T.J. and the Penalty (12 page)

‘Here,’ he said. ‘You share this with Cody. Me and TJ are going to get some practice.’

As TJ hit shots at Jamie, they could see the crowd gathering around the pitch where the final was going to be played. Meadow Green had almost as many supporters as Parkview.

‘We wouldn’t be in the final if it wasn’t for you,’ TJ said to Jamie. ‘All those saves you made.’

‘I’m sort of getting used to it,’ Jamie replied, as he caught one of TJ’s fierce drives easily and bowled it back to him. ‘I mean, in a way the goalie is the ultimate defender, isn’t he?’

TJ laughed. ‘Just make sure you keep your eye on the ball when you’re kicking it out,’ he said.

‘I’ve been practising,’ Jamie told him confidently. ‘I won’t make a mistake.’

TJ looked at him. That was Jamie, he thought. He was someone you could rely on – as long as food wasn’t involved. And actually Jamie had probably had a harder job than any of them to get fit. But he’d done it.

‘Come on,’ said Jamie. ‘It’s time.’

Rodrigo ran to the centre of the pitch and shook hands with Leroy. Leroy won the toss.

‘Good luck, everyone,’ said the ref. ‘Let’s have a great game for all these spectators.’

There was rope running along the touchline to keep the spectators back, but behind the rope people were crowded three or four deep. Both sets of supporters were shouting at the tops of their voices.

Suddenly TJ was desperate for the match to begin. He didn’t feel nervous any more. He felt full of energy, and he wanted to run.

Then the whistle blew and the final of the District Tournament was under way.

Meadow Green attacked hard. Several times they pressed forward and hit shots that fizzed just wide or over the bar. But Parkview gave as good as they got. Tulsi had a long-range shot saved, and once TJ was nearly through on goal when the black-haired defender made an incredible tackle.

Then Leroy punched the ball out to little Martin on the left wing, and Martin took on Rodrigo before hitting a clever pass into the path of Meadow Green’s blond-haired striker. He took the ball on his right foot and smashed his way past Tommy before unleashing a thunderous shot. Jamie dived to his right and just managed to push the ball onto the post. It rebounded from the post, hit Jamie and rolled towards the line. There were gasps from the crowd as he hurled himself backwards and grabbed the ball at the last possible moment.

Jamie stood up, grinning, and rolled the
ball
to Tommy. Now it was Parkview’s turn to attack as Tommy moved forward and played a precise pass down the line for TJ to chase.

It was just what TJ had been waiting for. It was a race between him and the defender, and he never doubted that he would win. He felt as if he could outrun anyone, and the pass was brilliant. He didn’t even have to break his stride as he picked up the ball, swerved inside the last defender and curled the ball around the goalkeeper, just inside the post.

C
HAPTER
20

AFTER TJ’S BRILLIANT
goal the Meadow Green resistance seemed to crumble. Every Parkview pass found its target, and the Meadow Green players couldn’t even get a touch. Every time TJ received the ball he tormented the defenders with dazzling runs down the wing. And every time he made a run the Parkview supporters yelled, ‘Go on, TJ! Skin him!’

Just before half time, Parkview scored again. At the end of a move that involved every single Parkview player, Rodrigo strode forward into the Meadow Green half and
launched
a powerful shot from nearly thirty metres out. The ball was still rising when it hit the back of the net. All the Parkview players ran to Rodrigo, and their supporters began to chant, ‘WE’RE GONNA WIN THE CUP! WE’RE GONNA WIN THE CUP!’

Even Jamie ran out from his goal to clap Rodrigo on the back. Rodrigo jumped up and down with excitement and punched the air, and TJ could hear Rodrigo’s dad yelling, ‘Gol! Gol! Gol! Goooooooooooooal!!!’

We’re going to win, TJ thought, as Meadow Green kicked off. We’ll be District Champions. He was already dreaming of lifting the trophy into the air. He looked across and saw Tulsi waving to her gran, who was dancing around on the touchline.

Rodrigo was still beaming and laughing with Tommy. Then TJ heard Jamie screaming, ‘Look out, you idiots! They’ve kicked off!’

It was as if someone had thrown a bucket
of
cold water at him. The Meadow Green players were streaming forward, but the Parkview team had woken up far too late.

The blond-haired striker was through, and Jamie was desperately trying to spread himself, but it was no good, because Leroy was running free. The striker slid the ball to him and he slotted it home. 2–1!

The Meadow Green fans erupted, but on the Parkview side there was an eerie silence, before Janice and the dinner ladies slowly started chanting again, and gradually the whole crowd began to join in. In the middle of all the noise, Meadow Green attacked again and again, forcing Jamie to make two more saves before the whistle blew for half time.

‘You made a stupid mistake,’ said Mr Wood. ‘You all switched off. But even Premier League teams do it. Even Wanderers, right, Marshall?’

