T.J. and the Winning Goal (7 page)

‘I didn’t want to,’ she said irritably. ‘Gran made me.’

‘Hi, Mrs Patel,’ said TJ. Tulsi’s gran was wearing a big black Puffa jacket and a woolly hat. Strands of white hair sneaked out from the edges of her hat and her brown eyes twinkled when she saw the Parkview team.

‘Hi, Jamie,’ she said. ‘Hello, Rodrigo. Hello, everyone. I’m really looking forward to this. Don’t mind Tulsi. She’s in one of her grumpy moods.’

Tulsi’s gran was passionate about football. When they had held a World Food and
Football
day at school Mrs Patel had played in goal for Tulsi’s family team, and she’d been amazing. ‘I’ve come to stay,’ she said. ‘I’ll be here to support you in the tournament too. It’s all very exciting.’

‘Not for me,’ said Tulsi. ‘I think I might just give up football completely. I mean, if you’re a boy you might have a chance to play for Wanderers one day, but I won’t, will I?’

‘Nonsense,’ replied her gran. ‘You won’t give up if I have anything to do with it. You’ll be back in the team in no time. I’m going to give you some of my special coaching.’

The others tried not to laugh. They could see from the expression on Tulsi’s face that laughing wasn’t a good idea. They ran off to get changed, and when they emerged from the dressing room Mr Wood was waiting for them. ‘Listen,’ he said. ‘There’s a TV crew
here
from the local station. They saw the story in the paper and they want to get some footage of you playing. I think they want to follow us at the Regional Tournament too. Just try to ignore them and concentrate on the football. I’ve told them they can’t talk to any of you until after the match, and we’ll be checking with your parents to make sure it’s OK for you to be on TV.’

‘They wouldn’t dare to say no,’ replied Jamie. ‘Hey, it’ll be like
Match of the Day
. One of us will have to be interviewed.’

‘Maybe,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Now, this is our starting line-up. Tommy and Rodrigo, Rafi and Rob, then TJ and Ebony. Remember, I want to see movement, and lots of it. But not just running around for the sake of it,’ he added, looking at Rafi. ‘And I want us to pass the ball fast and accurately right from the start.’

There was a sudden commotion near the entrance, and TJ caught sight of a flash of red in the car park. ‘I don’t believe it,’ said Mr Wood. ‘I told him not to come today.’

‘It’s Marshall,’ said TJ happily, as the tall figure of Marshall Jones detached itself from the crowd and made its way towards them, waving. ‘Why didn’t you want him to come?’

‘Too many distractions,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Still, I guess it might give you all a lift.’

‘Hey, coach,’ said Marshall, wrapping an
arm
around his friend. ‘I couldn’t stay away. It’s not often I get the chance to come and watch some football at the weekend. Hi, guys!’

‘Hi, Marshall,’ they all replied.

‘We have to warm up,’ Mr Wood told them, frowning slightly. It was then that TJ realized just how much it meant to Mr Wood that the Parkview team did well. ‘We’re wasting time,’ Mr Wood continued. Then his face suddenly relaxed into a smile. ‘You can carry that bag of balls, Marshall. You may as well do something useful as you’re here. And the holdall.’

‘OK, guvnor,’ said Marshall with a grin. ‘Be right there.’

When they reached the pitch the Wasps were already doing sprints. A big crowd of supporters had gathered along one touchline. TJ saw all of the dinner ladies with their blue sparkly pom-poms, and Mr Coggins
brandishing
a huge old-fashioned rattle. There were lots of mums and dads and grandparents too.

‘It’s a nice day,’ said Jamie. ‘I reckon they’ve all come out because it’s sunny.’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Marshall. ‘You guys are getting famous. Newspapers. TV. You’ll soon be more famous than me!’

‘Off you go,’ said Mr Wood to the team. ‘TJ, you can be captain today. The ref is waiting.’

TJ felt suddenly nervous. He’d never been captain before. Leroy was waiting with the ref. ‘Heads,’ said TJ, and was relieved to see the queen’s head glittering on the ground. ‘We’ll kick off.’

He shook hands with Leroy, then turned
and
looked at his team. There was Jamie, filling the goal and looking unbeatable. Then Tommy and Rodrigo, both confident and smiling, and Rob with his usual look of fierce concentration. Rafi was bouncing up and down, ready to run for ever, and beside TJ even Ebony looked full of confidence although it was her first-ever start. Over on the touchline the subs were jogging up and down, keeping warm, ready to come on at any moment. It was a shame that Tulsi wasn’t playing, but TJ felt really proud to be a member of this fantastic team. ‘Come on!’ he yelled. ‘Let’s show them what we can do, Parkview!’

