A/N: Sorry for the slight delay. A long chapter to make up for it!
"Harry, you can't just take people out like that," David barked as he approached the group sitting around the bench idly.
"I didn't mean to bloody do it,"
"You're lucky you only got sent to the bench for five minutes, many refs would have kept you off the whole game,"
"Well next time I'll make it even more convincing," Harry muttered.
Having finished giving Harry a low down David cheerfully gathered up the rest of his team, a small smile flickering across his features as he looked around at his team with a new found pride.
"Team," David smiled, clapping his hands together.
What is it with coaches and always clapping their bloody hands together, Adam mused as David was giving his half time prep talk.
"Right, we're playing good football out there, we just need to score now. Zaf, keep your eye on the prize and we'll get there! Grab yourself a last drink and get yourselves back out onto the field! This game isn't over yet!"
Zaf grinned wildly and turned his head in Jo's direction. She smiled back and he blew a kiss before jogging onto the pitch. Colin handed his drinks bottle back to Sam, pausing to tenderly pat her shoulder. He nudged Malcolm and he followed Colin onto the pitch to join Zaf and the referee. Adam waved at all the ladies sitting at the bench promising them a good show before dragging Harry off the bench and back into defence.
"We can do this Harry," Adam muttered in his ear. "Just keep an eye on their number 3 and we'll be ok."
It was left to Colin and Zaf to take centre kick. The game got into a steady rhythm, both teams presenting themselves with chances to take the lead and both teams, especially Zaf for MI5, fluffing them all up.
"I thought Zaf said he was always scores," Ros turned to Jo sarcastically. "There's no way he can please the ladies with an aim like that,"
"Oh shut up," Jo snapped back "At least he isn't in love with computers."
Ros laughed loudly at Jo's feeble attempt of a comeback and instead turned her attentions to the woman the other side of her.
"Lucky for Malcolm he isn't wearing that awful football kit," Ros mused.
"Yeah, although I happen to like Adam in sport gear, really shows off his legs," Fiona smiled at Ros' unimpressed expression. "Oh come off it Ros, don't pretend you haven't spent the whole time ogling Malcolm."
Ros simply shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to the game. She had a reputation to protect.
Meanwhile, on the pitch Adam had possession of the ball and passed it along to Harry, who had had enough common sense to move into open space. Harry slowed his pace a little, pondering his next move, before he saw Colin running eagerly down his line. Noting the sudden ambush of the opposition, he acted quickly and had moved the ball towards their goal without getting himself, or anybody else injured. Thank God. Colin got on the end of Harry's pass, and after a few moments of clashing feet with the opposition he managed to break free and pass the ball into Zaf's path, where he more or less had an open shot.
"Come on Zaf!" The chorus of encouragement increased in volume from the bench as they realised they had a good opportunity to go ahead reasonably early in the second half.
Zaf looked up, and took a final touch of the ball before pelting it in the direction of the net, praying to any God that was listening to let it go in. It did. The screams and cheers from the team bench echoed around the pitch, and as the team regrouped briefly to re-plan their approach, Jo couldn't help but feel a sudden burst of pride.
"About time," Ros muttered. "Only took him twenty minutes,"
"I don't see Malcolm scoring goals." Jo went bright red when it became blatantly obvious she was defending Zaf's honour.
"I haven't seen him let one in either," Ros counter argued.
As the final five minutes approached, the opposition increased the tempo of the game. Desperate to hold on to the lead, Zaf tracked back into midfield was Colin and embraced the opportunity to defend the lead rather than be chasing for a goal. The opposition moved quick, alternating between long and short passes, working Zaf and Colin until they were virtually breathless before heading on and trying their luck to manoeuvre around Harry and Adam. The opposition fluffed their shot and the ball landed at Harry's feet, and in a moment of indecision decided to boot it as far down the pitch as he could. As the ball flew past the outfield players, who were all congested in Malcolm's half, the only thing anybody could do was watch the opposition's goalkeeper as he watched Harry's kick towards the net of the goal.
The bench had long fallen silent, not quite believing the possibility of Harry not only being able to kick straight, but being able to kick the ball hard enough to pose a threat to the other team. The goalkeeper dived in the direction of the ball, missed and turned his head in time to see the ball connect with the back of the net.
Harry stood shock still, unable to convince himself that it was him that had just booted the ball, and it was him that had just scored. Bloody hell. Once again the screams and cheers from the team bench echoed around the pitch and this time the team knew that won. Harry beamed as he accepted congratulations from other members of his team and turned his head in the direction of the cheers from the sideline. He could see several faces mirroring his own smile and whilst content he had proven himself after his earlier shame, he couldn't help but feel the pang of hurt that Ruth wasn't there to share this moment with him and the rest of the team.
The last three minutes flew by, and the opposition were no longer a threat to Harry's team. The final whistle blew and the teams exchanged handshakes before heading back into the changing rooms.
"Guys," David smiled as the team sat down where their clothes were. "That was brilliant! If we play like that on Friday we'll have no problem, and on the plus nobody got banned," David gave Harry a knowing look before clapping his hands together.
"There's not much else to say really. You guys know where the showers are. I say clean yourselves up and let's go out and have a drink!"
"Hear hear," Zaf chanted before grabbing his stuff and heading to the shower cubicles.
Sometime later, once everybody had showered and changed, the team and their respective partners were in a local bar celebrating the much needed victory and confidence boost. As everybody was lost in deep conversation, Jo couldn't help but notice how unhappy Harry looked. He had opted to sit away from the rest of the group, claiming he was too old to fit in their crowd and was now located at a table by the window on his lonesome. Jo toyed with the idea of going over and talking to him, but second guessing the reason for his behaviour, decided to grab her phone and call a very familiar lady.
"Jo," Zaf started as he noticed her get up and start to walk away from the bar.
"I'm just calling someone, two seconds." She gave him a dazzling smile before heading towards the exit doors.
"Hello,"
"Hi Ruth, it's Jo,"
"Oh hi, is everything ok?"
Jo smiled to herself.
"Actually, no. That's what I'm calling you about,"
"Oh my, what's happened?" The panic was evident in Ruth's tone, and Jo felt bad for not clarifying that nothing was directly wrong with the team.
"I mean, it's Harry," Jo breathed, interested to see Ruth's response to such a simple statement.
"Jo! Tell me what's happened? Is he ok?" Ruth practically shrieked down the phone, coughing slightly as she did so. Spending the last hour singing hadn't done her voice any favours.
"He's ok Ruth, he had a bit of a rough game but he's alright. He's just sitting in the corner of bar on a table by himself. He just looks so alone. Everybody here is chatting away with their partners and close friends and all that and he just feels a little out of sorts here. Are you free?"
Jo added the question on quickly. She knew that Ruth would feel guilty for leaving Harry alone at the game and at the bar. Ruth wouldn't have it in her to leave him in that state all night.
"I erm... I'm just about to get the bus home."
"Would you like to pop down for a while, we're at the bar just down the road from the George. Harry would be dead pleased to have some company you know, as would I."
Jo heard Ruth laugh slightly on the other end of the line. Ruth knew exactly why Jo was calling. The younger woman's desperation to match make always seemed to get the better of her.
"Alright, I suppose I could come down for one drink," Ruth breathed. "I'll be there in ten."
"Great! See you soon," Jo chirped happily before hanging up the phone and placing it in her pocket. Walking back into the bar and towards Zaf, she braved a look in Harry's direction and smiled. He was in for a pleasant surprise.
Please review! More to come soon!
