T.J. and the Cup Run (10 page)

‘Rob’s an expert on stats,’ Mr Wood told the players. ‘I bet he knows everything about all of you.’

‘I hope not,’ grinned Paco Sanchez, shaking hands with a dazed Rob.

‘How many shots did we have on goal today?’ called Marshall from the other side of the room.

It was as if a light had switched on in
Rob
’s head. ‘Easy,’ he said. ‘Seventeen. Eleven on target. Not bad really,’ he added, to the sound of laughter from the team.

‘And these lads are having even more success than Wanderers at the moment,’ said Mr Wood. ‘They’re playing in the final of the Cup next week.’

‘Maybe one day they give us a game,’ grinned Paco Sanchez.

‘It’s all because of Mr Wood,’ Rob told them. ‘He’s a very good coach.’

‘We know,’ said the Wanderers manager. ‘That’s why we’ve offered him a job. We’re hoping he’s going to come and coach young players in our Academy.’

C
HAPTER
16

‘IF YOU GO
and work at the Academy then you won’t be able to teach us any more,’ said TJ to Mr Wood, as they waited outside the ground for TJ’s dad to arrive. Even now, an hour after the game had finished, small groups of Wanderers supporters kept bursting into song as they passed by.

‘It’s a hard decision,’ said Mr Wood. ‘This is a big chance for me. And you all know that I’m only a temporary teacher at your school.’

‘You mean, you might not be there next week?’ said Rob. ‘But we need you for the Cup Final.’

‘You managed to win the semifinal on your own,’ Mr Wood pointed out. Then he grinned. ‘As it happens,’ he said, looking with amusement at their anxious faces, ‘Mr Burrows has already asked me to work next week and I’ve said yes.’

TJ and Rob both breathed sighs of relief. A few moments later TJ’s dad pulled up at the kerb. He got out of the car and shook hands with Mr Wood. ‘Glad you’re back,’ he said. ‘And thanks for doing this. How was it, boys?’

‘Amazing!’

‘Fantastic!’

‘And next week we’re going to win the Cup, eh, Mr Wood? You’ll be there to help them?’

‘I just told them I will,’ smiled Mr Wood.

‘Good news!’ said Mr Wilson, as they climbed into the car.

‘But he’s not back for good, Dad,’ said TJ.

‘And Wanderers have offered him a proper job, coaching at the Academy.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘The manager said so, so it must be true,’ said Rob. ‘It’s a disaster.’

‘Hmm,’ said TJ’s dad. ‘I guess we’ll just have to find a way to show Mr Wood how much we want him to stay.’

‘It won’t work,’ TJ said. ‘Who wouldn’t want to go and work at Wanderers?’

‘We’ll see,’ said TJ’s dad. ‘At least we can try.’

‘What’s your dad going to do, then?’ asked Jamie when TJ and Rob met their friends before school the next morning.

‘Don’t know,’ TJ replied. ‘He’s been on the phone a lot though.’

‘The best thing we can do,’ said Tulsi, ‘is to win the Cup. Mr Wood won’t want to leave a winning team. And there’s a big Regional
Tournament
coming up after Christmas.’

‘We’ve got Rob now,’ said Jamie. We’ve got a secret weapon for the final. Swinburne are the only ones who know how good he is. Does anyone know who we’re playing?’

‘I should have looked,’ said Rob. ‘But I’ve been busy. That’s the trouble with playing football all the time. I don’t have time to keep track of everything else.’

They didn’t have to wait long to find out. Mr Wood was waiting for them in the classroom. ‘The other semifinal was played on Friday afternoon,’ he told them. ‘And the winners were our old enemies – Hillside School!’

‘Oh no!’ groaned TJ.’

‘What’s the problem?’ asked Jamie. ‘They’ve never beaten us in a proper match. It’s perfect!’

‘No, it’s not,’ said TJ. ‘They know all about Rob. No more secret weapon.’