The whistle blew, and he tapped the ball to Ebony.

C
HAPTER
12

FROM HIS VERY
first touch TJ knew that this game was going to be something special. Parkview lost the ball when Leroy made an interception, but Rafi won it back with a terrific tackle in midfield and slid it to Tommy who drilled an inch-perfect pass to Rob. Rob took the pace off the ball and slipped effortlessly away from his marker before hitting another fine pass to Ebony’s feet.

Rob’s pass was so perfectly weighted that Ebony was able to play the ball first time to TJ, who instantly moved forward at pace,
wrong-footing
the defender. TJ touched the ball forward with the outside of his right foot, as the defender backed away uncertainly. Was TJ about to go outside him? Was it a bluff? TJ saw the defender make his move. He’d decided TJ was going outside and he lunged into a tackle. TJ opened his body and played a firm pass inside the defender with the inside of his back foot. He jumped over the defender’s leg and sprinted away down the wing. Ebony had played the return pass perfectly, just as he’d known she would. And now she had turned and was racing into the penalty area, taking a defender with her.

Out of the corner of his eye, TJ saw Rob making a run. He was coming at top speed, heading for the empty space just outside the area that Ebony’s run had created. TJ knew the moment the ball left his foot that he couldn’t have hit it better. The pass had just
enough
pace on it to carry it perfectly into Rob’s path. He didn’t even have to break his stride, as he curled his shot expertly just inside the post.

Rob had been practising his celebration. He held his hand in front of his face and pretended to write on it. TJ laughed, as he ran up to congratulate him. Rob was pretending to make a note of his goal in his notebook. Over among the wildly celebrating Parkview supporters Mr Coggins was doing exactly the same thing for real.

‘Great pass, Ebony!’ said TJ. ‘Just like in training. And a brilliant run too.’

Ebony grinned, but when TJ glanced again at the supporters he saw a grim look on Tulsi’s face, and he wondered what she was thinking. Did she still want to be in the team? And if Ebony could play like that, how would Tulsi get her place back anyway?

Parkview played better than they had ever played before. Confidence surged through the team and the Wasps players hardly touched the ball. Rob and Rafi ran the match from midfield, intercepting every pass that
Wasps
played forward and then making probing passes of their own into the Wasps half. TJ scored with a header when Ebony chipped the ball back across the six-yard-box after Rob had put her through. Then TJ laid on a goal for Ebony when she created space for herself with a clever, twisting run. Ebony grabbed a second goal when the keeper dropped a cross from Rafi and she pounced quickly to bundle the ball into the net.

And with the final kick of the first half TJ scored his second. Rob hit the ball towards Ebony, as TJ was running behind her. She stepped over it, taking two defenders out of the game and wrong-footing the keeper, as the ball ran through to TJ. He had never scored an easier goal.

The whole team surrounded Ebony and TJ, as they walked off the pitch. They were all buzzing with excitement, and even Mr Wood didn’t try to hide how pleased he was. ‘You were terrific,’ he said. ‘And, Ebony, you fitted in as if you’ve been playing in the team all your life. Well done, everyone. Five great goals!’

TJ looked over at the far side and saw the TV cameraman filming the dinner ladies going through their routine. Over by the dressing rooms the reporter was talking to Marshall, surrounded by a small group of Marshall’s fans. He couldn’t see Tulsi and
her
gran anywhere. ‘Hey, TJ,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Did you hear what I said?’

‘Sorry, Mr Wood.’

‘This is a perfect chance to give our subs a proper run-out. So you’re coming off, TJ, and Ariyan will play up front with Ebony. Leila, you can take Rob’s place, and Danny, you’ll come on for Tommy. Everyone happy? Let’s see if we can score another five this half!’

‘Did you see where Tulsi went?’ TJ asked Rob. They were watching from the touchline, as the rearranged Parkview team ran out for the second half.

‘There,’ said Rob. ‘Over in the car park.’

Even from this far away TJ could see that Tulsi and her gran were arguing. ‘I bet she feels terrible,’ Rob said. ‘Ebony’s doing really well.’

There was a roar from the crowd. Rob and TJ turned back to the pitch in time to see Ebony celebrating yet another goal. ‘It’s her
hat-trick
,’ said TJ, clapping as hard as anyone.