Trouble

That's our girl

After they'd gathered everything together, they headed downstairs. Erin felt a lot better as Maisie had done a brilliant job of making her laugh and putting the game completely out of her mind.

They got to the bottom of the steps and Erin hesitated.

"You alright?"

"Well it's just a bit embarrassing really. They've all seen me have a panic attack and now I've got to go and be normal."

"You'll be fine. They're not gonna care. And anyway I can distract them for you."

They turned the corner and Maisie introduced her arrival loudly, going straight to the circle that most of the girls were standing in.

"Ready to kick some French arse?" she asked, slinging her arms around Liv and Samara's shoulders.

They jumped straight into chatting and joking, making some stupid French jokes that were probably borderline offensive.

Erin was grateful that Maisie had distracted all the attention from her and she went quietly over to Eleanor.

"You alright?" Eleanor asked kindly.

"Yeah thanks. Just freaked out a bit but I'm alright now."

Once everyone had arrived, they got onto the bus and drove the short distance to the ground they'd be playing at. It was a small, non-league stadium but it had a stand and proper changing rooms so that was cool.

They headed into the changing rooms and got into the kit. Maisie had been given the number 9 which she was super pleased about.

They ran out to warm up and spotted that people were already in the stands.

Maisie looked around and her face broke into a huge smile as she spotted her parents and Keira and Lucy. She gave them an excited wave which they all returned.

Marie led their warmups and Maisie breezed easily through them. She was completely full of energy and was hoping to use this during the game.

It got closer and closer to kick off and they headed inside to get fully prepared.

"Y'alright?" Maisie asked when she saw just how terrified Erin looked.

"Yep," she lied.

"Look, you're gonna smash this out the park. Don't even worry about it."

"If you say so."

"I do say so," Maisie told her, offering her hands and helping her to her feet.

They lined up and walked out from the tunnel, all official and serious. Maisie couldn't stop the huge grin on her face and she felt completely happy.

She was fiddling with the bottom of her shirt as she walked, a total jumble of nerves and excitement mixing inside her.

The game kicked off and they began. It felt weird playing a team who were speaking another language and at first it felt disorientating. They all slowly got used to it and the panic of the first few minutes was left behind them.

They gelled nicely as a team and despite some hiccups, they were playing well. Maisie was feeling pleased with her game. She was moving around and causing hassle for the defence.

She managed to get a few shots off which was good. None had gone in yet but she'd forced the keeper into making some saves.

France were also providing challenges but Erin and the other defenders were doing a good job of stopping them.

Both teams were putting up a good fight and it was an evenly matched battle. There were 10 minutes until half time when Erin made a good tackle before setting the ball to Zara. Zara did some one twos with Ada, a midfielder from Sunderland, before finally sending the ball to Maisie.