CHAPTER 7

‘YOU WERE DOING well,’ Mr Wood said. ‘And I don’t think anyone could have stopped Deng doing that. It was a terrific piece of skill. You made a couple of excellent runs there, Tulsi. Let’s see more of that this half.’

But when the second half got under way it was obvious to TJ that Tulsi was determined to stay as close to the penalty area as she could. ‘Listen,’ he said, jogging back for a word with Rob. ‘Get the ball down the wing to me and I’ll try to cross it onto Tulsi’s head. I think she can beat that defender in the air. But you can forget about her making fancy runs.’

Rob grinned. ‘I guess you’re right,’ he said. ‘Let’s try it your way.’

Next time Rob had the ball he hit it long, towards the corner flag. TJ chased after it and reached it before Billy Martin, then he ran at the Hillside player, forcing him to back away. He turned inside, then outside, and hit a floating cross into the area. Tulsi jumped high. TJ saw her head rise above the defender’s, but she wasn’t quite tall enough, and the ball bounced away to the other side of the pitch.

Two minutes later, TJ tried again, but this time a different defender dived in front of Tulsi and headed the ball away. As it rolled out for a throw-in Mr Wood called Tulsi over.

‘I’m taking you off, Tulsi,’ he said. ‘It’s time to try something different. Ariyan, you saw those runs that Tulsi made in the first half. See if you can’t do something like that.’

Ariyan ran onto the pitch and the game restarted. Every time Parkview had the ball Ariyan darted from side to side. He raced towards the goal. He stopped, turned, and sprinted for the corner flag. Then he dashed back towards his own half. Twice, Rob tried to pick him out with dangerous-looking passes, but by the time the ball arrived, Ariyan was somewhere else. ‘Hey, Ariyan,’ said TJ. ‘Take it easy. You’re confusing everyone.’

‘Oh,’ said Ariyan. ‘I thought that was what I was supposed to do.’

‘Sort of,’ laughed TJ. ‘Just not quite so much.’

And now, for the first time in the game, Parkview found themselves under real pressure. Deng seemed to be everywhere, tackling, dribbling, playing snappy clever little passes that put the Parkview defenders in trouble. Rodrigo and Tommy did their best to stop him, but then Krissy managed to lay the ball off to him on the edge of the penalty area and he stepped forward and shot savagely past Jamie.

‘They’ve only had two shots,’ Jamie complained, as he threw the ball to TJ. ‘And they’ve scored from both of them. Now it’s two–all.’

‘Deng’s too good,’ said Tommy, shaking his head. ‘When you try to tackle him, the ball’s not there. It’s like magic. Maybe I should stick to skateboarding.’

Once again, TJ thought of Danny. This was just the kind of situation where they needed him. He glanced over to where the rest of Year Six were watching. He could see Danny, pale-faced and intent. He obviously really cared about what was happening to the team, but he simply hadn’t turned up to the last three training sessions. Still, there was nothing TJ could do about that now. ‘You’re doing great,’ he said to Tommy. ‘Even the best defenders at the PDC can’t stop Deng when he’s in this kind of mood.’

Parkview kicked off again, with the scores level. I have to do something, TJ thought, as Ariyan tapped the ball to him. He laid it back to Rafi and moved forward into the Hillside half, as Rafi slid the ball to Rob. Rob found TJ again with a pass that skimmed the surface of the grass. TJ killed the ball and turned. He saw Mrs Singh looking at her watch and he knew that there was no time to waste, so he ran directly at the goal. Billy Martin was in front of him, and the other defender was waiting too. There was no way through. Ariyan was racing out towards the corner flag, but Kelvin had chased back to mark him and the pass was impossible. Then TJ heard Rob’s voice. ‘Leave it to me! Go!’

TJ knew exactly what Rob would do, so he shot forward like an arrow, bursting between the defenders, as Rob lifted the ball over their heads. He felt it coming over his shoulder, dropping right into his path and he hit a vicious dipping volley that fizzed past the goalkeeper before he had time to move. He’d scored a hat-trick! It was 3–2 to Parkview and it stayed that way until the end of the match.

‘We’ll beat you one day,’ Krissy said ruefully to TJ when they shook hands after the game. ‘I thought we were going to do it today until you scored that last goal.’

‘You were good,’ agreed TJ. ‘And we’re going to have to be a lot better than that if we want to win the Regional Tournament.’

‘Maybe Deng could move to our school,’ Rob said.

Deng grinned at Rob. The two midfield magicians had become good friends off the pitch. ‘No way!’ said Krissy, looking alarmed.

‘Don’t worry,’ Deng said. ‘I like it at Hillside. But I don’t know why they haven’t asked you to come to the PDC, Rob,’ he went on. ‘You should talk to your friend Marshall.’

Marshall Jones was a star at nearby Premier League side Wanderers. He was an old friend of Mr Wood’s and he had given the Parkview team a lot of help.

‘I don’t think Marshall has much to do with the PDC,’ TJ said. ‘But I bet if Rob keeps playing that way then a scout will see him. I bet they’ll ask him one day soon.’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Rob.

‘If I was as good as he is I’d make sure everyone knew it,’ laughed Krissy, as Rob walked away.

‘I don’t think he actually knows just how good he is,’ replied TJ.

Even though they’d won the match, TJ knew that it hadn’t been a convincing victory. ‘Those runs you made in the first half were amazing,’ he said to Tulsi, as they waited for her mum when school was over. ‘You should have kept doing them.’

‘You’re not the coach, are you?’ snapped Tulsi. ‘Just leave me alone, TJ.’

TJ opened his mouth to say something else, but Rob tugged at his arm. ‘Not now,’ he hissed. ‘You’ll just make it worse.’

‘You were right,’ TJ said to Rob a little later, as they walked home. ‘It wasn’t a good time to talk to Tulsi, but look – there’s Danny. Let’s have a word with him. I want to find out why he isn’t coming to training.’

‘You go if you like,’ Rob said.

TJ glanced at him, then he remembered. When he’d first arrived at Parkview Danny and Rob had been enemies. ‘He’s a good tackler,’ TJ said.

‘I know,’ replied Rob. ‘But I don’t have to like him, do I?’