Offside (Football Mad #2) by Paul Stewart, illustrated by Michael Broad

First published in 2021 in Great Britain by Barrington Stoke Ltd 18 Walker Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7LP www.barringtonstoke.co.uk This story was first published in a different form as Football Mad 2: Offside! (Scholastic, 1998) Text © 2021 Paul Stewart Illustrations © 2021 Michael Broad The moral right of Paul Stewart and Michael Broad to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in any part in any form without the written permission of the publisher A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library upon request ISBN: 978‑1‑78112‑934-0 Printed by Hussar Books, Poland

For Jose – and memories of a wet Withdean

Chapter 1

Scott Marley, captain of Dale Junior Under 11s, crossed his fingers for good luck. He was feeling nervous. The score was 1–1. It had been 1–1 since half‑time, and there was less than five minutes of play left. Everyone was tense. Whichever team scored next would win the match and go through to the final of the Langton Town Junior Cup. At the other end of the pitch, Scott’s team‑mate Danny Thompson, the goalie, was bouncing from foot to foot. The opposition’s number 9 had already scored once. Now he had broken through the Dale defence again, and it

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was all down to Danny to make sure that Hume Juniors didn’t snatch victory in the last few minutes of the game.

The number 9 got closer. He slowed down, he glanced up at the goal and – BOOF! – struck the ball hard and low with his left foot.

Danny dived, arms out. The ball clipped his fingers – but kept on going. Danny groaned. He rolled round, expecting to see the ball in the back of the net.

But no! He’d hardly touched it, but Danny had deflected the ball with the tips of his fingers. It struck the far‑side post and rolled away. Danny scrambled forward and dropped down onto it.

“Phew,” he gasped.

At the other end, Scott was over the moon.

The game wasn’t done yet – far from it. Dale Juniors now had possession of the ball. If they 2

were quick – and did exactly what they had practised so many times in training sessions – they could still win.

As Danny climbed to his feet, Scott looked round to see if he was still being marked. He was. Hume’s number 6 had been stuck to him like a leech for the whole match. Scott trotted back towards the centre line, and the Hume defender went with him.

All around him, the Dale supporters were urging the team on. “Come on, you Paint Boys!” they roared, over and over.

Scott grinned. This was the first season that local companies had been allowed to sponsor the teams in the Langton Town Junior Cup. Dale Juniors were being sponsored by Platt’s Paint and wore a bright red strip with the Platt’s Paint logo on the front of their shirts.

Hume Juniors were all over the place. They hadn’t recovered from missing the open goal.

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Danny took advantage of the situation. He bounced the ball quickly – once, twice – and rolled it out to Max Novak. Max ran for a couple of metres before punting it on to Wesley Hunter who, without stopping, chipped it over to the left wing, where Lee Parker was waiting, unmarked.

Scott watched with growing excitement.

“Come on, come on,” he whispered.

Mr Croft, their football coach, had spent a long time talking to the team about the offside rule. “Offside,” he kept saying, “is being in the right place at the wrong time. What you’ve got to do is be there at the right time.”

So far, the set piece was working like a dream. Now it was up to Scott to make sure that it resulted in a goal.

He was concentrating so hard that he could no longer hear the crowd. He watched Lee’s every move as he dribbled the ball round one of their midfield players, steadied himself – and 4

kicked. The ball flew into the air and up the field in a long, curving arc.

The moment the ball left Lee’s boot, Scott was away. Finally shaking off his leech‑like marker, he sprinted up towards the opposition goal to receive the ball as it floated back down to earth.

The spectators could see what was happening. Some roared with approval. Others shouted, “Offside”. But the linesman’s flag stayed down. Scott had been careful. Now he was on his own and still running. The ball dropped at his feet. He trapped it and tapped it forwards.

Only the goalie stood between him and victory.

He chipped the ball deftly but firmly into the air. The goalie leaped up, but the ball flew past his arms and on towards the net. Scott froze.

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The spectators fell still. Was it going to be a goal, or was the ball too far to the left?

“YEAH!” A roar of jubilation went up from the Dale supporters.

It was a goal. A perfect goal, with the ball slamming into the corner of the net. Scott dropped to his knees, fists clenched. The goalie – flat out in the goalmouth – stared down at the mud. He’d never stood a chance.

Then the ref blew the whistle for the end of play, and the crowd roared even louder. 2–1! They’d done it.

Dale were through to the final of the Langton Town Junior Cup for the second year in a row.

Last year they’d won it. Now they had the chance to make it a double.

On the pitch, the compliments were coming thick and fast: “Great shot, mate!” “Fantastic kick, Scott!” “Magic!”

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“I couldn’t have done it without Lee’s pass,” said Scott. “It was spot on.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Wesley, and patted Lee on the back. “Brilliant pass.”

Lee ducked his head. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

He turned away. He looked uneasy.

For Lee Parker, getting through to the final was the easy bit. The really hard stuff was just about to begin.

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