The Soccer Finale!

• Alexander Walker, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

“I'm going to demolish our opposition!” Dan whispered.

“Ok let’s win this game and show everyone what we are made of - it’s like taking lollies from a baby!” Jack whispered.

The soccer finale took place at Renown Park on a hot and humid Saturday morning with lots of people buzzing around with excitement. Everyone was shouting and cheering and the noise was deafening. There were 2 teams, Oatley and Rangers.

The teams played a tough game and Oatley were in the lead but Dan was mad. “We need to cheat,” is what he shouted to Jack as they were winning.

“No, Dan! Let’s wait for the second half and strike,“ Jack disagreed.

“Ok, so let’s injure Alex as he is their strongest player. If it’s a penalty, who cares? They are trash, they are just lucky to be in the Grand Final,” Dan said.

“Well you never know, you might lose or get caught,” Jack said.

“Nonsense!” said Dan.

“Hey what are you doing here? Go play with your team,” the Forest Rangers' coach said loudly. The boys ran to the field. Once the 2 teams were ready, Forest Rangers ran so fast that once they dashed past the Oatley team Alex was tripped by Dan. Alex yelled “Penalty!” and his team backed him up. The referee didn’t count that as a penalty and the Rangers got away with it. That made Oatley more determined to win. Dan passed to Jack, then Jack passed the ball back to get Oatley confused. Dan kicked the ball and it hit the Oatley’s goalie in the face. That was a penalty for sure Oatley thought. “GOAL!” the referee screamed. The Forest Rangers scored. Oatley thought they had to get more justice with what Jack and Dan did.

After that, Forest Rangers weren’t playing fair and the referee realised they were cheating. Mark and Ben were thinking about what to do with Jack and Dan. “I’ve got an idea!” Ben and Mark shouted at the same time. Let’s just tell the referee what happened and the referee will talk to the Forest Rangers' coach. “We are going to do this no matter what!” Ben said

“Got it,” said Mark.

It was the 2nd half and the score was 12-4, the Oatley team were losing! The referee was surprised that Oatley was having many incidents. Finally, Ben and Mark told the referee what was happening. The referee talked with the Forest Rangers' coach about Oatley having lots of incidents. The coach watched his team carefully. There were officially 5 minutes left until the match was over. He soon realised that Jack and Dan were causing trouble and they were taken off the field and Oatley was awarded the win.

Jack and Dan were punished and regretted what they had done, asking Alex if they could be friends and Alex said yes! Jack learnt to never bully others as you will always get a taste of your own medicine.