Zero to Hero (3 page)

Adam was well marked, so instead he passed the ball back to Will. Will noticed Steve coming up on his right, and played a simple pass out to him. “And back, Steve!” he shouted as he moved forward.

Now in plenty of space, Will steadied himself before rolling the ball neatly through the Kingham defence for Adam to run onto. The Ravens striker got to the ball just ahead of the keeper, and drilled his shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.

“Yes!” Adam sprinted away with his arms in the air, before turning to Will. “Great pass,” he said. “Keep it up and we'll win this!”

Will was filled with pride, but there was still most of the second half left to play. Kingham would be looking to get their lead back as soon as possible.

For a while neither side took control of the ball. Kingham had worked out that Will was key to Ravens' better play so they started to mark him very closely.

Time was running out when one of Steve's kicks reached Adam with his back to goal. He moved the ball out to David on the wing, but the Kingham full-back was about to tackle him. Will yelled for David to pass the ball, but before Will could pass it on he was brought down by a Kingham player.

The ref blew for a free kick, and Will struggled to his feet. “I'll take it,” he said, and nobody argued with him.

At the start of the match nobody had even wanted him on the team, and now here he was, about to make what might be the most important kick of the game.

Will took a deep breath to calm himself, before striking the ball right-footed. It looped over the wall of Kingham players, then began to dip and spin, fooling the goalie.

The ball seemed to move in slow motion as it headed for the top corner, but it kept on curling and hit the top of the post, bouncing back into the packed penalty area.

Will lost track of where the ball was in the mad scramble.

Suddenly the ref blew his whistle and Will saw the ball spinning in the back of the Kingham net.

“Steeeeeve!” the Ravens players shouted.

Will couldn't believe it. In all the chaos, Steve had got his foot to the ball and poked it home.

Will rushed over to his friend, and was pulled into the victory huddle.

The ref blew for full time, and Smithy came onto the pitch to praise the team too.

“Really well done, all of you. You've given me plenty to think about before the next game!” he said, smiling.

Will was over the moon. Steve might have scored the winner, but it was Will who had turned the game around for the Ravens, and the whole team knew it.

Adam and David put him onto their shoulders and carried him off the pitch to the cheers of the rest of the team.

A week ago Will had been a nobody, standing on the sidelines, but now he was the Ravens' hero.

Pitch Dark

David wants to be on the school team, like he was before. But Nick, the current goalie, has killed off any hope of that. Walking home one night, David meets a stranger who will change his life forever. But will David's football dream turn into a living nightmare?

Dead Wood

Holly's family move to the old house so her dad can do his job: bulldozing the ancient trees to make way for a housing estate. But there's something haunting the old house. Something old, and angry, that doesn't want the trees cut down. Something
alive
…

Drawing a Veil

Ellie and Amina are best friends. But when Amina decides to start wearing the hijab, it attracts the attention of the bullies. Does it matter if best friends have different beliefs? A thought-provoking story about friendship, culture and modern life.

Death Match

While the Nazis occupied Ukraine, Dynamo Kiev's footballers played matches as FC Start. Start won, again, and again. Until they faced a German army side, under the threat of death if they didn't let the occupiers win…

Run, Jimmy, Run

Jimmy can't stand Dax's bullying any longer. He steals £150 from his father and runs away. But Dax is on the same train – and he sees the money. Now Jimmy and Dax are locked in a frantic chase. Can Jimmy run fast enough and far enough?

First published 2012 by
A & C Black
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

www.acblack.com

Copyright © 2012 Seb Goffe

This electronic edition published in February 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Illustrations copyright © 2012 Bob Moulder

The rights of Seb Goffe and Bob Moulder to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

ISBN 97814088165775

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

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