CHAPTER 18

THE NEXT MORNING the boys sat together at breakfast. TJ didn’t feel hungry, and he could see that no one else did either. They were looking around the room at the other teams, who all seemed to be having a great time.

‘Hey,’ said Miss Berry, arriving with the girls, ‘why all the long faces? We’re here. We’re in the Regional Tournament. Cheer up!’

‘Miss Berry’s right,’ said Mr Wood. ‘And you have to eat. You’ve got a long day ahead of you. A very long day if you make it all the way to the final.’

‘There’s no chance of that,’ said TJ. ‘There are lots of kids here who play for Academies. They play for big clubs. None of them are nervous like we are.’

‘Oh no?’ said Mr Wood. ‘I can tell you, TJ, that plenty of people make a lot of noise when they’re feeling nervous. You lot are as good as any of them and I don’t even have to see them play to know that. After all, you’ve been coached by me, and they haven’t.’

There was a moment’s silence, and then they all started to laugh. ‘It’s a game,’ Mr Wood said, as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. ‘You’ve done all the hard work, now you need to relax and play as if you were playing in the park. And you need to eat.’

TJ felt a whole lot better and he managed to eat three slices of toast. But when they reached the high school where the tournament was taking place, his nerves returned in force. The car park was full of coaches and minibuses and cars. People were milling about everywhere and TJ searched in vain for a sight of his family. He couldn’t see anyone he knew. They went into the school and down a long, echoing corridor to a classroom that the boys were sharing with another team. Miss Berry took the girls away to their own changing room, and a few minutes later they all met up on the field.

Notices were pinned to boards on the edge of the field showing the groups for the first stage of the competition and the pitches where the games were to be played.

‘That’s us,’ said Jamie. ‘Pitch Five. We’re playing Kingsmead School first, then Highfield, then Redhill. That doesn’t sound too bad.’

‘We’re on first,’ said Tulsi. ‘We’ve only got twenty minutes and then we’ve got to play.’

‘Good,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Let’s go and warm up. Oh, and Rob, I’d like you to be captain today.’

‘But . . .’

‘No arguments,’ said Mr Wood with a smile. ‘I know you’ll do a good job.’

They found their pitch and saw that their supporters had arrived. TJ ran over to say hello to his family. There were dozens of familiar faces there: Mr Coggins in his ancient blazer, and the dinner ladies, and Mr Burrows and Mrs Logan. There were several other teachers too, and everyone’s family. Although . . . TJ looked along the touchline and couldn’t see Danny’s mum anywhere. But then he saw more faces. Krissy Barton, Deng and Kelvin from Hillside School, and Leroy, the Wasps captain. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked them.

‘We came to support you, of course,’ laughed Krissy. ‘You’re the District champions. You’re representing all of us.’

‘So you’d better win,’ said Deng with his usual grin.

‘TJ,’ called Mr Wood. ‘Get a move on!’

TJ joined in the warm-up. As they zigzagged in and out of a line of cones, he glanced over at the other team and was shocked to see the two boys from the night before. The curly-haired one and the boy called Bazza. He felt his stomach lurch, as he remembered that Bazza had scored goals against the Manchester United Academy. Jamie had seen them too. ‘I hope you’re feeling confident,’ TJ said. ‘I think you might have some saves to make.’

Kingsmead School won the toss, and the Parkview team took up their positions. TJ was starting up front with Ebony. Leila and Rob were in midfield, and Danny and Rodrigo at the back. Kingsmead kicked off and the ball was instantly played back to the curly-haired boy. ‘Yes, Spike,’ called a Kingsmead attacker – a tough-looking boy with bleached hair. Spike slammed a pass out to the Kingsmead left wing and TJ tracked back, trying to put pressure on the attacker. The attacker moved away down the wing, but TJ caught him easily. He was sure he could make the tackle, so he hooked his left foot around the ball. But the ball had gone, and his boot connected with the other player’s shin.

The ref’s whistle blew for a free kick, as the attacker massaged his leg. ‘Sorry,’ said TJ, offering his hand. ‘You were too quick for me.’

The attacker got to his feet, ignoring TJ. ‘You OK, Wes?’ asked Spike, with a hard look at TJ. ‘That was nasty, that was. Get in the area. I’ll take this.’

TJ ran back, following Wes into the penalty area. The ball flew over his head and he heard Jamie shout, ‘Keeper’s!’, as he rose above everyone to claim the ball. ‘Get forward,’ he yelled, and he threw it out to Rob in midfield. Rob controlled it, then turned, looking for a pass, but all the Parkview players were closely marked. He gave it back to Danny, who picked out Leila on the right. Rob raced towards her, calling for the ball, and when it arrived he turned it neatly around his marker and into Ebony’s feet on the edge of the centre circle. She took a touch. She yelled, ‘To you, TJ!’ But by then Spike had taken the ball away from her.

Spike’s pass was genius. It was as good as anything Rob had ever done. He hit it with the outside of his left foot, curling the ball past Danny’s outstretched foot and directly into Bazza’s path. But Jamie was ready. He had seen the danger and moved out of his goal, and now he was facing the Kingsmead striker. He stayed on his feet as long as he could, but as Bazza lifted his foot to hit the shot Jamie dived to his right.

Somehow, Bazza had disguised the direction of his shot perfectly and sent Jamie the wrong way. Jamie stuck out a foot, but it was useless. The ball rolled into the net, and it was 1–0 to Kingsmead.