Read Online The Kick Off by Dan Freedman - Free Book Online Page A

smell, all right.
    Ollie let him stand there smelling it for a good few seconds before he said: “Um . . . it’s OK, sir. I think I’ve got it now. Thanks anyway, sir.”
    Barnwell’s face went bright red but he didn’t do anything. What could he do? He couldn’t exactly send Ollie out for that. And anyway, Ollie could just deny it. Where was the proof?
    Jamie smiled and let his eyes wander over to the football pitches outside.
    In a couple of hours he would be out there playing on them. He imagined himself beating a defender and bending one right into the top corner.
    He’d been waiting a long time for this day.

 
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    Jamie took a deep breath. He tapped his chest firmly with the palm of his hand and entered the B team changing room.
    A beam of light penetrated the dusky atmosphere, illuminating the tiny particles of dust that were in the air.
    Jamie scanned the room for a spare peg and sat down.
    Having got changed into his kit, he put on his boots with the utmost care. He’d learned his lesson from the trials; this time, they had to be perfect.
    His feet had to be snug at the toe end of the boot to allow him to feel the ball as much as possible, while at the top end, around the tongue, he left it a little looser so he had enough flexibility to curl and dip his shots.
    The clacking of the studs said that the team was ready. It was show-time. “C’mon!” Jamie found himself shouting. He wouldn’t normally have acted like this – like a captain – before a game but he knew he was one of the best players in the team today so it was up to him to take some responsibility.
    â€œWe know we can do this,” he told his teammates. “So let’s go do it!”
    â€œCome on!” the Kingfield boys roared as they exited the changing room. Tesh and Jamie pushed each other out towards the pitches. They had so much energy.
    The adrenalin was pumping through Jamie’s veins. And confidence, too. If he could mix it with Danny Miller and that lot, there was no way he should fear the St Antony’s B’s.
    Jamie took a couple of warm-up shots to get his eye in. They flew into the net. Then he did one of the sprint warm-up routines from Kenny Wilcox’s book.
    He felt powerful. He felt light. He felt dangerous.
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    Mr Marsden was watching the A’s game, so the B’s had Mr Hitchcock, who was also going to referee. Jamie didn’t know him that well – he taught geography to the other set – but he’d heard that he was quite strict. He’d used to be a policeman before he became a teacher.
    Mr Hitchcock pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and blew his whistle. They were off.
    Right from the start, Kingfield immediately got on top. And soon Jamie got his first chance to have a run at the St Antony’s right-back.
    Jamie controlled the ball and stopped it dead. He stood upright for a second and looked at his opponent, who had come to close him down.
    Then Jamie did the cheekiest thing. He knocked the ball straight through the right-back’s legs and ran past him.
    Now it was just a test of pace over the first five yards.
    No one was going to catch Jamie over five yards. He scorched down the wing. He could hear the defender grunting like an animal in pain as he tried to keep up.
    Jamie didn’t need to look up. In Alex Marcusfield, the B’s had the biggest goal-hanger in the whole of Kingfield. Jamie knew he’d be in the box.
    He curled in a cross and watched as his ball bent perfectly towards Alex, who was standing practically on the goal-line. He couldn’t miss.
    A small but purposeful jerk of Alex Marcusfield’s head and the ball was in the net.
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    Alex ran straight over to Jamie. He was ecstatic at having scored so early.
    Jamie had his left fist clenched. What a start! He’d already done more in the first ten minutes of this game than