Chương 10: The last 45

The referee blew his whistle and one of his assistants put one on the scoreboard, no one on the pitch could comprehend what had just occurred. Byron didn't see Tony start or end his run but it was now it all came together. This was the same move he used that day, immediately Byron looked at the bouncing ball. It seemed like Tony moved so fast that his brain couldn't comprehend it.

"He's fast, you think you could've taken him on there?" Joseph asked watching the match from the main building's highest classroom.

"Yes, it's not really a dangerous skill. It's a rehearsed move, the midfielders will lob the ball as far as they can into the opposition's half and once the opposition turns their eyes to the ball, the striker runs as fast as he can and finishes."

"Nothing gets passed that brain of yours, Theo." Joseph laughed.

"It's like throwing a rock into the air, it'll eventually hit you so you try to dodge it. Then at the same time, another rock is thrown at you directly. The mind would naturally focus on the first rock meaning the second would hit. That was exactly what he did." Theo explained.

"Amazing." Joseph was in awe after he figured out the secret of the move.

"Nothing too amazing." Theo Norman said, he is currently the main striker of Marion's A team as well as the 10th-best striker among the youth A ranks.

Teams usually divide their squads to prevent age gaps, height differences and strength differences by creating 2 teams. Namely Alpha and Beta in Marion's case, the B ranks are mostly comprised of under 17s and under. The A ranks are made up from above that. The rankings are usually based on performance in the last league. B-team players can not be ranked until they play a league competition. In the case of rankings, players that don't or didn't participate despite being eligible cannot be ranked.

Jeremiah kicked the ball in deep and it landed at the feet of Xiao who passed the ball to Benjamin, Paul had figured out why Tenzin wasted the first half but he didn't have a solution. Byron and Max are decent strikers but against a team like this, they might've well-been cannon fodder.

"Let's get it back!" Arthur told Benjamin who ran with the ball into the opposition, the Tenzin players came forward as well pressuring the Marion players.

"You've finally come to play huh," Benjamin said as he dribbled past Tony.

"Benjamin Parker," Immediately Benjamin passed him with the ball, Tony chased Benjamin. The two strikers jostled for possession whilst one was about to be tackled by the midfield.

"It's true what they all say." Immediately Benjamin attempted a side pass to Xiao, Tony blocked the pass with his foot and then ran with the ball back into the Marion half. "You really are just a half-baked replica of your brother. Chance!" Tony passed the ball to Chance after he ran past Benjamin.

The ball slid on the ground until it arrived at the feet of the sugar-loving midfielder. Chance ran with the ball into the Marion half. However, immediately he entered the light blue-haired midfielder charged at him.

The Tenzin midfielders were at the middle line of the pitch slowly following Chance who ran down the left wing waiting for him to pass and Nagisa was hoping he could stop him from doing that, Nagisa put his leg out and tried to tap the ball out of Chance's reach but he failed. Chance passed the ball into an area in his front and ran past Nagisa.

"Crap." Nagisa ran back and caught up to Chance but for some reason, he couldn't take the player down. He was running behind the Tenzin player but he wouldn't go down, he grabbed his shoulder and tackled at his feet but Chance kept on moving forward like a raging bull.

"What is he, a rhino?!" Mark ran toward Chance who was about to enter a good position for a cross, Mark slid and tackled Chance but that wasn't enough to bring him down. The Tenzin player tanked the tackle and crossed the ball into the box.

The Tenzin players that followed Chance were deep in the box with only two of them being on the outside. "Clear it!" Kyle shouted as he tried to get in front of Quentin but the player wasn't budging. Quentin jumped and Kyle jumped a little bit as well trying to at least stop a direct header to the post.

"Got you, I'm actually not the one scoring." Quentin laughed as he headed the ball backward, Kyle looked behind him and Silvestre would gain control of the ball once it lands.

"Nice pass Quin." Before the ball landed at the feet of the right back who waited for it, Tony jumped in between the path and hit a diving header which struck the net before the keeper could react.

"This isn't good, one more goal and it's over." Byron watched the match while biting his fingers. "Tony might not be able to use the skill that allows him to blitz and score before you'd know it but he is still a very dangerous striker."

"He hides himself in the fray very well, you'd think the main striker would be the most noticeable." Paul said writing something down on his notepad.

The scores were 2-0 and time was flying by, Liam had the ball and was running through the middle after receiving a pass from Xavier. "Xiao." Liam passed the ball to Xiao who continued running down the middle.

Strikers typically hang around the midfield whenever the ball has entered or is reaching the defense but that wasn't the same for Tony, the Tenzin striker followed Benjamin without giving him room to accept a pass or cross. Xiao wanted to pass to Benjamin but there wasn't space so he passed back to Xavier who already came up.

"Let's get one back," Xavier said as he crossed the ball over to Arthur who received it perfectly, trapping the lobbed ball beneath his feet and carrying it forward. Arthur was given an obstacle that chased him as he arrived at the right wing.

Arthur stopped with the ball and turned his back to Henry who tried to snatch the ball away, Arthur looked into the box whilst still holding off Henry who tried to take the ball. Benjamin, Xiao and Liam were inside the box and Nagisa, Xavier and Silvestre were out. "Take it, Benji." Arthur crossed the ball into the box with his back shielding away Henry.

"It's high." Benjamin thought as he weighed up his options, Tony was right behind him and Victor was right in front. Benjamin looked at Tony, he hadn't forgotten that the striker had called him a half-baked version of his brother but it wasn't time yet. All that was needed was a goal to bring things back into motion.

Benjamin jumped and headed the ball into the goal, because it was high it headed toward the top of the goal but apparently it wasn't high enough because Tony stopped it and then hit the header back out of the box.

"Let's see if you truly can keep up." Tony ran toward the ball he knocked out and Benjamin chased him.

79 minutes on the clock and Tony was running down the middle with the ball after creating his own counterattack. He dribbled past Xavier and Liam but Benjamin was still on his trail. "So that's the famous last-minute burst. It's nice to see it in person and not just hear it."

"I don't care." Benjamin pulled at Tony's arm trying to get in front of him but the striker kept running, the two strikers ran from one goal and were inbound for the other.

"He's keeping up with Benjamin in the final minutes." Lucas said, amazed by the fact."

"Yeah, it's likely that they got the information from Winston who saw Benjamin's skill firsthand. Hence why they spent the first half not wasting their energy." Cory explained.

"Shouldn't we swap him out since his goose is cooked?" Trevor asked.

"It wouldn't change anything," Paul explained.

The defense of 3 stood their ground since Silvestre joined the attack and Kyle ran out to tackle Tony who was approaching. "It's nice and all wanting to defeat your brother," Tony shifted his weight to the side and ran past Kyle. The two other defenders charged at him trying to stop him from entering the box.

"But he's not the only striker in the game." Tony shot the ball from outside the box and although Jeremiah reacted to it, the ball still made it into the top left corner.

"If you want to look past us and focus on your brother it's fine, but this will be the result each time that happens." Tony said as he walked back to his half.

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