He told Jamie how he and Rob had played with Deng and Krissy in the park. Jamie shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘We’ll still be too good for them.’

‘I heard that, Jamie,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Hillside are a very good team, and they’re getting better all the time. What’s more, young Deng is turning into a very good player indeed. You should know that because you see him at the PDC every week.’

Jamie nodded.

‘So let’s take this seriously,’ Mr Wood said. ‘We’ll have extra training tomorrow after school, and another session on Thursday. And then I’ll pick the team.’

When training began on Tuesday night TJ could see that Rob was looking worried.

‘What’s up?’ he asked him.

‘I feel like everyone’s watching me,’ he replied.

‘I reckon they’re all too busy to worry about you,’ said TJ.

‘No they’re not. Look.’

TJ put his foot on the ball and glanced in the direction Rob was pointing. Sure enough, several faces were looking their way. And on the edge of the field there was a group of mums and dads and kids who’d stayed to watch training – and they were all looking towards Rob and TJ.

‘It’s fame,’ grinned TJ. ‘They’ve heard all about the semifinal and they want to see you play.’

‘Well, I don’t like it,’ said Rob. And for the rest of the afternoon he played like the old Rob, cautious and dull. As TJ walked home with Rob a bunch of kids ahead of them were talking. Suddenly TJ heard one of them say Rob’s name. They obviously didn’t know that
TJ
and Rob were behind them. ‘Everyone says Rob’s some kind of a genius,’ the boy said.

‘Doesn’t look like it, does it?’

‘And all that stuff about him helping the Wanderers team. I reckon Jamie and Tulsi and TJ are just making it up.’

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Mr Wood will never pick him if he isn’t any good.’

Rob looked miserable. ‘Just ignore them,’ TJ said as the other kids turned down a side street. ‘They don’t know anything. They haven’t seen you play properly.’

‘Neither has Mr Wood,’ said Rob glumly.

‘You’ll just have to show him in training on Thursday. ‘He’s on your side, you know. We all are.’

On Wednesday night at the PDC, Deng was waiting for TJ and Jamie. ‘This time we’ll beat you,’ he grinned. ‘We won our semifinal easily.’

‘You’ll need to watch out for him though,’ said Leroy, watching Rob set off along the running trail with TJ’s dad and big brother, Joey. ‘It would be us in the final if it hadn’t been for Rob.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Deng. ‘We have a plan for him.’

But when training got under way on Thursday afternoon it soon began to look as if Rob wouldn’t even make the team. He worked hard, but then so did lots of other hopeful players. Rob had to show Mr Wood that he could do things other people couldn’t do. And now even TJ was starting to think that if Rob was going to let his nerves get the better of him it might be best if he went back to doing the stats.

Don’t be stupid, he told himself. Rob could make all the difference in the final. No one else could pass the ball like he could. And that gave him an idea.

‘Mr Wood,’ he said. ‘Could we have a go at that passing drill? Like piggy-in-the-middle but with two players in the middle where you have to get the ball through the gaps.’

‘OK,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Nice idea, TJ. You work with Rob. We’ll make this the last thing for today. Off you go, everyone.’

TJ hit the ball to Rob, squeezing it between Tulsi and Rafi in the middle. Rob controlled it, and just for a second he froze.

Jamie laughed. ‘Hey, Rob,’ he said. ‘It’s only a game. Don’t look so serious.’ He capered around in front of Rob, waving his arms in the air, and Rob’s face split into a grin. You couldn’t help laughing when Jamie was around.

Rob clipped the ball through Jamie’s legs to TJ. TJ moved the ball a metre to one side and hit it quickly back to Rob. This time Rob didn’t need a touch. He flicked it first time,
curling
round Tulsi’s outstretched leg directly to TJ’s feet. TJ felt his heart lift as he saw Mr Wood watching them and Rob hit pass after brilliant pass.

Parkview’s secret weapon was back.

