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Liam Fry had been right.
The Page Boys hammered the Melloway Men 4-1 – with Crowny bagging a hat-trick as they topped the group.
And You Know The Score comfortably swept aside OSF with ease to snatch second place and seal a spot in the semi-finals.
It was an easy 2-0 victory for Charlie’s team.
The Boy Wonder opened the scoring inside the first 30 seconds.
One of the OSF defenders did not read Bradders’ clever pass off the wall and got her body in a pickle as she tried to clear it.
This allowed the ball to invitingly bounce into Charlie’s path.
It was all he needed – a sniff of a chance.
With the blink of an eye, the magic target had sprung into life and locked on to the bottom corner of the OSF goal.
A heartbeat later it flashed green – and Charlie struck the ball beautifully with the outside of his right foot.
It skimmed over the well-worn floor and beyond the despairing dive of the young OSF goalkeeper.
Boom!
One chance.
One opportunity to use the magic target.
One goal.
The Boy Wonder was back.
Annie had wrapped up the scoring after Harry, who had replaced Bradders for the second half, skipped past a tackle and passed across the goal for a simple tap-in.
Job done.
You Know The Score were now up and running – but the five-a-side competition was about to get serious.
Charlie stood in front of the double doors at the top of the sport centre’s stairs, looking at the semi-final fixtures:
Semi-Final One: The Page Boys v Dabbing It
Semi-Final Two: Hopless United v You Know The Score.
Annie stood beside him.
“Well, at least we’re not playing Crowny’s mob.
“That’s one thing to be grateful for.”
Charlie smiled weakly.
The first semi-final was already under way.
They would be playing next.
“Yeah, you’re right ... except....”
His voice tailed off.
As usual, Annie knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Wrecka.”
Charlie nodded.
The Hall Park Magpies captain was one of their great friends – yet today he would be lining up against them.
That was not good.
Wrecka was a hell of a player.
He was one of those defenders that never gave you a moment, always snapping at attackers’ ankles or tugging at a shirt to keep them off balance.
Annie took his hand.
“Come on, your dad is calling us.”
Charlie hadn’t heard his dad’s calls.
The room had begun to empty now that teams were getting knocked out.
Some stayed – like the Blinder brothers – to watch the final but many of the players had left already.
Charlie and Annie jogged over to the rest of the team.
Liam Fry gathered them into a tight circle.
“Right, this is it.
“Remember how good we are. We are a proper team.
“You’ve not even played well yet.
“Football is all about rhythm.
“And we are the ones on a roll. This competition is ours.”
Joe spoke up for the team.
“We shouldn’t underestimate this lot though.
“They’re a really good team – with decent players, particularly Wrecka.”
Liam nodded in agreement.
“No-one is going to underestimate them but, believe me, there is nobody who is going to want to face you lot.
“Get out there and show them exactly why you’re the team to be feared.”
A door slammed open.
Seconds later, chanting filled the air.
“Crowny! Crowny! Crowny!”
The Page Boys had just booked their place in the final.