The Ace of Spades

[Jibby123]

No, all good. Hoofingly good. If you don't make any money out of writing then you should.

[Sammy Kay]

This is such a real life interaction with a father and his son... which reminds me so of a very special guy I know. Great Job 10-3 !

[tenthreeleader]

“I am pleased to report that Terry Christian has no charge to answer.”

Hubbard had made the announcement on behalf of the club, after the police had made the official statement.

So he really wasn’t ‘reporting’ anything, was he?

Still, from the point of view of the club it was good to have something official said. So Hubbard did the deed.

“We are proud of the work our manager has done,” Hubbard said, perhaps laying it on a bit thick. Still, though, hyperbole made the sports world go round and without a reserve supply, things might well grind to a halt.

“You aren’t concerned about the charges somehow marring Terry Christian’s reputation?” one wag asked.

“Over what? There was no charge to answer,” Hubbard said. “We will defend our manager’s reputation as it is directly tied to that of our club. Reporters should take great care to report accurately about our manager in the future.”

“You make it sound like we’re criminals,” the same journo replied.

“You were prosecutor, judge and jury,” Hubbard said. “If you repeat this practice, you may find yourself the defendant as well, which would complete the legal grand circuit.”

Watching on a monitor inside the club offices, Terry smiled at his chairman’s display of bravado. He was ‘doing the deed’, as they say in the media business.

He was also giving his manager a very public display of support. That would help inside the changing room and out.

Terry thought this because of the conversation he had just had with Morgan.

Terry had approached his new arrival with the idea of having him train as an attacking midfielder, to give the team more options – and frankly to give Morgan himself a chance to get selected.

His talent was undoubted. However, Talbot and Davies were a fine strike partnership and with a healthy Lester banging in goals at a frightening rate as first off the bench, Morgan was the odd man out.

The trouble was, as with every player ‘riding the pine’, was that he felt he shouldn’t have been.

In that regard, Terry was trying to give him some options.

“You could do very well behind the strikers,” he said. “I like how you can pass the ball and you see the play well too.”

“That’s not where I should play and you know it,” Morgan said. He was sticking to his guns.

“I know no such thing,” Terry said. “I know we have a very fine strike combination that is leading us to the top of the table in this league. Should I break up that winning combination so you can play in a place where you aren’t best utilized?”

“I want to play,” he said. “You need to see to that.”

“I pick the team,” Terry said. “And I’ll tell you this; any more stick from you will see your arse nailed to my bench. Are we clear on that?”

Terry had had it up to his back teeth with the pushback from certain players who weren’t good enough to play yet who thought they could stride into a winning eleven. Morgan was one of those players – decent enough in friendlies but unable to take a chance when it mattered.

The game was filled with players like that.

“Then I’ll want out in January,” Morgan said.

“Then you’ll be able to leave in January,” Terry said coolly. “Because as it stands right now, you aren’t breaking into the eleven unless you do it where I say you’ll do it. Now, we’re done here.”

Morgan started to speak, but Terry turned his back on him and walked away.

Fourth striker.

##

[tenthreeleader]

Shrewsbury was next. And Terry hadn’t even played his master card.

He had planned to start Morgan in that match because, to be frank, everyone else had been horrible against Barnet.

It was a mind game. Morgan was a heady player and Terry was definitely into Morgan’s head.

He wanted to see a Lester-Morgan strike partnership at home against the 20^th placed team and felt it was a risk he could safely take.

Hubbard had visited right after the ill-fated meeting with Morgan meeting to ask, albeit politely, what in the hell had gone wrong the previous Saturday.

Terry told him.

“We were brutal,” he said simply. “We were due for a bad game and unfortunately for us it came at home. I’d rather have those on away days, if I’m honest.”

“It’s not like I can question results,” Hubbard admitted. “It’s just that the first bad one always seems a shock.”

“I wouldn’t disagree,” Terry said. “I expected better from the players and made that point clear when we started training this morning.”

“We missed Bennett.”

“That’s an understatement.” Terry smiled. “He’ll be a nice player, that boy, someday. As long as he keeps his head.”

“The same could be said for your lad,” Hubbard said. “How are things going with Wade?”

Terry was surprised by the suddenly personal tone of his chairman’s questioning.

“He’s a young boy,” Terry finally said. “He reacts emotionally, wants things his own way, and if I’m honest he’s a bit spoiled. After Alison died, it was sort of the three of us against the world. I have some work to do, starting with explaining that the world doesn’t always work at his convenience.”

“Well, then all good wishes to you,” Hubbard said, rising to leave. “I’m glad you can put this latest episode behind you.”

“Me too,” Terry mused. “There’s a lot of work to be done and distractions are something I do not need.”

##

[tenthreeleader]

Terry arrived at home and found Kerri and Max seated on the couch watching his television.

