CHAPTER 22

PARKVIEW BEGAN THE final the same way they had finished the semifinal. As soon as the whistle blew, all of TJ’s nerves evaporated and he could tell that it was the same for the others. They took control of the game right from the start and with five minutes gone the Heath Road players had hardly touched the ball. Both TJ and Tulsi had managed shots on goal, but the keeper had made unbelievable saves. ‘We have to score soon,’ Rob said, as Heath Road took yet another goal kick. ‘They can’t hold out for ever.’

Heath Road took a throw-in. Rafi was first to the ball, controlled it, and passed inside to Rob. Rob played the ball forward to Tulsi’s feet and she turned it out to TJ on the wing.

‘Come on,’ said Rob to Rafi. ‘This is it. Get in the area!’

They both sprinted forward. TJ took the ball to the goal line and pulled it back hard towards the edge of the penalty area where Rob volleyed it perfectly with his left foot. Rob was sure that he had scored. He started to turn away as his shot blasted towards the top corner of the goal, but then there was a loud crack as the ball hit the inside of the post. It rocketed across the goal, hit the other post and rebounded into the arms of the grateful goalkeeper.

The Parkview players were stunned and Heath Road were the first to react. The keeper threw the ball out to their unmarked winger, who flew down the touchline. Danny tried to close him down, but like all the other Parkview players he had been drawn out of position as they pressed forward, and he had no chance. The winger’s cross came low and hard and the Heath Road captain, a tall boy, finished off the move by passing the ball elegantly into the corner of Jamie’s goal.

For the rest of the first half, the game was evenly balanced. Parkview still had most of the possession, but they didn’t dare to press forward in numbers again now that they had seen the power of Heath Road’s counterattack. ‘You’re doing well,’ Mr Wood told them at half time. ‘If you’d scored during that spell at the start it would have been a different game.’

‘But we didn’t,’ said TJ.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ said Rob. ‘What if we pull Tulsi back a little? TJ could play up front on his own and Tulsi can come from deep. They might find it hard to pick her up. We have to try something different, don’t we?’

Mr Wood smiled. ‘You’re still the Assistant Coach then, Rob? It’s a very good idea. Let’s try it. You’re going to be like a ghost, Tulsi. They won’t know where to find you.’

‘She can do it too,’ said TJ excitedly. ‘In that game in training when Rob and the girls beat us. She lost me completely.’

‘Off you go,’ said Mr Wood. ‘You have seven minutes to turn this around. You can do it.’

Heath Road pressed forward, trying to add to their lead, but Danny and Rodrigo kept them out, with help from the tireless Rafi who seemed to be everywhere. Then at last Rafi managed to squeeze the ball through to Rob. He saw Tulsi running towards him, drawing a defender out from the back, and he hit the ball over their heads into the space that Tulsi had left. Even as TJ was moving onto the pass, Tulsi had turned and sprinted diagonally across the defence. Nobody tracked her run, but TJ saw her out of the corner of his eye and switched the ball out to the left wing. He felt Rob slip past him, as he saw Tulsi collect the ball and hit a left-footed cross. Rob was in mid-air when he struck the volley. Somehow he kept the ball down and it flew into the net before the keeper could move. The scores were level at 1–1.

The Parkview supporters went wild, as Rob stood in front of them and pretended to write in his notebook, then held both arms in the air. TJ ran to Tulsi. ‘Awesome!’ he said, exchanging high-fives with her. ‘Do you think we can do it again?’

‘Why not?’ grinned Tulsi. ‘Hey, look, Marshall’s blown his disguise!’

Marshall’s hood had fallen back, as he jumped up and down and punched the air.

Maggie Burnside and her cameraman had rushed to film him and other spectators were pointing at him, but Marshall didn’t seem to care.

‘One more,’ said Rob, clapping his hands. ‘One more will win it.’

TJ looked at Rob. He couldn’t believe he was the same quiet, slightly sulky boy he’d met on his first day at Parkview. Rob wasn’t just the Assistant Coach, he realized. He was their leader.

Heath Road restarted the match and almost at once Tommy harried their winger into a mistake and came away with the ball. Once again, Tulsi came back, losing her defender and calling for the ball. This time she played a simple pass back to Rob and was off again, drifting into space. As TJ received Rob’s pass wide on the right, he could see that the Heath View defenders had no idea what Tulsi was going to do next.

He cut infield, aiming for the edge of the penalty area, and a defender came out to meet him. Tulsi was free and she ran forward, offering herself for TJ’s pass. He hit the ball hard to her feet. Tulsi swung round and played the ball back to TJ, who ran past the last defender and hit a low shot across the keeper towards the far post. The keeper dived and just got a hand to the ball, but there, ready to pounce, having raced the whole length of the pitch, was Danny. He blasted the ball into the net and raced away with his arms out like an aeroplane. The score was 2–1 to Parkview. They were in the lead at last.

Rob and TJ chased after Danny and pulled him to the ground, as the Parkview supporters erupted. TJ looked over and saw Danny’s dad with his arms raised high in the air, shouting louder than anyone.

But the match wasn’t over. Mr Wood was holding up one finger. There was one minute left, and Heath Road threw everything at Parkview now. Their winger made a dazzling run that forced Danny to retreat. All Danny could do was force the winger out wide and try to prevent him from crossing the ball. But then, right by the corner flag the winger produced a piece of skill that fooled Danny completely. He hit a perfect cross towards the penalty spot and the Heath Road captain rose majestically to head the ball.

It looked a certain goal – but then Jamie took off. He’d had almost nothing to do in the second half, but he was ready. With the very tip of his fingers he touched the ball onto the angle of post and crossbar. It flew out to the edge of the penalty area and Tommy belted it away, high into the air, as the full-time whistle blew.

Parkview School were the champions!