T.J. and the Hat-trick (11 page)

The dinner ladies were waving their pom-poms again, and TJ saw his family jumping around and cheering, and then finally he spotted the tall figure in the black beanie, standing a little behind the others and giving him a thumbs-up sign. It was Marshall Jones – in disguise! It wasn’t much of a disguise, but no one seemed to have recognized him yet.

Hillside kicked off, and now TJ could sense that they weren’t quite so confident.

Every time Kelvin got the ball he looked around nervously for Tommy, and most of the time Tommy was there, scrapping away and winning the tackles. Meanwhile, Jamie seemed to have got the measure of Krissy, and when she tried to go past him it was like watching someone running into a brick wall. TJ almost felt sorry for her.

The game was much more even now, but Slim still somehow managed to keep
winning
the ball back, no matter how hard Rafi and Rodrigo chased around after him. TJ could see that they needed help. When Jamie made yet another tackle on Krissy and the ball rebounded towards Slim, TJ raced back, controlled the ball on his thigh, hooked it over Slim’s head and then nipped round him to touch the ball into Rodrigo’s path. Rodrigo gave it back to him, and TJ was away, running at the last defender.

There was no need for tricks. He knew he was faster than the defender so he simply pushed the ball to one side and ran after it. The goalkeeper had come out to the edge of his penalty area, spreading himself as wide as he could. TJ passed the ball, right-footed, between his legs and into the empty net.

The Hillside players were hanging their heads. The big defender TJ had just skinned was bent double, gasping for breath.

‘We can do it,’ TJ said to Tulsi, as they waited for Hillside to restart the game. ‘Look at them! They’ve had it.’

He realized that Tulsi was staring at him.

‘You said you’d never played before,’ she accused him.

‘I haven’t. Only messing around in the garden and that time in the park, kickarounds in the playground. I never played a match in my life.’

‘You must have done. No one could—’

‘Look out,’ yelled Rafi. ‘They’ve kicked off.’

Slim had the ball at his feet, and he definitely hadn’t given up. He dodged past Rodrigo and sidestepped a clumsy challenge from Jamie, then unleashed a shot at Danny’s goal. Slim was already celebrating when Danny dived full-length and the ball thudded into his body. He stood up holding it and looking a little surprised,
but
not as surprised as Slim.

‘Give it to Tommy,’ TJ yelled. Danny’s throw found Tommy wide on the wing. He raced down the pitch with the ball at his feet. He was flying towards the dead-ball line, and defenders were sprinting to cut him off.

‘Idiot!’ said Tulsi. ‘He’s gone too far.

But TJ knew exactly what Tommy was going to do, and he was already sprinting, flat-out, towards the penalty spot. At the very last moment, just as the ball was about to run out of play, Tommy wrapped his foot around it and produced a perfect cross. TJ flung himself into the air. He kept his eyes wide open and fixed on the ball as he headed it down . . . and into the net.

The scores were level, and TJ had scored a perfect hat-trick – one with his right foot, one with his left foot and one, amazingly, with his head!

‘You’re a star, TJ!’ yelled his sister from the touchline.

‘Jolly well done, TJ,’ called Mr Burrows. He had taken off his tie and was waving it in the air.

As they jogged back into their own half, Mrs Singh was talking to her team. ‘That boy is their key player,’ she was saying. ‘You have to mark him more tightly. Off you go. I’m expecting you to win, Hillside.’

TJ watched as Krissy said something to Kelvin. They both looked his way, and Kelvin nodded. They obviously had a plan, and TJ didn’t have to wait long to find out what the plan was.

The very next time he received the ball, he heard thudding footsteps behind him and suddenly he was flying through the air. He hit the ground with a thump that knocked the wind out of him, and when he stood up his leg didn’t seem to be working properly.

C
HAPTER
20

‘IT’S A DEAD
leg,’ Mr Wood said. ‘And it was a very nasty tackle,’ he added to Mrs Singh.

‘It was clumsy,’ Mrs Singh said. ‘But I’m sure Kelvin didn’t mean to commit a foul.’

‘I hope not,’ Mr Wood said. ‘This is supposed to be a friendly game. How does it feel now, TJ?’

TJ took a couple of steps. His thigh hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. ‘I’ll carry on,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think I can run very far. Or very fast.’

‘We can beat them anyway,’ Rafi said. ‘Even if they do cheat.’

‘Are you sure you’re OK, TJ?’ his mum
called
anxiously from the touchline. TJ nodded.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Marshall, who had come to stand beside TJ’s dad. ‘If Johnny says he’s OK, then he is.’

Marshall had taken his hat off and some of the Hillside supporters had recognized him and were waving and pointing from the opposite touchline.

Krissy Barton was staring at Marshall with her mouth open. ‘That’s Marshall Jones,’ she said to Tulsi. ‘Has he been helping you?’

‘He’s Mr Wood’s friend, that’s all,’ Tulsi said. ‘And he’s one of our supporters,’ she added proudly.

‘Johnny?’ said TJ’s dad. ‘Johnny Wood? It’s been bothering me. I’ve seen him somewhere before, but I just don’t know where.’

‘Are you a Wanderers fan?’ Marshall asked him. ‘Well . . .’