“Make yourselves at home,” he smiled, as he entered, hanging up his team warmup jacket in the front closet.

Kerri blushed. That was rare for her.

“Sorry,” she said. “We were shopping and Max needed a rest so I thought we’d come over. I didn’t know you’d be here early.”

“It’s all right,” Terry said, for a moment enjoying the familiarity Kerri and her son had shown with him. He was starting to feel almost human again.

“Thank you for letting us sit here, Mr. Christian,” Max said, without a single prompt. Terry turned, having heard the boy’s voice for the first time. It was proof positive that he, in fact, had one.

A trace of a smile crossed Terry’s face and he crossed the sitting room to the couch, mussing the boy’s hair as he passed.

“You had better call me Terry,” he said, unable to suppress a feeling he hadn’t had in far too long.

His heart had skipped a beat, as he noticed Kerri’s expression when he passed. She looked up at him with a happy expression and it was as though she was telling him it was all right to unwind.

After all this time.

He reached into his fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice, pouring himself a drink and wondering if he’d have one mixed with rum later that night. He wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

He could feel Alison watching him.

##

[chesterfan2]

This remains one of the best stories on here. My one piece of advice to Terry ........Go On My Son!

[tenthreeleader]

cf, thank you. After a couple weeks' writing time and arc planning, I'm ready to resume.

___

Chesterfield (6-2-1, 2^nd place) v Shrewsbury (2-1-6, 20^th place) – League Two Match Day #10

It had been quite a stretch, Terry thought.

The issues surrounding his personal conduct and children had to be put aside for a few hours as his high-flying Spireites hosted Shrewsbury, which was actively engaged in a slide down the League Two table Terry hoped his players would do nothing to prevent.

The sun rose on a simply beautiful fall day and with the game kicking off late, Terry took his time getting the kids ready for their trip to the ground.

He knew where they would be found during the match – with Kerri in the stand, though not behind the Spireites’ bench. He knew better than that, and he also didn’t want them to hear what some of the away fans were yelling about their father unless it absolutely couldn’t be avoided.

Shrewsbury came out in 4-5-1, a fine gesture of respect. As for Terry … well, he wasn’t as generous.

Chesterfield (4-4-2)

GK – Redmond

DL – Bennett

DC – Ford

DC – Breckin

DR – Tingay

ML – Ouattara

MC – Cuvelier

MC – Niven

MR – Mattis

ST – Davies

ST – Lester

It was a different lineup than the one which had played so poorly against Barnet. The most noticeable change, of course, was Redmond getting his first league start of the season. He hadn’t wanted to blame Lee for the Barnet debacle, but examples had to be made and Terry felt that in goal was one such area.

Ouattara barely missed the crossbar with a raking effort after the first minute had just gone on the clock, which set the tone for those players on the park.

However, a more somber tone was set just ten minutes later, as Mattis, whose effort had been there throughout the Barnet match even if his application had not, went down heavily after a clash of heads with Michael King going for a Redmond goal kick.

When he tried to get back up, the right side of his face was so badly swollen Terry had to turn his head away. There could be only one issue there, and as stretcher bearers ran onto the pitch to cart the unfortunate player away, ice over his cheekbone.

Tingay moved to the right side of midfield and Terry brought on Hunt to replace the injured Mattis. The play continued and it was of the old-fashioned rough and ready variety.

Mat Sadler of Shrewsbury was the next to go, after a crunching challenge by Cuvelier that saw the visiting player pitch downward, to land directly on the ball.

Groaning, he rolled to one side, fighting for his breath and he too was soon gone for the day.

Just after the half hour the teams remembered there was football to be played, and Niven laid on a perfect ball into the right channel for the run of Davies, who slotted home the first goal of the match.

In first half injury time he barely missed a second, but by the time the teams broke for the interval it was pretty obvious who had the upper hand.

Or, cheek. Mattis’ was broken, which was grossly unfortunate for him, but the injury matched up more or less with Sadler’s reported broken ribs.

It was just short of the hour mark before Redmond was called upon for his first sharp save of the match, parrying King’s low cross from the left.

He did it again a few minutes later, stopping Benjamin van den Broek before Adam Chicksen missed first with a header and then with a shot off a scramble following the ensuing corner. It was easily the best stuff seen in the entire match from the visitors.

Something was needed to stop the bleeding, and that something turned out to be named Lester.

In his first start since his injury, the veteran seemed to carry the team on his back after the hour mark, through a crucial ten minute stretch that saw the Spireites sap the momentum of their guests. He set up Davies for another opportunity in seventy minutes, but Ben Smith had the answer there.

The remainder of the match was exercise. The visitors didn’t appear to have the stomach for a late challenge and that was just fine with Terry. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win, and it had the team right back on track.

