midfielder making his way towards our penalty area.
Danger!
I sprinted to catch up with him. As I did that, the red-haired winger dribbled the ball past Parvy and Corky and was into our box. I saw Dal move across to challenge him but the Langton striker played the ball in behind our defenders and the player I was tracking turned it into the net just a split second before I could reach him.
It was 1-1.
âNO!!!!!!!!!!!!â I heard Abs and Chris shout together.
The game wasnât even five minutes old and weâd scored one and let one in. On the touchline Mr James wore a face like thunder and Mr Turner was bright-red with anger. Only Miss Rice seemed relaxed. As we retook our positions for the kickoff, she said a few words to Byron and Lily. I donât know what she said to them, but from the moment the ball was kicked, Byron went and man-marked the mouthy lad with the freckles. That left me with the fast player who had scored the equalizer. He was short and stocky with fat legs and his whole body looked like a rectangle. But he was quick. As he moved to receive the ball again, I ran across to him and he quickly passed the ball on.
âYou look like SpongeBob SquarePants,â I said to him.
He turned to me and grinned. At least Iâm not playing with the Bratz team,â he replied.âWhoâs your substitute â Barbie?â
I wanted to say something back to him, but I didnât get a chance. Instead, I saw Byron beat the freckled lad and pass the ball out to Lily. She took it in her stride and then did about three step-overs as she ran at Langtonâs left back. I hate to admit it but Lily was really good at step-overs. Instead of taking their back on, though, she passed the ball into the centre where Abs took it up. He took on two defenders and created an opening.
I could see Chris running, unmarked, into space. He was screaming for the ball but Abs only had one thing on his mind. He turned back inside the defenders he had already beaten and tried to slot the ball into the net. But their keeper was alert to the danger and he scooped the ball up and held it safely to his chest.
âAbs!â shouted Chris. âI was totally unmarked . . . !â
âSorry,â Abs replied, holding up his hands and looking sheepish.
I watched the Bluesâ keeper throw the ball to his right back. The player passed it on to the red-haired winger, who went on another run. This time, though, he tried to be too clever. As Parvy came in, he attempted to flick the ball over her but didnât succeed. Parvy saw what he was trying and she won the ball and passed it square to Corky.
Langtonâs winger looked gutted and he said something to Parvy.
Parvy turned to him and smiled. âTackled by a girl,â she joked.
âGet lost, you stupid
girlie!
â the lad replied.
Suddenly the whistle was blown and the ref went over to the lad.
âNo more of that, son!â he warned.
âYessir . . .â replied the lad, looking really embarrassed.
From the sidelines I heard my mum screaming.
âYOU GO, GIRL!â she shouted.
I could feel myself going red, but then Dalâs and Chrisâs dads joined in too.
âCOME ON, YOU REDS! COME ON, YOU REDS!â
AT HALF-TIME THE score was still 1-1 and Mr Turner told us that he was pleased with us, despite the fact that weâd conceded such a quick equalizer.
âI keep telling you,â he said. âAll teams are at their most vulnerable when theyâve just scored. Thatâs why youâve
got
to concentrate
twice
as hard when you score â got it?â
We nodded at him.
âAnd letâs get the ball moving too, yâall,â added Miss Rice. âLittle triangles. Pass theball and then move. Donât stand still. Give your team-mates an option . . .â
Again everyone nodded.
âRight, letâs get out there and get our first points of the season,â
Irene Garcia, Lissa Halls Johnson