TJ didn’t hear the rest because the whistle
blew
and the game restarted. Rafi was right. Even without TJ’s runs, Parkview began to overpower the Hillside team. The ball flew from player to player so fast that the Hillside players were left chasing shadows. They couldn’t get near the ball, and now it was the Parkview supporters who began to chant ‘
Olé
’. But all the passing wasn’t getting them any nearer to the Hillside goal because all of the Hillside players had fallen back, blocking the way, determined not to be beaten.

Then Rodrigo passed the ball out to TJ. He hobbled towards it, and touched it forward with his left foot. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mrs Singh looking at her watch. He had to do something quickly, or it would be all over. And then he saw his chance. Tulsi had pulled away to the right, taking a defender with her, but now she was running in again, towards the goal.

TJ took one more touch. He had to hit it now, but he was going to have to use his left foot. His right leg wasn’t much use for anything but standing on. He remembered practising in the garden and he pictured to himself just how he wanted to strike the ball. He used the outside of his foot to make it curl past the defenders – and it was a perfect pass! He held his breath as Tulsi raced forward and blasted the ball into the net.

The crowd went wild. Tulsi turned with her arms high in the air and a huge smile on her face. Then she ran to TJ and whacked him on the back so hard it almost made him forget the pain in his leg.

‘That was just brilliant, TJ! It was the best goal I’ve ever scored.’

The Hillside players looked miserable as they kicked off. They knew there was no time left for them to come back and sure enough,
just
seconds later, Mrs Singh blew the whistle for the end of the game.

TJ shook hands with Slim, as the Parkview supporters cheered and the dinner ladies threw their pom-poms into the air. Mr Coggins was doing a crazy dance with Miss Berry and TJ hoped he wouldn’t hurt himself.

Slim gave a rueful grin. ‘Great hat-trick,’ he said. ‘But next time, we’ll be ready for you.’

TJ’s dad ran onto the pitch and clapped him on the back. ‘Brilliant,’ he said. ‘That was even better than watching Wanderers! It was amazing!’

TJ’s mum pushed his dad out of the way and gave TJ a big, embarrassing kiss, but he was too excited to care. ‘Look!’ he said. ‘The whole school must be here. Even Mr Burrows looks pleased.’

‘So he should,’ Tulsi’s mum said. ‘Lots of people are congratulating him but none of
this
would have happened without Mr Wood. Why, Mr Burrows wanted to
ban
football a couple of weeks ago.’

‘I want to see Mr Wood,’ TJ’s dad said. ‘Where is he?’

‘Over there,’ TJ said.

On the other side of the pitch, Mr Wood was talking to Mrs Singh and the Hillside team while Marshall chatted to them, and their mums and dads took photos with their phones. Mr Wood waved goodbye and walked back towards them.

‘It’s a bit sad,’ Tulsi said. ‘Getting all excited like that just because Marshall is famous.’

TJ stared at her. ‘You were exactly the same,’ he said.

‘No I wasn’t.’

‘Hey,’ said Mr Wood. ‘No more arguments! Not after a performance like that. They’re a nice bunch,’ he said, waving again as the
minibus
pulled away. ‘But they’re not used to losing.’

‘You used to
play
for Wanderers,’ TJ’s dad said to him. ‘Why didn’t you tell us? I knew I’d seen you before.’

‘I was just a kid,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Marshall was my best mate. We weren’t much older that this lot here when we first met. And if you saw me play for the first team, you were one of the only ones. I only ever played two games before I got injured and decided to be a teacher.’

‘And it’s a good job for you lot that he did,’ Marshall said, putting an arm around Mr Wood. ‘Now you have a football team at last. Not to mention a pitch and a whole load of happy supporters.’

All the people who were standing nearby cheered, and Janice the dinner lady planted a wet kiss on Mr Wood’s cheek.

‘If only the school wasn’t falling to bits,’
said
TJ’s mum. ‘It’s a real shame. It doesn’t seem fair.’

‘We can fix it,’ said Rafi’s dad, ‘just like we fixed the pitch.’

‘He’s right!’

‘It’s true!’

‘Listen,’ Marshall said. ‘You know the best thing about today? It was great that TJ came from nowhere and scored a terrific hat-trick . . .’ Everyone applauded and TJ felt hot and pleased at the same time. ‘And Tulsi’s winner was spectacular. But the best thing was the way you played like a real team. Rodrigo was a great captain. He always stayed calm. Tommy and Jamie stopped almost everything in the second half, and when someone did get past, Danny made that fantastic save. And Rafi was everywhere!’

Everyone laughed again when he said that, and suddenly TJ heard Rob’s voice.
‘I
think Rafi ran nearly two kilometres,’ he said. ‘I can’t be exact. There was a lot going on.’

‘Ah, Rob,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Our chief scout and master tactician! Come out here, Rob.’

Rob emerged from the crowd with his dad. His dad was just like him, small, with glasses and the same curly hair.

‘It was Rob who said I should bring TJ out of goal,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Every great manager needs a great assistant!’

Rob turned bright red.

‘Thanks, Rob,’ TJ whispered.

‘You see what I mean?’ continued Marshall. ‘You’ve got a great team here. Look at the work you all did to get this pitch ready to play on. If you can do that together, then I reckon there’s nothing you can’t do!’

There was an enormous cheer. Even Mr Burrows was clapping, and TJ suddenly realized that he looked a lot younger. He wasn’t actually old at all. It was just the lines of worry on his face that made him look that way. Even Mrs Logan seemed a little less scary as she gazed admiringly at Marshall.