Football Lord - Chapter 14

The match began with both teams equally holding and giving away possession in an attempt to find an opening.

Tony who was the conductor of his team was giving a lot of the ball, as he distributed it. But the opponent had enough players at the back to cover the attacking spaces.

When he was not with the ball, Tony tried to use his movements to create chances for other players, by making runs to draw the attention of the defenders.

Or he would simply receive the ball and pass it on to the best player to receive it. There was not much more he could do, as he lacked the necessary skills and techniques to forcefully enter the box by taking on players, head to head.

He had only successfully tried to slip in two through passes to Paul and the right winger of the team, but they had both successful been closed down by the defenders .

After about 20 minutes in the first half, Rose finally helped Tony find the space he needed from behind his striker Paul, to send a pass to John on the left wing.

John had perfectly placed himself behind the opponents right back but was still onside as he avoided an offside.

The pass came directly to him as he successful ran with the ball to face the keeper before the defenders could close down on him.

He attempted to place the shot into the the bottom left corner of the post, but the keeper blocked the ball with his foot.

The blocked ball deflected and went towards the defenders and Paul who had been rapidly approaching. Paul was the first to react as his legs shot the ball into the net before the keeper could recover from the previous blocked ball.

Tony’s team immediately went to celebrate at the right corner flag. Tony could not help but be a little bitter as he celebrated with his teammates, as he thought of Johns missed chance which wasted his assist.

‘We still have about 10 minutes in this half, and 30 minutes in the next half if you are not subbed off to get your assist.’ Rose consoled him.

He had no option than to accept as the game resumed.

The opponents wearing the white vests had started leaving spaces a little in the back, as they pushed forward to try and quickly equalize the score.

Tony’s team defended well, as they used there numbers to try and block the spaces, as they waited for an opportunity to counter.

The Coaches were not just watching on the sidelines either, as they coached and gave instructions to players from both teams to improve there play.

This was teaching them practically, as they tried to improve the player’s match awareness and intelligence on certain issues.

Paul who was the striker for Tony’s team was instructed by the attacking Coach to stay around the half way line and wait for a counter if his team got back hold of the possession.

Tony was asked to roam around the oppositions outside of his team’s 18 yard box in other to close down on the opponents.

Tony whose defending was a grade of D- could only do his best, as he tried to close down on the ball when it came close to him.

David the right back of Tony’s team who was also a new player from the trials, finally dispossessed the opponent of the ball.

Immediately he got the ball, Tony started to run towards the opponents half, as David passed the ball towards him.

Paul had already started running into the opposition half, as the opposition defenders also tried to fall back.

It was a 2 on 3 situation, as Tony ran as fast as he could towards the right edge of the 18 yards box as he was being closed down.

He passed the ball to Paul, who was moving towards him. As Paul was about to shoot the ball, he saw that the two defenders had closed the openings for the shot. it

He could only pass the ball back to Tony who was free to his right.

Tony received the ball back, as he quickly shot the ball into the net before the defenders and the goalkeeper could properly react.

After the goal Tony rushed to Paul to hug him, as there other teammates joined them in light celebrations.

It was another bittersweet moment for Tony who was looking for an assist but got a goal instead. But who would say no to a goal?

He could only accept his fate, but at least there were other skills from other players who had the condition of him scoring a goal in the training match.

The match soon resumed for a few minutes, before it was half time.

During the break, the staffs all have them advise on what to do and how they were to react…..

After a break of 5 minutes

The game was cagey, as Tony’s team were put on the defensive, while The white team threw players forward in an attempt to later score.

After about 20 minutes of both teams trying to outplay the other, the white team finally scored a goal from a corner.

The game resumed as Tony’s team stopped being on the defensive, as they attempted to increase the lead.

Both teams began to equally craft chances, but no one could bury them.

In the 27th minute, Tony finally got a chance to send a through pass to his right winger, who was playing as a inverted winger.

The winger ran as Tony’s pass appeared in his front, between two defenders. The winger who had a speed of C+ sped up to the ball as the goalkeeper rushed out of his line.

Instead of the winger to shoot the ball he coolly rounded the goalkeeper by shifting the ball to his sides quickly. Before he used his speed to quickly go past the goalkeeper and moved closer to the net as he sent the ball rolling into the empty net.

Tony was very happy because he had finally gotten his assist, as he rushed to jump on the right winger as the other players came over to Join them.

The game resumed quickly, as it was only about 2 more minutes before the match ended.

The white team immediately used there numbers to bombard Tony’s team in a desperate attempt to get a goal.

Exactly on the 30th minute, Tony’s team gave away a penalty as a player was fouled in there box.

As the fitness Coach who was the referee for the match blew the whistle for a penalty.

The Striker of the black team shot the ball into the left side of the net, as he sent the goalkeeper to the wrong side of the net.

After which the fitness Coach blew the minutes to end the match, The final score was Tony’s black team winning by a narrow margin of 3:2.