"Daniel races ahead of the last defender and with an explosion of energy he strikes the ball towards the net... Will he get it past the goalkeeper's fingertips? Or will it hit the crossbar?"
The whole crowd stood up and roared, waving their scarves while jumping up and down.
"Phew!" gasped Daniel's father, John while wiping sweat from his face with a large handkerchief. "That's my boy! Come on Stormchasers, you can do it again!"
The score was 2-2. The Stormchasers Football Club needed one more goal. The team were in the semi-finals and only ten minutes of the game was left.
His teammates ran up to him whilst he had a drink and patted him on the back one by one.
"Good one Skip, let's get one more!" encouraged James, the captain of the team.
The players ran back to their starting positions. The whistle blew and off went James with the ball. He dribbles past his opponent and swiftly passes the ball to Daniel.
"Here's Daniel on the ball again, will he bring victory to his team by scoring one more goal?" the commentator spoke into the microphone.
Daniel controls the ball with a quick touch and makes his way into the penalty box to score another goal.
Suddenly a defender bolted in front of him with his leg out to manoeuvre the ball out of his grasp.
Instead the opposing defender's studs caught Daniel's knee and brought him down. Daniel collapsed onto the dry, rock hard earth. Daniel grabs his knee rocking to and fro on the ground, his face twisted with pain.
James and Beau hurried to where Daniel was suffering in pain.
"Hang in there, Skip." said Beau as he signalled to the coach to tell the paramedics to come on to the pitch.
John ran towards Daniel with the paramedics.
"Are you okay, son?" asked John while running his hand through Daniel's hair.
The paramedics checked Daniel's leg thoroughly and told the referee that he can't carry on. With help from his dad and the paramedics, Daniel got up and limped off the pitch.
"Looks like it's time for you to go on Calum." shouted Jason, the coach.
Calum nodded, taking his bib off. He sprinted on to the pitch to join his other teammates.
James takes the ball and places it on the spot, ready to take the penalty. Will he score the goal and make the team advance to the finals?"
He looked back at his team, Luke nodded and mouthed "You can do it." He saw Jai looking up at the sky as if he was praying. Beau was biting his thumb anxiously.
The crowd sat on the edge of their seats and they started to chant James' name.
With one minute left of the match, the referee blew the whistle and James faced forwards. The adrenaline rushed through his veins as he took a few steps back from the ball.
As he ran, he paused to see which way the goalkeeper would go and he kicked it in to the opposite direction of where the goalkeeper dived. The ball landed in the bottom right corner of the net.
"GOAL!" cheered the commentator.
James punched the air in triumph. Luke ran to James and hugged him tight.
"Good one, James!" said Jai as he put his hand out for a high five.
Beau trailed behind Jai and praised James about how amazing his plan to go the opposite way of the goalkeeper was.
The final whistle was blown and the Stormchasers celebrated joyfully. The crowd cheered and chanted the victorious team's name as they shook hands with their opponents. James, Luke, Jai, Beau, Ashton, Calum, Michael, Scott, Stiles, Derek and Isaac made their way to the changing rooms.
As the boys got changed into their casual clothes, Jason walked in.
"Well done, boys! You played great out there today! But I've got some bad news..."
There were some blank faces around the room.
"It's Skip isn't it? Is he alright?" Beau asked eager to know if his best friend was alright.
"Daniel's fine but he won't be able to play in the finals because he has sprained his knee. The physiotherapist advised that he should take a rest for three weeks." explained Jason.
"Is he still at the hospital?" enquired James.
"No, he's at home. John said that you are all welcome to visit him anytime."
"Who's coming to see Skip?" James asked.
"I will." Beau answered immediately.
Eventually all of the boys decided to go and visit Daniel.
