Chapter 11

Robbie watched Number 24 as he left everyone else behind, amazed at his speed,

"Holy… how can he move so fast?"

Then as the keeper came out and Number 24 lobbed the ball into the goal, the crowd reached a crescendo; Robbie leapt to his feet and roared with his heart full of excitement.

As he watched the boy running back to his half, suddenly he had a thought,

He is so tiny, but he plays like a pro. Is this what an absolute genius looks like?

The game restarted as Chelsea kicked off, the pitch was charged as both teams were focused, and the blue boys had possession as Grant passed the ball to Sinclair.

They were more aggressive as they pushed forward, not holding the ball long.

He passed to Smith, who was running a pace with him.

Smith controlled the ball and passed the ball back to Hutchinson, who made a long pass to Sinclaire.

Sinclaire took the ball forward, cutting into the box from the left.

Santry seeing Sinclaire with the ball charged behind, his eyes tunnelled on the ball.

He seemed to be channelling a bull as his legs worked hard, blowing heavy breaths through his nose.

Sinclaire feeling the pressure from behind passed the ball to the nearest teammate, Jimmy Smith, who did not hold the ball but quickly passed it to Grant.

Grant controlled the ball but was surrounded quickly by Noble, Sidwell and Hall, stopping him from advancing.

Despite this, he managed to find a gap and passed the ball to Cole.

Cole feeling an opportunity, rushed inside the box with the ball ready to challenge the keeper one-on-one. Still, as he set up to shoot, he felt his leg hook and was sent tumbling to the ground.

*FWEEET*

Play halted as the home fans booed, and the referee ran over, pointing to the penalty spot.

The young boys from Hale end gathered to plead with the referee but were ignored.

A yellow card was shown to the offender, Arsenal U15 (CB) Brady Chilvers.

Up in the box, Micheal Blue remarked,

"OOOH! IT'S A TERRIBLE TACKLE BY THE YOUNG GUNNER'S NUMBER 2 LIAM CHIVERS.

HE HAS GIVEN THEM A PENALTY! HONESTLY CAN NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH HIS MIND BEN"

His partner beside him responded,

"I GUESS HE MUST HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED; CHELSEA HAS BEEN PRESSURING THE DEFENSE ALL MATCH, SO HE WAS DESPERATE, BUT AS A RESULT, HE HAS GIVEN THEM A GREAT CHANCE.

TODAY'S MATCH HAS BEEN A ROUGH GAME FOR THE DEFENDERS ON BOTH SIDES, IT SEEMS."

Meanwhile, back on the pitch, Cole has gotten up; he placed the ball on the penalty spot before taking 4 measured steps back.

Stack, seeing the other side get into position, took deep breaths, focused solely on Cole as he psyched himself off.

He stretched his arms wide and flexed his legs in preparation.

Cole took a deep breath and looked at the referee, signalling he was ready.

*FWEET*

At the sound of the whistle, Cole burst forward.

He kicked the ball with his laces, and the ball shot towards the left side of the goal.

As the ball was kicked, Stack dove to his left, his eyes closed and his arms outstretched as far as he could, but when he landed with a thump on the grass pitch, he found himself pounding the floor not daring to look up.

The Blue Boys began cheering as they rushed to Cole, racing around the pitch, screaming in joy.

The home team also celebrated as they led Chelsea U15 Blue Boys 3-2 against the Arsenal U15 Young gunners again. Meanwhile, Chilvers dropped to his knees, head hanging low as he felt like a sinner.

Akin seeing the despondent, quickly ran over to give a reassuring pat on the back as he went to collect the ball shouting all the way to the centre,

"THE GAMES NOT DONE YET! WE CAN STILL COME BACK!"

Up in the Commentators box, Ben Andrews spoke out,

"IT IS A GOAL FOR CHELSEA BLUE BOYS, COLE STRUCK WELL WITH HIS PENALTY, AND THIS COULD PROVE DEVASTATING FOR THE YOUNG GUNNERS."

"IT'S SUCH A SHAME AFTER COMING BACK OUT; ARSENAL YOUNG GUNNERS HAVE BEEN PLAYING A DIFFERENT GAME AND MANAGED A COMEBACK.

BUT THIS GOAL SEEMS TO HAVE BLOWN UP THEIR MORALE…"

"MAYBE YOU SPOKE TOO SOON MICHEAL NUMBER 24 DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE GIVEN UP YET.

AKIN ADELEKE, SINCE HE WAS SUBBED ON DESPITE BEING THE YOUNGEST ON THE PITCH, HAS SHOWN THE GREATEST SKILL."

"NO DENYING THAT BEN, THE YOUNGEST, HAS SHOWN AMAZING TALENT, BUT THIS IS FOOTBALL. YOU CAN NOT EXPECT TO WIN IF ONLY ONE PERSON IS DOING HIS BEST; IF THE YOUNG GUNNERS WANT TO WIN, THEY ARE GOING TO NEED TO GIVE THEIR NUMBER 24 STRIKER SOME HELP."

Up in the stands, Robbie was watching the process.

After Chelsea's blue boys scored, the players on the Arsenal, young gunners, seemed to collapse, much to his disgust,

"Come on, Lads! There's still time before the final whistle. Why are you crawling back into your shells now?"

A supporter beside him heard him and spoke,

"It's a shame but theirs no need to pressure them. After all, these are still just kids…."

Hearing this caused Robbie to snort in disgust and respond,

"Maybe that's the case at school, but this is the Premier Academy League, not a school match, and they are not kids. They are the future of Arsenal, and Arsenal doesn't need such weak-minded players."

A few other fans nodded and muttered agreement as they watched the boys.

No team wanted their team to lose quickly, even if they were in the U15.

Still, Robbie looked to the pitch and saw a familiar figure running around cheering up his teammates.

With some words of encouragement and pats on the back before collecting the ball from the goal, and then running back to the centre for a Kick off.

Robbie was delighted with Number 24, every run was impactful and it seemed like he can't be stopped, as an old fan he can't help thinking of Mo, the legendary striker of Liverpool and England, Micheal Owen before his injuries took hold could be considered one of the most impactful strikers in England's history.

As soon as he came off the bench, he injected new life into the team, his two goals and dynamic runs bringing them to life, and now they have fallen behind.

Seeing his teammates lose motivation, he still stepped up and tried to encourage them.

Other fans had also noticed Akin's performance and were talking about him,

"If only number 24 had been playing from the start, watching that kid, he doesn't play like a youth academy player,"

"That pint-sized number 24 is the most mature of these lot. He still has to raise their spirits even after running around the most in the second half."

"It's enough for me that our academy has such a young player. I can't wait to see how he grows up."

Although Akin was unaware of his growing popularity with the Arsenal away fans, he wouldn't pay it any mind even if he was aware.

Instead, his gaze focused on Chelsea's half gaze locked firmly on the goal as he visualised his next play.

Even now, he was still thinking of how to win.

"If I can score this time, I can turn this around…."