EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD ANDY HAWKE WAS A YOUNG LAD WHO WAS GIFTED WITH CONSIDERABLE FOOTBALL TALENT. HE HAD ALWAYS HAD THE GIFT, EVEN AS A YOUNGSTER. NOW HE WAS LOOKING FOR A FOOTBALL CLUB TO GIVE HIM A FUTURE.
ANDY HAD HAD A SUCCESSFUL TRIAL WITH LEAGUE ONE FOOTBALL CLUB, REDSTOKE. THE CLUB WERE ONCE "BIG TIME", AND NEEDED A LITTLE POLISH TO MAKE THEM BIG AGAIN. ANDY FELT LUCKY TO BE PART OF THE CLUB, AND THEY HAD LOOKED AFTER HIS FAMILY AND HIM VERY WELL, MAKING THEM ALL VERY WELCOME.
Today, the sky was blue, but the white clouds zoomed across the sky. It was a windy day. Andy didn’t enjoy playing in windy conditions, as it made the ball more difficult to control. His crosses and free kicks were unpredictable as well.
He hurried downstairs to eat his cooked breakfast. Mrs Jeavons always looked after her guests, especially those players that the football club were paying her to lodge there. Andy did not eat too much. It didn’t do him good to train on a full stomach. He gulped down his cup of tea, and shouted thanks to Mrs Jeavons.
The training ground was within walking distance of where he was staying. He turned into the driveway, and saw a large crowd of journos hanging around, as usual. They were always sniffing round, looking for a scoop. Mr McKay, the manager, had strict instructions that none of his staff, playing or otherwise, would be talking to the press without his supervision.
Andy was not well-known to the press, and they left him alone. He walked into the changing rooms, and saw some of the other lads there, including some of the team who had played in the draw on Saturday. He kept himself to himself, and got ready.
Today, Andy had been informed, was a day in the gym for him and the other four youngsters who had recently joined. Andy was quite pleased by this, as the wind had really picked up. He was about to begin with some light exercises when Mr McKay himself walked into the gym. He motioned Andy to one side, while the other lads got on with their training.
“Are ye OK, Andy? Listen to me, I think I have some good news for ye laddie”.
Andy looked eagerly at the manager.
“I’m a bit short of left footed players in this club. We only have you, Danny Collins and our left back, Claude. Now I know you havenae even played for the Reserves yet, but would ye be on the bench for the Carlton Cup match versus Trowmoor Rovers tomorrow night?”
“Are you Kidding? I’d love that Mr McKay, thank you very much! I thought I was going to be playing in the Reserves though on Wednesday?”
“Ach I know, but I think we’ve got a bit of stormy weather coming our way, involving Danny Collins. The press boys out there are like sharks in the water. They know I’ve got a job on ma hands keeping Collins here. He’s easily Redstoke’s best player. Only this morning, I had Kingsbay calling me to see if I’d let him go for a trial there. But not a word to anyone, OK?”
The Scotsman cracked a grin and tousled Andy’s hair. Andy, on top of the world, trained harder than ever.
The players in the dressing room joked with each other on Tuesday night. Little Trowmoor Rovers were long-term strugglers in Division two, and the Redstoke players were not really taking them seriously. That is, until the manager came in. He yelled for quiet, and the players all knew that they would be wise to treat the opposition with some respect. Andy took his shirt off the peg, and turned it over. It had “Hawke” over a large number 28. A high squad number, but never mind. He knew he had to start somewhere.
Danny Collins was sat nearby and he winked at Andy. Danny had seemed a very friendly chap when they had met briefly, and Andy hoped one day that he would be as good a left winger as Danny was. There were now allegedly four Premiership clubs,Meadowell of Scotland and a Bundesliga club after his services, according to Sky Sports News.
The players went out to warm up, and Andy found himself passing to Danny and return.
“You alright Andy? No need to be nervous Son!”
Andy looked at St Vincent’s from the pitch for the first time. The ground looked quite a bit larger from this angle. The grandstands were still quite empty. There was half an hour to go yet. Andy did sprints, and stretching exercises. Then the players were called back to the dressing room.
Kick off time crawled round, but eventually, a bell rang, and the players walked out into the tunnel. The Trowmoor players in their all red strip walked alongside. The first teamers jogged out onto the pitch and the substitutes made their way to the bench. Andy was disappointed to see there were large expanses of empty terraces around. He knew it was only the First Round of the Carlton Cup, and Trowmoor were just a small time club, but he still hoped his debut had been in front of a larger crowd.
The game kicked off, and Redstoke attacked to Andy’s left. He was sat on the back row of the bench, tucked away in the corner. Yesterday’s winds had gone, but even though it was an evening game, the weather was very humid. August evenings often were.
After just nine minutes, Trowmoor took a shock lead. A corner was not cleared properly, and Trowmoor scrambled the ball over the line, to the shock of the Redstoke players. Duncan McKay was furious! He got up off the bench and shouted at his players. He began pacing around his technical area, as his players struggled to relax.
Andy thought of the game the previous Saturday. Redstoke seemed slow to start in that game as well. Against Westbury Town, they had made few chances, and had conceded first before getting the equaliser. That was a pattern the manager surely had recognised already, and needed to do something about.
Trowmoor seemed to sense Redstoke’s shock, and came at them again. The ball came high over the middle of the pitch, and Wayne Garvin in the centre of the Redstoke defence struggled to get the ball clear. He was caught out, and a Trowmoor forward skipped past him. He went past the right back, and his shot was parried over the bar brilliantly by the keeper, Alan Hill.
This made Mr McKay even more frantic. He bawled at his players, and told them to wake up their ideas. The ball came over, and Hill lost it. It was scrambled clear by Danny Collins, helping out his defence.
The half time whistle came, and Redstoke had not had a single shot on target. The dressing room was not a happy place to be, and Duncan McKay shouted and swore at his players to try and get them fired up. He brought on two of his subs for the second half.
The ranting did the trick. Within three minutes of the kick off, Redstoke had a shot cleared off the line. Four minutes later, Danny Collins was one on one with the keeper, and was brought down. PENALTY!
Before the kick could be taken, the trainer rushed on to the pitch, as Danny had not got up. The trainer signalled to Mr McKay that they would need to use their third substitute.
“OK Andy, get yesel warmed up”.
Andy needed a dig in the ribs to get him to his feet. He was going on! His moment had arrived. He was dreaming surely? He ran up and down the touchline, and manically did stretches, while watching the penalty being taken. The kick was taken by centre forward Mike Brazil, but the keeper made a tremendous save, and it was pushed out for a corner.
Danny was helped off. He had lost consciousness and looked groggy. He still managed to High Five Andy, and said
“Go get ‘em Kid”.
Andy ran over to the corner flag, and bounced the ball a couple of times. Someone behind him shouted
“Who are ya who are ya who are ya?” He didn’t care. He took the corner, but the keeper, once again, was able to catch the ball. Andy ran upfield in a daze. He was playing first team football in the Carlton Cup for Redstoke! He was surely dreaming.
“HAWKE! WAKE UP YE DOZEY PILLOCK! GET STUCK IN LADDIE”.
Andy soon came round when he heard Mr McKay yelling at him barely ten yards away. He needed to concentrate, and he needed to do his best to get Redstoke back into this game.