‘It’s true,’ said Marshall. ‘You’ve done great, but you thought you’d won it already, right?’

They all nodded despondently. ‘Well, you have to put it behind you,’ Marshall continued. ‘You were outplaying them before they scored, and you can outplay them again. You’re still one goal ahead. But remember – you haven’t won the game until the ref blows the final whistle!’

When they ran back onto the pitch TJ could see the determination on everyone’s faces. He heard Marshall’s voice yelling, ‘Come on, Parkview! You can do it!’

It was a very close match now. The play swung from one end to the other. Both goalkeepers made great saves and both teams put together sparkling moves that ended in narrow misses. The crowd gasped and roared and groaned. It was a wonderful game to watch.

Time was ticking away, as Tulsi played the ball out to Rafi, who had run wide. Rafi laid the ball back to Rodrigo. The blond-haired striker tried to tackle Rodrigo, who sidestepped and cleared the ball towards Tulsi.

Just at that moment she saw the ref look at his watch. She took her eye off the ball and she controlled it badly. Leroy pounced, looked up, and saw the blond-haired striker racing forward. He hit a high, curling pass over the striker’s shoulder, but Tommy was alert to the danger.

As the striker took the ball into the penalty area, Tommy was matching him stride for stride. He timed his challenge perfectly, and hooked the ball to safety. Both Tommy and the striker tumbled to the ground in a heap.

TJ breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he heard the gasps from the
Parkview
fans. The linesman was waving his flag in the air. The ref ran over to him, listened for a moment, then turned and pointed to the penalty spot.

C
HAPTER
21

TJ FELT HIMSELF
trembling. It seemed so unfair. He could hear mutterings of discontent from the Parkview supporters, but then Janice began to shout. ‘JAMIE! JAMIE!’

‘Go for it, Jamie, you can do it,’ yelled Leila and the other subs.

Tommy tried to get to his feet, but as he put his weight on his leg it seemed to collapse underneath him. Mr Wood raced onto the pitch and Rob followed him carrying Mr Wood’s bag. All the Parkview players gathered in the penalty area. ‘Sorry, everyone,’ said Tulsi, as they waited.
‘I
should have been ready.’

‘None of us were ready,’ TJ said. ‘And now this. It was never a penalty.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Rob said. ‘You can save it, Jamie. Leroy takes their penalties. He’s taken three today already, and each one was the same. Low to the left. That’s your right,’ he added, to Jamie, just to be sure. ‘I asked one of the Meadow Green parents and she said he always does the same.’

‘Hold on,’ said Jamie. ‘How many of them did he score?’

‘I was hoping you wouldn’t ask me that,’ Rob replied.

‘He scored all of them, didn’t he?’ said Jamie, shaking his head.

‘But you weren’t the goalie,’ said Rob. ‘Just go for it. Low to your right.’

Mr Wood helped Tommy off the pitch and Leila ran on to take his place. ‘Tough luck,
Tommy
,’ she said, as she ran past him. ‘That was a great tackle.’

Leroy placed the ball on the spot, then stood up and looked Jamie in the eye. Jamie stared back at him, and spread his arms wide, bouncing on the balls of his feet. TJ remembered suddenly how unfit Jamie had been a few short weeks ago. Back then Jamie could never have saved a penalty, but now he looked like a big cat, ready to pounce.

The crowd fell silent as the referee’s whistle blew. Leroy’s run-up seemed to happen in slow motion. As he struck the ball, Jamie was already diving to his right. The ball flew hard and low. It was going in, right inside the post, but then, at the last possible moment, Jamie was there, stretching full-length like an Olympic diver to grab the ball with both hands. He bounced to his feet and ran to the edge of the area, waving
the
Parkview players forward, as he rolled the ball into Leila’s path. She slid a pass to Rafi. TJ was running to the left, away from the goal, taking a defender with him. Then he turned suddenly, calling to Rafi, running back towards the centre just the way they’d practised at the Wanderers training ground.

Rafi understood at once and played the ball in to TJ’s feet. He passed it first time to Tulsi and followed his pass, as Tulsi laid the ball back to him.

It was perfect! TJ’s shot hit the back of the net before the keeper could move.

TJ pulled his shirt over his face and ran round in circles until Rafi caught up with him and lifted him off the ground. And in the middle of the Parkview celebrations the referee blew his whistle a second time. The match was over, and now Parkview School really were the District Champions.

On the touchline, Mr Burrows and Mr Coggins had borrowed pom-poms from the dinner ladies and were waving them madly.

The Meadow Green players fell to their knees, but they cheered up a little when Marshall came onto the pitch and talked to them and shook their hands. ‘You’re dead lucky having Marshall Jones helping you,’ Leroy said when TJ shook hands with him. ‘Maybe I could come to your school.’