'Here comes Teesside F.C's under eighteens. Led by their captain Anthony Waller. You can just see the confidence dripping on their face as they step into the field'.
'Well they have reason to be Tim, they're facing off against Preston United under eighteens. They barely escaped relegation last season. Half their squad's filled with new recruits. They're probably going to need a bit of time to get into the rhythm of playing together'.
'Speaking of debutants, the manager of Teesside FC's under eighteens has decided to start local recruit Omari Hutchingson, what do you think about this?'
'I don't know Tim, it could be a tactical decision, maybe he's just that good, let's see'.
The two sets of players walked out onto the pitch a few moments later. The speaker announced the starting lineups of the two teams.
The captains met over with the referee and after a few formalities, it was determined that Omari's team would start the match.
1'
It didn't take much time for them to get their first chance of the match. As soon as the first kick was made, all the attacking players fled forward. Ashley (midfielder) kicked the ball towards the defender who sent a long pass towards Omari.
To his surprise, Omari easily ran past the defender and trapped the ball at the edge of the box. He dribbled inside for a bit and tipped the ball to the center to Anthony (striker) who was marked closely by the two center backs. Anthony shrugged them off and rushed to meet the ball. He shot the ball one time but everyone could only watch as the ball went over the bar.
'Oh! What a dreadful miss! I'm pretty sure that they'll look back on that one. What a brilliantly executed attack from Teesside FC's under eighteens. Right from the center pass, everyone runs forward. A beautiful sequence of attacks leading to every strikers dream chance but they fail to capitalize on it".
"I'm sure Waller would be livid with himself after that miss, don't you Jim?'
'I agree Teesside certainly should've taken the lead then'
Omari used his hands to cover his face after the miss. He heard Anthony apologizing to the team but he didn't care. He still felt angry. Even in his last life, if someone had given him a chance like that then he would've put it away without a doubt.
"It's okay man". Omari could make out some of the players replying to Anthony's apology. Anthony faced Omari who just shrugged and walked away.
11'
Not long after there was another chance for Omari's team to score a goal. Joshua (RM) and Anthony did a one two that headed with Joshua taking the ball and running down the right wing. He took a glance into the ball and realized that Anthony was yet to regain his position.
He continued his solo run and skillfully dribbled last some opposing players. By the time he was pushed to the end of the pitch, he sent a glancing cross into the box.
No one thought that someone was going to get to it until Anthony's foot appeared and kicked it into the net too fast for the goalkeeper to react.
'Goooooaaaaalllll! What a goal for Teesside they've gotten ahead. What a cross by Joshua Taylor, a searching cross that didn't seem like it would've found anyone'.
'Beautiful positioning from Anthony to be able to comfortably finish like that. I say, he must've made up for his previous goal after scoring that banger'.
Omari smiled and ran towards Anthony. Some of his teammates had already reached him and were celebrating with him. Omari smiled and patted his head.
The referee told the team to get back to their positions, lest he card Anthony for taking too much time to celebrate and blew his whistle to resume the match.
31'
Jack dribbled past a midfielder and passed the ball wide to Omari who received the ball at the edge of the box. His lips curled as he teased the defender while moving the ball forward slowly.
Step over.
His legs flashed over the ball and he cut inside the box, providing himself with an extra yard of space, he looked up briefly and picked his spot before firing a low shot into the bottom corner.
Curler.
He watched as the ball curled past the legs of some of the defender and wide from the dive of the keeper, sinking back inside just to place itself into the goalpost, slightly brushing the bar as it did so.
|Ding! Congratulations, host has scored his first youth goal|
|Host has been rewarded a new skill|
'And Teeside are two up. What a world class finish from Omari Hutchingson. He dribbled past the defender at the edge of the box, creating space for a shot and drilled the ball into the bottom corner. There was no chance in hell that the goalkeeper was getting to that!'
'That was a nice finish Tim, but let's talk about the finesse of the shot, what a beautiful arc it formed as it made its way to the net'.
'They have a good lead now. Let's see whether they'll be able to capitalize on that'.
As soon as Omari saw the ball going into the back of the net, he ran towards one of the corner flags, picked it up and played it like a guitar. He imitated smashing it on the floor like an emo rockstar.
When his teammates reached him, they jumped on him and they all fell to the floor. A torrent of laughter ensued and they only left when the referee raised a yellow card to Omari for wasting time with his celebration.
After some more minutes of playing, the referee blew the whistle to signify the end of the first half.
'Teeside played good football this half, and got rewards, a beautiful two goal lead to their names'.
'Goals from star striker Anthony and debutante Omari Hutchingson giving Teesside the advantage'
'There's really been no form of resistance from Preston United, it really wasn't a matter of whether Teesside were going to score goals, it was just a matter of when'.
'After a poor start from Preston United, the manager would look to change some things towards the start of the second half'.