T.J. and the Cup Run (8 page)

The ball bounced once and landed at Rob’s feet. He controlled it without any trouble, but then he looked up to see Leroy bearing down on him. He seemed to freeze, like a rabbit caught in the glare of a car’s headlights. Danny ran to help him out, but once again Mr Potter was shouting at them.

‘Danny, stay in your position,’ he called. ‘Clear it, Rob. Get rid of it!’

At the same moment Jamie called out, ‘Rob! Pass back to me.’

Rob hesitated, and the hesitation was fatal. Leroy pounced on the ball and smashed it past Jamie into the goal. Now
Swinburne
were leading 2–0.

Standing on the touchline, TJ saw the spirit draining away from the Parkview players. Their heads were down, while the Swinburne players were all surrounding Leroy and congratulating him. ‘He shouldn’t have put Rob in the team,’ Tulsi said. ‘He’s just not good enough.’

‘Yes he is,’ replied TJ. ‘Imagine if it was you. You wouldn’t like having to go on and play as a defender, would you?’

‘It doesn’t look as if either of us will get to play,’ Tulsi said gloomily.

‘And even if we do, it might be too late,’ said TJ.

The Parkview players looked beaten. Mr Potter kept up a steady stream of instructions, but they made no sense at all. ‘Get back,’ he yelled. ‘Where’s the midfield gone? Push up, push up. Drop back! Everybody up! Keep in your positions!’

Swinburne attacked freely. The Parkview players never got near the ball, but Jamie put on a magnificent display of goalkeeping. He was the busiest player on the field, and by the time the half-time whistle blew he had saved at least seven certain goals.

Thanks to him the score was still only 2–0.

As the teams trooped off the pitch Mr Burrows went up to Mr Potter. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘You’ve left two of our best players standing on the touchline while the opposition run rings around us. Well done, young Jamie, by the way.’

‘I can’t take any more of this,’ Mr Potter said, getting to his feet. ‘I came back to Parkview because everyone said that the school had changed. But it’s still the same. The children just won’t listen to me.’

‘Oh, I say, Mr Potter, I don’t think that’s fair—’ began Mr Burrows, but Mr Potter
interrupted
him.

‘I don’t care what you think,’ he spluttered, very red in the face. ‘If you think you can run this team better than me, Mr Burrows, then you’re welcome to try.’

‘But where are you going?’ Mr Burrows called out, as Mr Potter limped off across the Astroturf.

‘Home,’ replied the teacher. ‘And this time I’m not coming back.’

C
HAPTER
13

THE PARKVIEW SCHOOL
football team stood and stared after Mr Potter. Mr Burrows and Miss Berry stared too, and when they all turned back they realized that the Swinburne team had been watching.

Mr Burrows shook his head and looked at the squad. ‘I’m very sorry about that,’ he said. ‘You mustn’t think too badly of Mr Potter. He hasn’t been well. But now we have a real challenge on our hands, and I’m afraid I’m not much of a football coach.’

Everyone laughed, and instantly they all felt better. ‘I’m happy to organize the team,
Mr
Burrows,’ Miss Berry said. ‘I think I know what Mr Wood would have done. Rob, you’re going to play in midfield with Rodrigo alongside you to take care of the tackling. OK, Rob?’

‘I . . . I don’t know,’ said Rob. ‘I was rubbish.’

‘You were in the wrong position,’ said TJ.

‘Give it a try, Rob,’ Miss Berry told him. ‘We’ll have Danny and Tommy at the back and TJ and Tulsi up front. Get out there and show them what you’re made of, Parkview. Two goals and you’re level. You know you can do it.’

Swinburne started the second half. Leroy was on the ball at once. He exchanged passes with another player, but Rodrigo stepped forward and tackled him. He slipped the ball sideways to Rob, but instead of playing one of his penetrating forward passes, Rob hit it back to Tommy.

Parkview tried to attack, but Swinburne worked hard and every time a Parkview player received the ball they had no time at all because a Swinburne player was snapping at their heels.

‘I thought Rob was going to take them apart,’ Tulsi muttered to TJ. ‘He just keeps passing it to Tommy or Rodrigo. We’d be better off with Leila.’

‘No, we wouldn’t,’ said TJ, and the next time the ball ran out of play he trotted back to talk to Rob. He spoke quickly. ‘Listen, Rob. Just imagine we’re in the park. Imagine all those defenders are lampposts and bins.
You
know there’s no point passing it backwards. We have to score goals.’

