Here's part two! SIIIIIIII!

Goode's next match was away against Dorson High, another struggling team at the wrong end of the division table. They had been second last until the previous weekend when Goode had leapfrogged them with the away win at Greenwood. Annabeth felt confident of another win given the team's recent increase in performance and morale. The team had trained well the whole week, brimming with confidence, and spirits were high as the team bus rolled into Dorson High on Thursday.

There was one point of contention that had happened on Tuesday when she'd picked the starting eleven. She'd made the decision to start Percy and Nico on the bench again because they still hadn't been performing to their usual standards in training, even though they had shown improvement from the week before.

For the first time since she'd joined the team there was resistance. Jason, Leo and Dakota looked unsure at the decision, almost questioning. Nico and Percy straight-up disagreed.

"We rested against Greenwood." Nico's eyes were starting to smoulder, the way they did whenever he got worked up.

"The next game is a cup tie." Annabeth explained. "I need you at one hundred percent for that."

"We have a whole week to work up to one hundred percent," Percy argued. "You can take us off early against Dorson if you want to conserve us."

Annabeth shook her head. "I won't start a player who isn't able to last the whole ninety. You'll come on in the second half."

Percy set his jaw but said nothing. Nico's glare was so fierce that Annabeth half-considered changing her mind, then steeled herself. There was no going back from a decision once it was made, otherwise she would lose her decisiveness as a coach.

Annabeth drew the lineup on her clipboard as she waited for the game to kick off, writing the players' names below each circle that represented their position.

GK: David

LB: Luke

CB: Mark

CB: Matthew

RB: John

CM: Frank

CM: Leo

RW: Chris

LW: Ron

ST: Malcolm

ST: Jason

It was the same lineup that had started against Greenwood. Annabeth hoped that the continuity would help the team gel.

The game started and Dorson kicked off. Goode sat back in their 4-4-2, waiting for Dorson to come to them.

Dorson shifted the ball from one centre-back to the other, then back to their goalkeeper who went long up the pitch as Jason closed him down. Annabeth nodded satisfaction at the perfectly-executed pressing manoeuvre.

The ball was headed away by Matthew, knocked on by Frank, then fell to Dorson's CDM who passed it back to his centre-back under pressure from Leo. It was a short pass and the pressure continued as Leo chased the ball down. The centre-back was slow to realise what was happening and suddenly found himself isolated as Leo and Malcolm closed in on him. He tried to pass it back to his keeper, but Leo had anticipated the move and went sliding in as the centre-back made the pass, poking the ball off-course with the tip of his boot. Malcolm raced around the stricken defender and onto the ball with the goal gaping before him. Goode attackers were racing ahead on his left and right. The panicked keeper rushed out early to block him and Malcolm slid the ball across the box before he could get close. Dorson's players could only watch as Jason outmuscled his marker and slammed the ball into the back of the net. With two minutes on the clock it was 1-0 to Goode.

Dorson didn't know how to get past Goode's lines, playing the ball around their back four. Goode's attackers pushed up collectively and Dorson's keeper went long again despite having time and space on the ball.

Leo chased the ball around for a few seconds, shepherding it back to Dorson's CDM who once again played it back into defence. The centre-back sent a long ball to the opposite flank this time and Frank managed to glance his head off it before Dorson midfielders came swarming in to regain possession.

Goode were scenting blood and closed in from all sides. The ball pinballed around Goode's right hand side of the pitch for a while before one of Dorson's midfielders sent a long pass upfield into their centre-forward, who was immediately surrounded by Matthew and Mark and dispossessed in the centre circle. There was endless space in front of Matthew and he galloped upfield with the ball. Goode's front four accelerated up the pitch, drawing Dorson's defenders with them.

It was ridiculous. The Dorson back line was falling back like cardboard. Matthew kept going, racing into the penalty box, and finally thumped an effort at goal that deflected off a Dorson boot and against the post. Ron was first to the rebound and slammed a powerful effort into the keeper's stomach which ricocheted kindly into Jason, who hooked his foot around the ball and managed to ping it off the crossbar. The ball fell to Chris who poked it back to Matthew, still in the vicinity, and he fired a second strike at goal which was deflected by the keeper's outstretched glove for a corner.

Both sets of players gathered around Dorson's goal. The Dorson players looked unnerved by Goode's aggression. Frank sent the ball in and Jason headed it against the bar. The ball fell to Matthew for the third time in as many minutes and he slammed another effort in that was cleared off the line. A Dorson player booted the ball out for a second corner under pressure from Malcolm.

The ball arced in again and Matthew yet again got onto it, heading straight into the keeper who fell to the ground as he fumbled it away. Malcolm put all his effort into the strike and it cannoned off the sprawling keeper's outstretched arm and out for a third successive corner. Annabeth shook her head in amazement, caught halfway between joy at her team's dominance and bewilderment at their inability to put the ball into the net.

The third corner came fast and hard across the face of goal and Matthew threw himself at it, glancing it across his forehead and finally scoring at the fourth attempt. Goode ran off to the side for a group hug, leaving Dorson to shake off their disappointment in their penalty box. Ten minutes gone and Goode were 2-0 up.

