Free T.J. and the Hat-trick by Theo Walcott Page B

left foot. His right leg wasn’t much use for anything but standing on. He remembered practising in the garden and he pictured to himself just how he wanted to strike the ball. He used the outside of his foot to make it curl past the defenders – and it was a perfect pass! He held his breath as Tulsi raced forward and blasted the ball into the net.

    The crowd went wild. Tulsi turned with her arms high in the air and a huge smile on her face. Then she ran to TJ and whacked him on the back so hard it almost made him forget the pain in his leg.
    ‘That was just brilliant, TJ! It was the best goal I’ve ever scored.’
    The Hillside players looked miserable as they kicked off. They knew there was no time left for them to come back and sure enough, just seconds later, Mrs Singh blew the whistle for the end of the game.
    TJ shook hands with Slim, as the Parkview supporters cheered and the dinner ladies threw their pom-poms into the air. Mr Coggins was doing a crazy dance with Miss Berry and TJ hoped he wouldn’t hurt himself.
    Slim gave a rueful grin. ‘Great hat-trick,’ he said. ‘But next time, we’ll be ready for you.’
    TJ’s dad ran onto the pitch and clapped him on the back. ‘Brilliant,’ he said. ‘That was even better than watching Wanderers! It was amazing!’
    TJ’s mum pushed his dad out of the way and gave TJ a big, embarrassing kiss, but he was too excited to care. ‘Look!’ he said. ‘The whole school must be here. Even Mr Burrows looks pleased.’
    ‘So he should,’ Tulsi’s mum said. ‘Lots of people are congratulating him but none of this would have happened without Mr Wood. Why, Mr Burrows wanted to
ban
football a couple of weeks ago.’
    ‘I want to see Mr Wood,’ TJ’s dad said. ‘Where is he?’
    ‘Over there,’ TJ said.
    On the other side of the pitch, Mr Wood was talking to Mrs Singh and the Hillside team while Marshall chatted to them, and their mums and dads took photos with their phones. Mr Wood waved goodbye and walked back towards them.
    ‘It’s a bit sad,’ Tulsi said. ‘Getting all excited like that just because Marshall is famous.’
    TJ stared at her. ‘You were exactly the same,’ he said.
    ‘No I wasn’t.’
    ‘Hey,’ said Mr Wood. ‘No more arguments! Not after a performance like that. They’re a nice bunch,’ he said, waving again as the minibus pulled away. ‘But they’re not used to losing.’
    ‘You used to
play
for Wanderers,’ TJ’s dad said to him. ‘Why didn’t you tell us? I knew I’d seen you before.’
    ‘I was just a kid,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Marshall was my best mate. We weren’t much older that this lot here when we first met. And if you saw me play for the first team, you were one of the only ones. I only ever played two games before I got injured and decided to be a teacher.’
    ‘And it’s a good job for you lot that he did,’ Marshall said, putting an arm around Mr Wood. ‘Now you have a football team at last. Not to mention a pitch and a whole load of happy supporters.’
    All the people who were standing nearby cheered, and Janice the dinner lady planted a wet kiss on Mr Wood’s cheek.
    ‘If only the school wasn’t falling to bits,’ said TJ’s mum. ‘It’s a real shame. It doesn’t seem fair.’
    ‘We can fix it,’ said Rafi’s dad, ‘just like we fixed the pitch.’
    ‘He’s right!’
    ‘It’s true!’
    ‘Listen,’ Marshall said. ‘You know the best thing about today? It was great that TJ came from nowhere and scored a terrific hat-trick . . .’ Everyone applauded and TJ felt hot and pleased at the same time. ‘And Tulsi’s winner was spectacular. But the best thing was the way you played like a real team. Rodrigo was a great captain. He always stayed calm. Tommy and Jamie stopped almost everything in the second half, and when someone did get past, Danny made that fantastic save. And Rafi was everywhere!’
    Everyone laughed again when he said that, and suddenly TJ heard Rob’s voice. ‘I think