crazyvols@comca

That's it for tonight. I was hoping to finish it in one night, but I'm really racked with my back now, so that'll do for the day. Hope to finish it tomorrow.

retired_brittni10

It's been great so far

retired_besheeran

Absolutely marvellous read

Can't wait to see how it continues :thup:

retired_amyslack

Great to see you back in action Cait :thup:

retired_destiny1124

Cait- good to see you writing again, short story or not

crazyvols@comca

Thanks, folks. I'm kinda chuffed about it myself, and I've always wanted to do a short story for CMS - I suppose I mean FMS. If you thought that game was hairy, wait till you see the second leg...

retired_confal2

Short stories are great, and this one is excellent :thup:

crazyvols@comca

When the children returned, he bade them all say goodnight to parents and grandparents each, and much kissing and hugging and giggling there was.

Down to the basement, then, the rec room, where all the children were left to sleep on whatever they found – old couches, trundle beds, air mattresses.

“Settle down now, settle, and I’ll tell you the last of it.”

He sat down on the steps, and they hushed quickly.

“We’d won the first leg-“

“FIVE-ONE!”

“SHHHHH!” came from all around the excited little fellow.

The old man smiled.

“We’d won the first leg 5-1, that’s right, Brendan, and now faced the harder job: to go to the Bernabeu and hold the lead. That goal they scored could be a problem. We were never the tightest ship in the world defensively, and giving up four goals away from home would not be a new experience for us, if it happened.

“The week passed slowly. We had no league matches that weekend (which would cost us later – so many games in such a short time at the end of that season!).

“When we ran out onto the pitch in Madrid, I thought the world had ended. So much noise, so much chaos. Gaffers picked the same teams, both sides. We were really going to have a re-match, and see who came out on top.

“We had Pierluigi Collina in the referee’s shirt for this one, one of the very best there ever was. We lined up for the kickoff, Jermaine and I, and Collina, who had a terribly scary face” – he popped out his eyes, and grimaced, causing some starts among the children, and then some laughter – “made a little joke. Then he blew the whistle, and we were away.

“The galacticos were up for this one. From the off, they were tackling hard, striving to force the play towards our goal. It took only three minutes for them to give us a scare, when Raul turned and fired a low shot to a corner, but big Robbo swatted the ball away with a great paw.

“That gave them a corner, and they worked it like the superstars they were: David Beckham took the corner, curling a cross just over the penalty spot. Morientes leapt high in the air to knock it back to Jankulovski, who smashed it in off the right post. Just four minutes into the game, and they’d already started scoring. We looked around, but no one wanted to meet anyone’s eyes.

“The skipper calmed us down, and told us to just get back up there and play our game.

“It took nearly fifteen minutes, but we tied the game up. Si Davies came across to the left to take a free kick, and slipped it down the left wing to Stevie. Stevie jinked and bobbed, worked his way into the top corner, and let fly – only to see it bounce straight back off Helguera’s backside. Davies collected in the centre of the park, and worked a nice give-and-go with Scotty before rolling it softly into the path of Stevie again. This time, when he worked into the box, Helguera tried for the tackle – and missed. Stevie spotted Jermaine all alone at the back post, and picked him out nicely for the easy tap-in.

“We were thrilled. Now we had an away goal too, and if it came to the end of the ninety tied in total, we would keep playing.

“Back to centre, and they kicked off this time.

“We settled in for a hard slogging match, and that’s what we got. Tackles flew all over the park, and Collina was hard-pressed to keep tempers cool. Jermaine got a yellow when he complained about a bad foul too much, and young Alan Hutton got one for a nasty slide on Guti. But we kept them out, and though they took their shots, Robbo was well up to the job, and we went in at halftime 1-1. That meant 6-2 overall for us, and it looked like we were going to have an easier time than we expected.

crazyvols@comca

“In the room at halftime, the skipper told us just to keep our heads, keep playing our game, and we’d come through just fine. The gaffer had little to add, just popped his head round the door and said he was very proud, keep it up.

