The Football Game

• William Halliday, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2014

This was it, the closing minutes of our, the Sydney Lions, Grand Final. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us, as we exceeded expectations and went undefeated all season. Though our opponents, the Brisbane Redbacks, were winning 1-0, we still had the one thing keeping our aching bodies moving…. hope. Our star player, Richie Mcoy, was weaving with ease through the Redbacks defence and he then took a shot with a few minutes on the clock! The ball missed by a long shot and and took our dwindling hope with it.

We all knew that was it when the referee blew his whistle, so we all trudged off the field. But, out of nowhere, he blew his whistle again and yelled, “Why are you leaving the field?! Its a penalty!” Our jaws dropped in surprise and that feeling of hope was resurfacing within us.

We all raced back onto the pitch, and together the team shrieked, “Let Charlie take it!”

I stood frozen as he lined up to take the most important shot of our season. Everything was in slow motion as the ball then flew past the goalies frame and into the the back of the net! We had leveled the match!

Once again the referee blew his whistle, so we raced to the training room, to prepare for the penalty shoot out. Our coach, slowly said with confidence, “Jimmy will go first, Bill will go second, Rob third, George forth and Richie fifth.”

I was to go first and I was incredibly nervous, much like a child on their first day of Kindergarten. As our time in the training room closed, we left with long strides towards the field.
Though we were all nervous, we had only one thought on our minds… To win!

We ran on to the pitch, receiving an occasional ‘boo’, but the cheers for us were overwhelmingly loud. Almost as soon as my boot made contact with the ball, the ball made contact with the net. A goal! I didn’t celebrate too much because I knew that was only one step of many to come.

Then, a Redback player took their shot and our goalie saved it with ease. Bill then walked confidently to the penalty spot and chipped it in gracefully. The opponent then ran up for his penalty, but our goalie quickly caught it. We were now two up and we all knew we just needed to get this goal and save the opponents shot to win! George was a snail in a race as he took his time to shoot, but eventually the leather ball slammed right into the goalie.

“Drat! ” George screeched, but that was not the end.

The Redbacks’ fans were excited dogs as a Redbacks players kick flew past our goalie and into the goal. We were shocked, stunned even, but we knew that we still had a chance. Richie then raced to the box to take his shot. With brilliant technique, he seamlessly pinned it to the back of the net, and the uproar from the crowd was legendary. The Brisbane Redbacks star player then lined up his shot, but rain started to drizzle down onto our sweaty bodies. As he ran towards the ball, he slipped and so his foot barely touched the ball. The ball rolled to the goal line and our goalie comfortably saved it. WE HAD WON! Never in my life had i been this happy! We were all overjoyed!