Rob looked at him. ‘It’s not that easy,’ he said. ‘I see them coming towards me and I just don’t want to make a mistake. My legs feel like jelly. It was different when Mr Wood was here.’

‘Well, he’s not here right now,’ said TJ. ‘But he knew you were good enough, didn’t he? I bet he would have put you in the team. And remember Dexter Gordon in that Champions League game against Inter Milan? He was as nervous as you are, but he still scored that goal.’

TJ ran back into position. On the way he passed Leroy. ‘Who’s your mate?’ asked Leroy. ‘Why’s he playing. He’s not very good.’

‘You’ll see,’ replied TJ. He looked back and was glad to see a determined expression on Rob’s face. It was a Parkview goal kick and
Jamie
belted the ball up the field. Tulsi controlled it on her chest and played it back to Rodrigo.

‘Yes!’ called Rob, darting forward and gaining half a metre on the Swinburne player who was marking him. ‘To me!’

Rodrigo played the ball to Rob’s feet on the edge of the centre circle. Every Parkview player was closely marked, but TJ knew that he had to gamble on what he thought Rob was going to do. He sprinted towards Rob and his marker followed him closely. Rob hit a pass to TJ’s feet and TJ instantly returned the ball to Rob, turned sharply outside the defender and raced into the space beyond him. Rob moved away from TJ, back towards his own goal, and TJ heard Tulsi begin to say, ‘Not again!’ but Rob fooled everyone by drilling a cleverly angled pass in a direction no one could have predicted. And TJ was ready. The last, despairing Swinburne
defender
stretched out a foot to try and stop him, but TJ was through on goal. The keeper came out, diving at his feet, but TJ took the ball round him and blasted it into the net.

‘Magnificent work, Parkview!’ called Mr Burrows from the touchline. The Parkview substitutes were all punching the air. ‘Nice one, Rob!’ called Jamie from his goal.

‘Two–one,’ said TJ to Tulsi. ‘One more and we’re level. We can do it.’

‘I don’t believe it,’ muttered Leroy, looking at Rob as he prepared to kick off again. ‘How did he do that?’

Swinburne pushed forward, but at last Parkview were a team again, and as they chased and tackled and began to pass the ball with confidence, Rob was at the heart of everything. The only trouble was that Swinburne were famously good at defending. Several times Rob squeezed impossible-looking passes through to TJ or Tulsi, but each time a Swinburne defender was there to make the tackle. The end of the match drew closer, and still the score remained 2–1 to Swinburne.

‘Only two minutes to go,’ called Miss Berry from the touchline. ‘You have to do it now, Parkview!’

‘She’s right,’ Rob said to the others, as the Swinburne keeper retrieved the ball after a shot from Tulsi had ballooned over the bar.

‘I think we should surprise them. We can push Tommy forward, and Rodrigo too. I’ll try and get the ball through to you and Tulsi, TJ, and then Tommy and Rodrigo can burst into the penalty area.’

‘But what if it doesn’t work?’ said Tulsi. ‘They’ll probably score a breakaway goal.’

‘If we don’t try it, we’ll lose anyway,’ Rob said. TJ was amazed by his sudden confidence. But then, he thought, Rob had always been full of surprises. The Swinburne goalie kicked the ball out, and Rodrigo jumped with Leroy and won the header. The ball bounced forward towards Tulsi and she
tapped
it back to Rob. TJ was sprinting down the right wing, but Rob twisted to his left and fed the ball to Tommy, who was running past him at top speed. Tommy moved forward, and he was about to pass out to TJ when he heard Rob’s voice again. ‘Inside! I’m with you.’

Tommy slipped the ball to Rob, who instantly chipped it over a defender’s head into the path of Tulsi, who was waiting in her usual position, right on the edge of the penalty area. She saw TJ waving his arms, wide on the right. There were two defenders ahead of her, so she played the ball out to him. TJ took one touch, and then pulled the ball back across the penalty area to where Tommy was waiting to slot it into the net.

The Parkview players celebrated as if they had won the match. TJ had laid on the pass, and Tommy had scored the goal, but they all
knew
that it was Rob who had made the difference. Swinburne launched a fierce attack from the kick off, but somehow Parkview held out until the final whistle.

The score was 2–2. Now they faced extra time. And maybe penalties.

C
HAPTER
14

‘WELL DONE, PARKVIEW,’
said Miss Berry as the tired players gathered on the touchline. ‘I think we need to make some changes for extra time. Tommy, that was a great goal, but you look shattered. Leila, do you think you can do his job.’