C
HAPTER
17

THE CUP FINAL
was played on Saturday morning on the same Astroturf pitch at the High School where they had played the semifinal. But it couldn’t have been more different. At the semifinal only Mr Burrows and Miss Berry had been there to cheer Parkview on – once Mr Potter had left. But now there were dozens of supporters for both sides.

‘It’s going to be a proper Cup Final,’ Mr Wood said, and TJ could see the excitement in his eyes. ‘I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. Off you go and get changed.’

TJ waved to his family as they made their way inside. Everyone seemed to be there. He saw Mr Coggins the caretaker, and Janice and the other dinner ladies. The small lady in the green sari was Tulsi’s gran from Birmingham, and those two little bullet-headed boys were Jamie’s kid brothers. It wasn’t exactly like the fifty thousand fans who filled the Wanderers stadium for every game, but it felt just as good to TJ. He turned to Rob, who was walking beside him. ‘Isn’t this fantastic,’ he said. ‘It’s the best . . .’

He stopped. Rob was looking green. ‘I feel sick,’ Rob said. ‘I mean it, TJ. I think I might actually be sick. I didn’t know all these people were going to come. I thought it would be like the other match. I wish Mr Wood hadn’t picked me.’

TJ found himself suddenly feeling angry with Rob. ‘If you didn’t want to play then you should have said,’ he told him. ‘There were
plenty
of others who wanted to play.’

‘I do want to play,’ said Rob miserably. ‘I’m just not sure I’ll do a very good job with all those people watching.’

‘It’s the same for all of us,’ said Tulsi, who had been walking in front of them and now turned round impatiently.

‘No, it’s not,’ said Jamie unexpectedly. ‘Some people get much more nervous than other people do. My dad says being nervous shows how much you care. He says people who get nervous before the game are sometimes the best players. Don’t forget, we wouldn’t even be in the final if it wasn’t for Rob.’

‘Thanks, Jamie,’ said Rob, with half a smile. ‘But I still feel like being sick.’

Five minutes later the Parkview squad ran out onto the pitch with their blue training tops over their blue and black striped shirts.
It
was a cold day, so they were all wearing hats and gloves too, as they warmed up on the pitch.

‘OK then,’ said Mr Wood, as the time for kickoff approached. ‘This is the starting team. Jamie in goal. Tommy and Rodrigo in defence. Tulsi and TJ up front, and Rafi and Rob in midfield. Yes, Rob? Did you want to say something?’

For a moment TJ thought Rob was going to say he couldn’t play, but then he gulped. ‘Nothing,’ he said.

‘Remember,’ Mr Wood continued, ‘Hillside know all about us. They’ll have someone quick in defence to counteract TJ’s speed, and that tall blond boy will be marking you, Tulsi. Don’t expect to be able to stand on the edge of the area and wait for the ball. He’ll be ready for that, and he’s good in the air. And then there’s Deng.’

‘He’s really improved,’ said TJ, as Jamie
nodded
agreement. ‘He wins everything in midfield and you have to be really quick on the ball if you want to get a good pass away.’

‘That’ll be your job,’ Mr Wood told Rob. ‘Rafi loves running around, so he’s going to get stuck in and make those tackles. It’s your responsibility to find those little bits of space that will let Rafi pass to you and give you the chance to find TJ and Tulsi. Rodrigo and Tommy, it’s up to you to stop Kelvin and Krissy. You can do that, can’t you?’

The two boys nodded. The barrel-shaped Kelvin and tall, slim Krissy were old enemies and they had dealt with them before.

‘Just remember to stay back to begin with,’ Mr Wood added. ‘Don’t go racing forward. Hillside can turn attack into defence in seconds. Subs,’ he finished, turning to Ariyan, Leila and Danny. ‘Make sure you concentrate on the game. You have to be ready to come on at a moment’s
notice
. Jamie, the ref’s waiting. You’ll be our captain for the day.’

Jamie ran to the middle of the pitch where the ref was standing with Deng beside him. Deng was grinning even more widely than usual as he shook hands with Jamie. He won the toss and Hillside prepared to kick off.