“PRRRPP!!”
“And we’re underway here in Ashton again.” Arnold Freeman started, his voice clear to all of the bikers watching live.
“Less than five minutes from the start of the game and the Imperial Academy is already leading Kernistad with two goals to zero. Julian Valecrest made something out of nothing twice, scoring immaculate goals to put his name on the score sheet and AIA in the driving seat.”
He paused as Kernistad moved the ball around, now with lesser intensity, trying to find their bearings.
“Kernistad is playing with sunken faces, lost and clueless. They have no idea how to respond to Ashton’s relentless attacks or what to do with Julian on that left wing. But if they think that he is the only one to look out for, then they’re in for a surprise. Like previously stated: Danny Bremang in attack and Nolan Grey in midfield are names that has a lot of eyes on them and who is expected to put on quite the performance today, and so far they haven’t been given that chance with Julian Valecrest taking the spotlight on two separate occasions. But there is still plenty of time on the clock and there will be plenty of opportunities for them to show what they got.”
“Speaking of opportunities, here comes one for Ashton right now!”
Sam Duxberry in defense clears the high ball and it falls to Zander Chitty in left-back.
Kernistad immediately respond, falling back to form a low-block.
“Looks like everyone is looking for Julian Valecrest today.”
Says Arnold as Zander sends a long ball from his end of the field to Julian who stood in the space between the midfield and defense of Kernistad on the left side.
The ball sails over the midfield and went straight for Julian with frightening precision.
Taking a calm first touch with his chest, Julian turned on his heel and drove forward along the side of the pitch.
The right midfielder and center midfielder of Kernistad instantly responded, closing the distance from behind, while the right-back kept his eyes on Julian but made no effort to come closer, only slightly shuffling back as Julian drove forward.
Julian’s gaze flashed to the approaching midfielders before focusing back on the ball at his feet.
‘I don’t need to worry about them, I just have to get passed the right-back before they can catch up.’
With that thought, Julian increased his speed and drove forward with renewed intensity.
“He’s on the edge of the box now.”
The right-back still shuffled back as Julian entered the box from the side, eyes locked on the ball, not making any rash decisions.
‘Now.’
Julian dropped his shoulder and feinted left but tapped the ball inside with the outside of his right foot.
The defender didn’t fall for the feint this time, lunging for the ball with a outstretched leg.
Unbeknownst to him, he already fell for the trap.
Before the defender could touch the ball, Julian cut the ball back with his toe, sending it through the defender’s legs, causing him to fall back.
“He loses his marker for the third time in six minutes! Who will get on the end of the cross?!”
Without lifting his head, Julian squared the ball with his left foot.
But instead of sending it across the face of goal, he put it behind the defenders where Danny Bremang silently slipped into.
“BREMAAAANGGG!!!”
A simple touch with inside of the right foot send the ball to the far side of the net, passed the clueless defenders and out of the goalkeeper’s reach.
“GOAL!” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
The ball spun as it struck the back of the net.
For the very first time, Julian saw a smile on the towering striker’s face as he ran towards Julian, pointing a finger before going in for the hug.
“What a team goal from Ashton, and what a performance from Julian Valecrest. Everything this kid touch seems to turn into gold.”
The commentator’s voice had blinding admiration in it.
The crowds’ cheer increased to a almost deafening frequency, spurred on by the football on display.
“Kernistad Academy’s coach must be gripping his hair on the side. Going 3-0 was not in his itinerary, especially so early on. His mind must be reeling with possible solutions. He could either instruct his team to focus on keeping Valecrest at bay, but that would allow for the rest of Ashton’s attack to struck. Or he could keep the status quo, allowing Valecrest to run rampant through his team’s defense. He might not be having a good day, but the opposite could be said about Coach Irene Grey.” Coach Irene clapped her hands, a soft smile on her face.
“Just look at that smile. She is clearly impressed with what her team has shown her today, and the future where she picks up a fourth consecutive league title just became clearer in her eyes.”
On the field, both teams returned to their positions, with Kernistad not keen to continue playing.
But they had no choice.
********
“PRRRPP!!”
“For the third time in ten minutes; Kernistad kicks us off.”
Kernistad moves the ball all the way to the back, making no effort to attack, with all ten of their in-field players adding in defense.
“It seems that Kernistad has received instruction to stay back and throw up the defensive wall to run out time. They properly want to regroup at half-time and get their heads in the game, but who said that Ashton is going to let that happen?”
Just like the commentator said, Ashton Imperial Academy put heavy pressure on Kernistad, charging at the them when as they moved the ball around.
“Ashton looks like a pack of wolves that sensed injured prey, and Valecrest is leading the pack.”
The play continued like that for close to a minute, with Kernistad keeping the ball at the back, and Ashton piling on the pressure.
That was until Kernistad made a reckless pass to the goalkeeper.
A defender tried to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper, but didn’t put enough power behind it, and Danny instantly pounced on the flaw.
“A mistake from Kernistad! Can Bremang get there first?!”
The goalkeeper and Danny rushed for the loose ball, but unfortunately the goalkeeper got there first, clearing the ball without ceremony, making it go out for the throw.
“That was a close call there, but luckily for Ashton they finally get a chance to be on the ball with this throw-in.”
Keenan picked up the ball and threw it to Austin.
“Quick throw-in here from Ashton. Can they make something happen?”
With a man on his back, Austin heads the ball back to Keenan and turned on his heel, heading for the space in behind the marker, the corner.
Before his marker could get close, Keenan passed the inside with his first touch.
“Monlouis to Martin Hemmings who has his first taste on the ball today.”
Spotting the run from Austin, Martin slid the ball into the space.
“Martin sends Austin’s clear in the wing. There’s a lot of bodies in the box, a few of them belong to Ashton. Can Sullivan pick someone out?”
And instead of sending the high cross, he cuts the ball back inside where Nolan was, just outside the opponents box.
“He sends it to Nolan.”
Nolan made the run-up and twisted his body for the shot, causing several defenders to come out and make the blocking attempt.
He twisted his boy at the last second and swept his foot under the ball, chipping it over the Kernistad defense, making it spin as it sailed.
“Valecrest on the volley!!!”
Perfectly timing the run, Julian slipped in behind the defense, carefully not to be offside.
Gaze locked on the ball, he planted his right foot this time, the image of Austin scoring that volley in the trials flashed before his eyes.
This situation was similar to back then, with Nolan also being the one to give the pinpoint pass.
He remembered how and where Austin struck the ball.
He remembered the power behind the shot, and where he placed the ball.
The memory flashed through his mind like a moving picture, and just like that:
–thud–
He struck it with the top of his left foot.
The ball flew into the roof of the net, rattling it and leaving the goalkeeper question his life choices.
“GOOOAAAALLLLL!!”
“Another beautiful goal from Ashton and Julian Valecrest!! And what a way to score your hattrick. The flag stays down, and goal stands.”
Julian made his way to the side with speed, firmly planted his feet and spread his arms.
Gazing up at the crowd with a neutral expression, as if it was just another day in the gym.
“JULIAN!! JULIAN!! JULIAN!!”
The crowd roared his name, sang his praises.
Phones were out, taking pictures and videos of his performance.
And the man on the receiving end of it was completely unfazed.
At least, he seemed that way.
‘Praise me more.
Haha.’ A mad laughter echoed in his mind.
‘Praise me more, you mongrels.’
[…]
At the side of the field, Mini-ball just helplessly shook his head.
My contract application just got rejected.
I’m thinking of quitting this book.