Goode went on the attack straight from the restart, surging up the pitch to engage Dorson's defenders. Dorson went long under the pressure and Mark intercepted the ball easily, playing it away from Dorson's chasing centre-forward. Frank received the pass, hit it to Leo as midfielders converged on him, then darted past them to receive Leo's return pass as space opened in front of him. He played a long pass forward into Chris's lung-bursting run, who fired a cross across the face of goal. Jason got a foot to the ball but was denied by the Dorson keeper's diving save. A Dorson defender attempted to clear the danger, only for Malcolm to dart in and dispossess him. The ensuing scuffle ended with Malcolm striking the post, then Ron got to the rebound and cut the ball back to Leo, whose attempted shot thumped into a crowd of Dorson players. He recovered the ball before they could clear it away and passed it across the edge of the box to Frank, who sent a more accurate strike just over the crossbar.

The pattern repeated itself over the next several minutes, Dorson sending ineffective long balls up the pitch, Goode repelling each one or intercepting them to set off lightning counterattacks. The Dorson goal was peppered with shots and it seemed only a matter of time before one of them went in.

Dorson finally conceded again in the 20th minute following another quick counter that led to Chris whipping a cross into the box. Jason went for it and missed. Ron retrieved the ball on the other side of the pitch and hit another ballooning cross that went nowhere near the goal and instead found its way straight back to Chris, who dodged around his opposing left-back and sent the ball in again. This time his cross went to an unmarked Malcolm near the penalty spot, whose incredulous volley went in off the underside of the crossbar. 3-0 to Goode and they hadn't even reached the half-hour mark.

Goode made it 4-0 in the 31st minute, a carbon copy of the third goal that this time led to Ron firing the ball in at the far post after another cross from Chris. Nine minutes later Ron received the ball again in a similar position, and this time decided to cut inside the opposing right-back and into the box, then shifted back onto his left foot and blasted the ball into the top corner. 5-0.

Goode continued to attack even as half-time approached, Jason seeing an effort tipped over the bar and Chris firing narrowly wide of the right post. The pressure was relentless as they moved the ball in and around the box with Guardiola-esque one-touch passing. Every Dorson player was now packed into a defensive line around the penalty box as Goode players lined up shots.

Annabeth got up from her seat, coming forward into the technical area to organise Goode's messy attacks.

"Stay on the touchline," she told Chris and Ron. "Draw their players out to create space, then get past them and cut inside."

Chris reacted instantly, receiving the ball well away from the box before dancing his way inside. His shot was blocked and the ball bobbled out of the box and up the pitch.

"Stay outside the box," she shouted to Frank and Leo. "Get onto those loose balls so we don't lose possession."

Frank and Leo moved out of the penalty area, spraying passes left and right. Luke and John ran forward to join them, lobbing an endless supply of crosses into the box.

The game crept into extra time and it looked like Dorson might see the pressure out, but Frank had other ideas, striding forward before unleashing a rocket of a shot through the forest of legs and into the bottom corner. The Dorson keeper didn't even realise what was happening until the ball rolled out of his net.

The referee blew for half-time, bringing an end to forty-five minutes of the most breathless, incredulous football that Annabeth had ever seen. The scoreline on the electronic board was ludicrous: Dorson High 0, Goode High 6. The Dorson players were crestfallen and looked shocked by the speed and scale of their collapse. Goode were equally stunned, almost in disbelief at what they had just orchestrated on the pitch.

Goode kicked off the second half right where they had left off. Frank started the ball rolling with a long pass out to the left wing. Ron jumped for the ball and lost out to the Dorson right-back. A series of headers back and forth led to Leo chesting the ball down and playing it into Malcolm, who drove upfield before his attempted through ball to Jason was blocked and turned away. Frank ran onto the loose ball and hammered another long-range strike at goal which deflected off the crossbar.

The pattern of the game continued; Goode attacking, Dorson just managing to stave off each assault. On paper the balance of possession had been roughly even thus far, but in reality the game looked anything but balanced as Goode moved the ball around with authority and intent, each attack sending shivers down a hundred Dorson spectators' spines.

Dorson had resorted to putting all nine defenders and midfielders in two compact lines just outside their penalty box. The tactic helped to blunt Goode's attack, but effectively surrendered possession, resulting in complete one-way traffic. Goode launched wave after wave of long balls, crosses and through balls, each one causing chaos in Dorson's box.

To make matters worse for them, Annabeth made her double substitution in the 60th minute, sending Percy and Nico in for Chris and Ron. The two wingers were raring to go and Nico made an instant impact, cutting inside from the right wing and shaping up to shoot. Two Dorson midfielders came sliding in. Nico dodged the first one, then went down as the second clattered into him like a bowling ball.

Angry players faced off against each other. The referee brandished yellow cards to two Dorson players and awarded a free kick.

