The referee blew his whistle to start the second half. Oakcroft’s players passed the ball around between themselves. It looked like they were toying with the game now. As if at any moment they could just take the ball up into Bracket Wood’s half and score.

Fred watched them from his own half disconsolately. He felt cold and tired. He had given up. Then he heard, distantly: Fred! Fred! Fred!

It’s someone chanting, like the team did before the game, he thought. Sarcastically now, of course. Probably a joke. But still it continued.

Fred! Fred! Fred!

Reluctantly, he looked in the direction of the chant. It was coming from somewhere towards the front of the Bracket Wood supporters’ section.

What he saw surprised him.

His mum and his dad were chanting it. And pointing. Rashid was chanting it. And pointing.

Then Fred realised that they weren’t chanting. They were just trying to attract his attention. He realised this because of who they were pointing at.

Ellie. Who was also shouting his name. And holding up the Controller.

“Fred!” she was shouting. “Fred! I found it!” She twisted the control stick and pressed the buttons as she shouted. Rashid and Eric and Janine were all giving a big thumbs up.

Fred felt the surge of power from the Controller rush through him. He just had time to return the thumbs up before speeding towards the ball.

The Oakcroft players were still casually knocking it about. One of them saw Fred coming and laughed. Others got ready to deposit him, as usual, in the mud.

But Fred took the ball away from them effortlessly. He flicked it off the boot of the player in possession and then dodged left, then right, evading every challenge. Then he ran on goal. The enormous keeper came out, smirking. But soon stopped smirking as Fred shot early, chipping the ball over his head – and over his too-late outstretched hands – into the net.

The Bracket Wood fans, who had gone very quiet – and stayed very quiet for a long time – burst into cheers. Fred hardly heard them because he was doing that thing that footballers sometimes do of picking the ball out of the opposing net and rushing back to the centre circle in order to get on with the game. He scored three more goals, each better than the last. He scored one with his right foot, one with his left, one with his head and one with an incredible overhead kick.

He did volleys and back-heels and 360-degree turns and drag-backs and step-overs and zigzags and a new move that there wasn’t a name for, but which involved flicking the ball with the back of his heel on to the top of his head, then bouncing it on his head over and over again while running down the wing.

There was one weird moment when his shoelaces came undone. Fred thought this was strange as his shoelaces hadn’t come undone before when he was being controlled by the Controller. So he ran over to Ellie to tie them up.

But, as his sister went to bend down, Janine suddenly stood in front of her and said: “Excuse me. I’ve got this.” And tied his laces in a very tight single bow that didn’t come undone for the rest of the game, but also wasn’t too bulky. Which allowed Fred to continue with his incredible performance.

By the end, the Bracket Wood supporters were all chanting, “Fred! Fred! Fred!” completely unsarcastically.

But even all Fred’s best efforts only meant that the score was four-all. A draw. So the game went to penalties. Which was worrying, as obviously Fred wasn’t the only one who was going to take them.

But what Fred’s performance had also done was inspire his team-mates. They had watched him raise his game, and they’d raised theirs too, passing and moving and supporting each other, and doing their very best as a team. Fred was the spearhead, but the rest of the team were the spear.

So, when it came to it, the players – Barry, Lukas, Taj and Jake^fn1 – who took the first four penalties put their heads down, hit the ball as hard as they could and scored!

Unfortunately for them, so did the first four Oakcroft players.

But the wind had changed in Bracket Wood’s favour. The pressure was all on the Oakcroft player as he came up to take the fifth penalty.

He was actually the one who had laughed at Fred as he’d come towards them. He was also the one who had said, “Oh, my giddy aunt! Bracket Wood must be pretty desperate!!” But it was he who looked pretty desperate now.

He ran tentatively towards the ball and kicked. It was on target. It was heading to the top corner. But then Prajit proved that his nickname wasn’t just because he sometimes smelt of fur, cat wee and Whiskas – no! He leapt like a tiger across the face of the goal, stretching out his hand to knock the ball over the bar!

Which made the penalty shoot-out score so far:

OAKCROFT 4

BRACKET WOOD 4

with one penalty to go.

The referee put the ball down on the spot and Fred came forward.