CHAPTER 5

LATER THAT WEEK Mr Wood announced the squad for a friendly match against their old rivals, Hillside School. ‘At least I’m in the team,’ Tulsi said gloomily. ‘I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be.’

‘Don’t worry so much,’ Jamie told her. ‘You know you’re our star striker.’

‘Well, I don’t feel like one,’ Tulsi replied.

The friendly match was being played on Friday afternoon at Parkview. Mr Coggins, the caretaker, was hard at work all Friday morning preparing the pitch and marking out the white lines. At lunch time TJ was surprised to see Mr Wood walk out onto the playground. TJ and his friends were kicking Rafi’s ball around as usual.

‘Tulsi,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Have you got a few minutes?’

‘OK,’ she said. ‘What’s it about?’

But Mr Wood didn’t reply, and when Tulsi returned she didn’t want to talk.

‘What did he want?’ asked Jamie.

‘Nothing.’

‘Come on, Tulsi,’ Rafi said. ‘He wouldn’t have called you inside for nothing, would he?’

‘Let’s have a penalty competition,’ Tulsi said, grabbing the ball from Rafi. ‘I feel like kicking something really hard. Who’s going in goal?’

‘Not me,’ said Rafi. ‘Not if you’re in that kind of mood.’

‘I’m not scared,’ laughed Jamie. ‘It’ll be good practice for this afternoon.’

He stood in front of the goalposts painted on the wall and saved every one of Tulsi’s first four shots. Each shot was harder than the one before, and with every save Tulsi’s face darkened. She ran up and hit her fifth penalty and the ball flew up and over the wall into the garden beyond. They all stared after it. There was a thud as the ball hit a wall, and then a loud clattering and the outraged miaow of a cat.

Tulsi put her hands to her head. They waited for angry shouts from the garden, but none came. ‘It’ll be OK,’ Jamie said. ‘They must be out. They’ll just chuck it back later.’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Tulsi said. ‘You heard the noise. I bet something’s broken and now I’m going to be in trouble. You know I am.’

Tulsi walked away. ‘What’s up with her?’ said Rafi. ‘It’s my ball she’s lost. I’m the one who should be complaining.’

‘Tulsi’s fed up, that’s all,’ said TJ. ‘I don’t know what Mr Wood said to her, but it definitely put her in a bad mood.’

At two o’clock TJ looked out of the classroom window and saw the Hillside minibus arriving. Since Mr Wood had started the school team at the beginning of the year they had played against Hillside more than any other team, and because Hillside was the nearest school to Parkview they often met the kids from Hillside for kickarounds in the park. One of their players, Deng, went to the same Player Development Centre as TJ and Jamie. It was funny, thought TJ, but the Hillside players almost felt like friends now. At least until the match began.

As they got changed TJ couldn’t help thinking that it was a shame Danny wasn’t in the squad. He hadn’t been coming to training lately, so it wasn’t surprising that Mr Wood hadn’t picked him. Tommy and Rodrigo were both excellent defenders, especially when they had won the ball and were attacking, but if you needed someone to mark an opposition player out of the game then Danny was the best. If they were going to do well in the Regional Tournament they were going to need all their best players.

‘Come on, TJ,’ called Jamie from the door. TJ looked up and realized that everyone had gone. ‘What were you doing?’ asked Jamie, as they walked outside.

‘Thinking,’ said TJ. ‘About Danny. I know you don’t like him much, but I still think he’s our best defender. I don’t know why he stopped coming to training.’

‘There’s no point worrying about that now,’ Jamie told him, breaking into a run. ‘Come on, Mr Wood’s waiting.’

As they warmed up TJ checked out the Hillside team and was relieved to see that none of their players were new. He remembered how Deng had arrived at Hillside in the middle of the previous term, turning Hillside from a good side into a formidable one with his lightning speed and wonderful touch. But then Parkview had discovered their own midfield genius in Rob, and that had made all the difference in the Cup Final. He was sure they could beat Hillside today, but they’d need to be at their best.

‘OK,’ said Mr Wood. ‘We’ll start with Tommy and Rodrigo in defence. Then Rafi and Rob in midfield and TJ and Tulsi up front. Jamie in goal. You all know your jobs so show me what you can do. Oh, and by the way, Rob, I’ve found someone to keep track of the match stats for you. Here he comes now.’

They all looked round and there was Mr Coggins. ‘Mr Wood’s given me a list,’ he told them. ‘I’ll record goal attempts, passes, assists, corners, goal kicks . . .’

‘It’s OK, Mr C,’ Mr Wood told him. ‘We get the picture.’

‘Mr Coggins,’ said Rob. ‘What’s that you’re wearing?’

‘This?’ said Mr Coggins. ‘It’s my old team blazer, that’s what this is.’

The blazer had a big gold badge on the breast pocket. ‘I was a good footballer when I was young,’ Mr Coggins said. ‘One of these days I’m going to tell you all about it. I—’

‘Not right now, though,’ Mr Wood interrupted with a smile. ‘I think Mrs Singh is waiting to kick off. Tulsi, you can be captain today. And remember what we talked about. I know you can do it.’