Leo stood beside the ball, hands on his hips. He put one foot on it and rolled it a short pace sideways before quickly backing away. Frank took a short run-up before curling the ball into the top corner. 7-0 to Goode going into the last thirty minutes of the game.

The tempo of the game slowed at last as both sets of players began to tire. Annabeth ordered her team back into their 4-4-2, knowing gaps would appear as fatigue set in. The perfectionist in her did not want to take the chance of conceding a late goal that would put a blemish on their otherwise perfect performance thus far, even when victory was virtually guaranteed.

Dorson made two midfield substitutions a couple of minutes later. Annabeth guessed they were trying to prevent a total collapse by sending in fresh legs. No matter. Goode were knocking the ball around with ease, probing for more opportunities. Dorson had stopped pressing, concentrating numbers around midfield to block Goode's advance. Goode responded by going long to Percy and Jason, eager to keep the pressure on. Several half-chances followed, with Percy striking the post and Nico shooting into the side netting. Goode were winning their duels against the demoralised opposition players, but there were not enough players in the middle of the pitch to take advantage of their weakness. Percy and Nico made energetic runs that kept getting crowded out or forced away from goal.

Annabeth sent Dakota in after 75 minutes, withdrawing Jason in view of the upcoming knockout tie. Malcolm, understanding the tactical shift, moved into the centre of the pitch, but he didn't have Jason's staying power and soon started dropping into midfield in search of the ball.

With Dakota on the pitch the numbers had evened out in midfield and Goode went back on the attack. Long balls went to Percy, who tried to knock them down for Leo and Malcolm to drive forward. Whenever Dorson's players got drawn into midfield, Goode advanced their wingers who tormented the Dorson defence with driving runs into the box.

One such scenario sent Percy away down the left. He dodged past two players and ran into the box, exchanging passes with Malcolm before slamming the ball into the back of the net. It was his first goal of the game and he celebrated by pulling his shirt off and howling at the spectator stands, earning himself a yellow card for his antics.

"Oh my days." Annabeth raised her eyes to the sky in exasperation, trying to wipe images of Percy's lean, muscular torso from her brain. She squeezed her eyes shut to no avail; the image remained behind her eyelids. She shook her head vehemently and returned her attention to the pitch where, mercifully, Percy had pulled his shirt back on.

I wonder if his abs are soft like mine. His look much firmer. Her cheeks flushed, unseen by everyone else, and she scolded herself internally for letting her thoughts run loose.

There seemed no end to the goals. Percy ran onto a raking pass from Frank, sidestepped his marker and played Malcolm into space. The blonde winger ran down the wing and cut the ball back to Nico who fired it in from the penalty spot. Dorson simply couldn't contain the diminutive winger and Nico scored again a couple of minutes later in almost the exact same way, this time tapping in at the far post after another inch-perfect cross from Malcolm. 10 goals up, two for Nico and a hat-trick of assists for Malcolm, who then proceeded to score a goal of his own when Percy turned the entire Dorson defence inside out, shaped up to shoot and slipped the ball to him as the goalkeeper and two defenders went sliding in and sprawling on the turf.

Percy had been driving forward relentlessly, determined to get a second goal. Several efforts were parried away by the goalkeeper, much to his frustration, and in the ninety-second minute one such shot cannoned off the crossbar and flew out to the edge of the penalty box. Nico had been lurking in that area and hammered his own shot in that deflected off a Dorson shinpad and away. The crowd of Dorson players clustered around the goal heaved a sigh of relief, then their expressions collectively turned to horror as Frank ran onto the loose ball with a spectacular volley that flew through the goalkeeper's outstretched gloves and into the net at last.

Nobody bothered to celebrate or even react to the goal, not even the handful of Goode supporters who'd made the long journey together with the team. Frank high-fived a few teammates on the way back to the halfway line. Dorson passed the ball between themselves for a couple more minutes and then it was over. Goode were tired but smiling, giving Annabeth shivers with their perfect teeth and radiant eyes. The result was mind-boggling. 12-0 to Goode, the biggest victory in the entire history of the school. No one could believe it.

"They just collapsed," Leo said, sat on the bench in the corner of the dressing room. He shrugged. "I don't know how it happened."

"We absolutely destroyed them." Percy grinned, exchanging high-fives with Luke and David.

"I didn't even make a single save." David held out his gloved hands. "Look at my gloves. They're spotless."

"Any words, Coach?" Frank asked Annabeth, who was standing in her usual spot beside the whiteboard.

"Everything went right today." Annabeth said, shrugging. "Again, the team has improved in synergy and positional play. You're more familiar with your positions and roles. It was an amazing game. Dorson collapsed. But next week our opponents Brenton will stand up and fight back. Where you won the ball today, Brenton will take it back. Where Dorson gave ground, Brenton will close you down. Now we need to rest and recover to make sure we're ready. Cup ties can be tricky."

Honestly I wasn't expecting so many goals either. Stories are like that sometimes. They have a mind of their own. Be sure to stick around because there's a surprise coming in part three. Thanks for sticking with this story, hope you've been enjoying it so far. You guys make my day.