really begrudge her the position. If they carried on like this, they would win the prize for their year!

“I'm going to name a squad of 23,” said
Mr Jenkins. “Squads are subject to change, so if you're on the list and don't keep up a high enough standard, watch out! There will be plenty of other players lining up to take your place. Equally, if you're not on the list, just keep doing your best in training, and your time will come. Now, without any further ado…”

Roddy's breath quickened. This was it, the moment he'd been waiting for. Did he have what it took to get into the first team? Did the coach think he'd been playing well enough?

“First-year squad.” announced Mr Jenkins. “Larsson, Temperley, Bullard, captain will be Sanders…”

Roddy swallowed. How would he bear it if he hadn't made the grade? He tried to concentrate on the list of names, but they were passing in a blur.

“Piper, Dempsey, Thirwell, Dvorski, Walton, Patel, Wilson, Ratcliffe, Nagel A., Nagel E., Carr, Perotti, Jones…”

Jimmy was beaming. He'd made the squad without his sock. Now he certainly didn't need to be superstitious any more.

Roddy looked wildly at Geno. Perotti had been named, he was sure of it, and Geno's happy face confirmed it. But had Roddy heard the next name properly? Had he heard his own name correctly? He imagined so much when he was playing. Was this just another bit of his internal commentary coming to the rescue?

But Geno was nudging him. “Cheer up!” he laughed. “Anyone would think you hadn't got in.”

And Jimmy was slapping Roddy on the back. “We did it! We're in the squad! Geno, Marek and us! And Keira's captain.”

“Brilliant!” Roddy could see Keira already
out of her seat and walking around the room, congratulating everyone. Roddy was thrilled and relieved. Next term, hopefully, he would be playing against youth sides from some of the best clubs in the country and, maybe one day, his time to be captain would come.

What a lot he would have to talk about when he got home. His parents and Bryn would want to hear all about their matches in the House Cup but, best of all, he'd be able to tell them that he'd made the squad for the first team. He was in! This is what he'd worked for. This is what it was all about. He was at Stadium School, and now he was starting to live his dream.

First published 2008 by
A & C Black Publishers Ltd 38
Soho Square, London, W1D 3HB

www.acblack.com

Text copyright © 2008 C. Jefferies and S. Goffe

The rights of C. Jefferies and S. Goffe to be identified as
the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance
with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Print ISBN: 978-1-40810-080-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-40815-349-9

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

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