“Personally, I wasn’t having much of a game to this point. I’d been caught offside five times, and I was getting really frustrated. Their defense were so organised, so tight with one another, that it was like one, very wide, very difficult-to-beat defender.

“Jermaine told me not to worry about it, that I should keep making my runs, and it would come off, and I’d score.

“We went back out and lined up for the kickoff. The atmosphere in the Bernabeu was suffocating – so many thousands of people, all screaming their hatred at us. Unbelievable.

“The first twenty minutes of the second half went much as most of the first half did: hard tackles, scrambly play, neither side able to get and maintain an advantage. Of course, that was in our favour: finishing as it was, they would be out, and we would move on to face our hated rivals Chelsea (as Chelski was known in those long-ago days).

“It was a piece of individual skill by Morientes that broke the game open. Taking down a long cross-field ball from Guti with his back to goal, he flicked it down with his outside leg, back under the inside and past Edman, who was right on his back. When he turned, the ball was right at his feet, and he poked it quickly past Robbo charging out. 2-1 to Real, and they were humming now. They needed three more to make it to extra time, and the fire in the eyes of the galacticos was now blazing.

“Just four minutes later, it was Beckham, former captain of the English side, scoring from a curling free kick, over the wall and under the bar, as he’d done so many times before. 3-1 Real, and 6-4 on aggregate. Things were beginning to look a little grim.

“Fredi wasn’t completely over the flu yet, but Jermaine took a knock and had to come off, so on came Kanoute.

“It took Fredi only three minutes to make a big impact. Si Davies, tracking back, flatted Jankulovski with a hard tackle from behind. No whistle, so he turned and fired the ball upfield for Pedro, who’d broken onto the right win when Si dropped back. Pedro raced away with it, drawing Solari with him to the touchline. I shadowed him, a few yards back and maybe ten yards inside of him, and when he was closed down by Solari, he squared the ball to me.

“In the meantime, Scotty had come up behind me, and called for the dummy, so I did, and the ball rolled to him. Fredi had drifted out to the far post, and was calling for it, and Scotty found him. Faced down by Salgado and Helguera, Fredi turned his back, flicked the ball up over himself, barged between the two, and sidefooted the ball straight at me at the near post. I had only to stand there and let it hit my shins to go in. Three goals in two games against Real Madrid. I could never have believed it.

“The crowd were stunned. They’d sensed the comeback, and had been on their feet for the last ten minutes straight, chanting and screaming. A small contingent of Spurs fans in the corner near the Real goal were singing: ‘Glory, glory Tot’nham Hotspur…’ and suddenly you could hear them clearly. I ran towards them, pulled up my shirt, kissed the badge. They went mental.

“Nineteen minutes to go, and we were now up 7-4. They needed four goals to win it now; three would only mean that our two away goals saw us safe.

crazyvols@comca

“Figo came on the pitch. He’d always been known as a big-game player, and he looked it. He was practically steaming as he entered the game, ready to grab his team by the throat and haul them to the win singlehanded, if he had to.

“He was a dynamo. He picked up the ball from the kickoff, and drove deep into our half, skipping vicious snapping tackles like a little girl in a meadow, carefree and light. Pulling up on the left of defense, Edman vainly trying to keep him there, he looked up and saw Jankulovski in space on the far side. I never did see what move he used to beat Erik, but soon sure enough, the ball was flying to our right, and Jankulovski was facing down young Hutton.

“Well, you know what happened. The wily Czech skinned poor Alan, and then centred high, where Raul outleapt Pedro, Robbo no chance, and it was 4-2 on the day, 7-5.

“Sixteen minutes – plus injury time, we now reminded ourselves. It wasn’t looking good, and our fans had faltered some in the far corner.

“The veteran Celades had come on, and worked a beautiful give-and-go with Beckham, before slicing a shot that curled away from Robbo, and into the top corner.

“Three minutes to go. 5-1 Real, 7-6 on aggregate. We now had the sick feeling that we were going to find a way to lose the game. We had no chance, surely – they were too strong, too skilled, too stellar for us.