63 Stoke City
Tony had gotten to the academy with the other players and were now presently warming up alongside the Stoke players on the other side of the pitch as he watched as some of the fans also got into the stadium and found there seats.
The match wasn't a special match so the atmosphere was pretty relaxed for an academy match. Tony's brother had continuously waved to him until Tony noticed him and went closer to his side to greet him and his parents.
"Have a Nice match" Tony's dad and some of the other vocal supporters shouted out to Tony as he got closer to that side of the pitch.
Tony was pretty surprised that some of the fans already knew his name. In the academy teams, players only wore jerseys with there number on it and no names.
So the fact that the fans knew a players name was usually a sign due to the player catching there fancy either due to performing well or having a pretty bad performance.
Tony waved to them and went back to join his teammates as they all warmed up with the ball and performed some exercises and stretches before they all went back to the locker rooms to change into there complete blue and white home match kits which had been neatly arranged at the fronts of the players lockers by the kit men.
They dressed up as Coach Taylor gave them some final words and reminded them to be fully focused on the match before they went down to the Tunnel leading to the pitch.
After some seconds the Stoke City players also came out in there traditional red and white jerseys and joined the players in waiting at the tunnel for the referee's signal to go into the pitch.
Rose began checking to see some of the skills of some of the Stoke City players as Tony looked up at the sky and felt the weather was somewhat strange. The sun was clearly shining but there was still some clouds as a sign that rain would still likely fall.
Weather in the UK was often associated with rain, but this is because the weather can be quite unpredictable. The rain doesn't come all in one season, it can come at any time of the year, and on any day. You might experience beautiful sunshine, blustering winds and drizzling rain – all in one afternoon!
But with the right clothes and the right attitude, you can enjoy the UK, whatever the weather.
The weather had been good for all of Tony's previous games in the academy so far and the rain had only fallen lightly on some days when the players were training so far due to it still being autumn and it would then get to winter around December and January.
Autumn was usually in the months of September, October and November. The weather during this period can be mild and dry or wet and windy. It's the season when the leaves fall from the trees and the temperature dips.
Tony continued to think of the weather as the referee gave them the signal to go into the stadium and begin the match formalities.
Tony who was around the 7th player on the line up of his team, joined his teammates as they performed the match formalities while he was still hoping the weather didn't change too much to a heavy shower.
He had not played a fully paced competitive match under the rain and had only done some trainings with his teammates on days when there had been light rain or a drizzle.
To the other players in the academy who had trained for years this was not a problem as they had in one time or the other played in terrible weather conditions.
But Tony from his complicated 23 years of life had not experienced or been forced to play any serious match under the rain. He would simply had just stopped playing the match if he saw that the rain had started or wouldn't even go out to join his childhood friends to play football on that day if he saw it was already raining.
But now that he was finally in the academy he would definitely have to feel how a full paced game under the rain was and how the grass and water would affect his game.
'Hey, the two best skills I saw where Crossing B+ and Heading B- with the same match conditions of scoring a goal and also achieving an assist. Before you decide on which one of them you would copy after the match, you have to first stop bothering about the rain and just see how it goes if the weather changes' Rose said.
'Okay, you are spot on. It's not like I have the power to change the weather by worrying' Tony said before he began to finally start focusing on the match.
The match formalities were already over and the players were now taking there positions on the pitch. The Man City players had won the right to kick off the match and they began by passing amongst themselves as they gradually moved the ball towards the Stock city box.
They gave away and won back possession of the ball a few times as both teams tried to establish a rhythm and find a way to score a goal.
The Stoke City team were playing a little on the defensive especially whenever they didn't have possession of the ball and would try to quickly hit City on the counter once they won back possession of the ball.
Both teams had both had a chance to shoot on goal, but both opportunities were from way out and the first big chance of the match finally arrived at the 12th minute of the match.
Man city were with the ball and were now close to the Stoke City box. John had possession of the ball at the left side of the field and was looking for who to pass to or how to break into the box with his speed.
Tony saw this and went closer to John's position and signaled for a pass. John passed the ball quickly to Tony and immediately began to rush into the box as the Stoke City defenders got a little confused.
Tony saw a tiny space between the players that were closing down on him and sent a low ground pass through to the front of John. John who had been speculating with his movement into the box, saw the ball coming towards him and quickly took control of the ball and readjusted the ball for a shot.
The only defender between John and the defender saw John raising his leg for a shot and immediately rushed forward to block the ball.
John feinted a shot and quickly took the ball past the defender who had lunged forward, and now he had a chance one on one against the goalkeeper. John quickly adjusted himself and used the inside of his right foot to shoot the ball into the right side of the net past the goalkeeper who had now rushed out to make himself bigger.
The goalkeeper tried but failed to get a hand on the ball, as the shot had come from too close to him as he saw the ball slam into the nets behind him.