Chesterfield 1 (Craig Davies 31)

Shrewsbury 0

A – 5,889, B2Net Stadium, Chesterfield

Man of the Match – Ian Breckin, Chesterfield (MR 7.7)

##

[tenthreeleader]

This time, young Max was there to greet Terry after the game along with his mother.

He hadn’t seemed like much of a football fan in casual conversation, but the boy looked downright proud in his Spireites shirt and scarf.

There was a bit of fall tinge in the air, and the boy wore a white turtleneck under his shirt. His mother had looked after him well, Terry thought, as he stepped through the player’s entrance and out into the staff car park.

“Lookin’ good,” he smiled, and Max beamed back in reply.

It seemed that all the boy needed was some positive encouragement. He seemed to grow two inches when he fluffed up, and even Terry had to smile in looking at the effect his words had had.

The win itself had been quite turgid and Terry’s smile helped take some of the frustration out of the afternoon. Three points were three points, of course, but there were things more important than football.

The five of them walked through the car park to their two waiting vehicles and Terry was struck by a minor revelation.

His kids hadn’t looked that happy in some time, as near as he could tell. Perhaps that was because he hadn’t been looking.

That realization hurt him quite a bit.

The Christian clan reached Terry’s car and the kids clambered inside. Kerri and Max reached their Citroen and did the same.

“Are you coming over?” Terry asked.

Kerri shook her head in reply.

“No, Terry, not tonight,” she replied. “I have a date. I need to get Max home to my sitter.”

Terry stared at her, watching as she got into her car. She drove away.

A date.

Well. That certainly settled a few things.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

He woke up the next morning still in the same state of bewilderment he had carried to bed the night before.

He had been trying to tell himself that he wasn’t interested in dating, that he couldn’t possibly want another woman after Alison.

It was for the best, he kept telling himself.

What kind of person did he think he was? After not dating or being romantically interested in anyone for all that time, did he think she was just going to fall into his arms?

Or did he even want that?

He leaned his head back into the pillows, and wondered if he should ask her about her date the next time they saw each other.

And what was her interest in his kids, if she was going out with someone else? And why hadn’t that been disclosed sooner?

Terry knew the answer.

Because that information was, in the language of the internet, NOYFB.

And that, as they say, was that.

It was a Sunday morning with nothing to do. The squad had the day off, neither of the kids’ teams were playing that day, and as such it was a day to simply sit around and think.

This in itself was a bad thing. When Terry had time to think and was troubled at the same time, he sometimes got the spins when the thinking was done.

Of course, with the kids home, that sort of behavior was quite unthinkable. But Terry’s mind began to race.

It was tormenting him.

He headed into the kitchen for breakfast to see Wade sat on the floor watching a pre-match preview show on television. Dana sat over his shoulder on the couch, watching every bit as intently.

Neither of them seemed the slightest bit bothered by the events of the day before. Perhaps they hadn’t heard.

Perhaps they didn’t take life as seriously as their father.

Sighing to himself, Terry turned to his left, walking toward the coffee pot on the counter top. Measuring out some grounds, he brewed a full pot.

It was going to be a long day.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

“Daddy, I don’t understand. We always go for a Sunday walk.”

Dana wanted that time with her father. She always did.

When the kids’ teams weren’t playing, they would drag Wade along too, for a walk through the town centre, and it gave the three of them a chance to spend time as a family.

Subconsciously, it also gave Terry the chance to remind himself that if he had had a brain in his head he’d have walked with Alison that night, and she might still be alive.

Or they could both be dead, he thought to himself.

But now Dana wanted that walk – and Terry’s heart wasn’t in it.

That was both good and bad.

It was good because Terry needed to start living again.

It was bad because … well, he knew the reason.

He thought he might be ready to move on from Alison. He was concerned that he felt he had to move on from Kerri, and she wasn’t even his girl friend.

He finally gave in, though, and took the kids to the park for a walk and kickabout.

As they went through a few ball drills, Terry found the one place he knew he was always comfortable – in simply playing the game.

He showed his kids his once-renowned skill at keepy-uppy and Wade responded by showing his father the Cristiano Ronaldo crossover step he was learning.

“Now that I can do it without tripping over the ball,” he laughed.

It was fun. There was no denying that.

They finished, and walked back to the car park to head home.

Kerri, Max and a man approached from the opposite direction.

“Hello, children,” Kerri called, and to her surprise her greeting received a lukewarm reception.

“Aren’t you having a fun day with Terry?” she asked.

“Yes, we are,” Dana said. “With our father.”

Puzzled, Kerri changed the topic of conversation.

“Terry, I’d like you to meet Trent Cotterill,” she said, and the man standing to her left stepped forward. He let go of Max’s hand beside him and extended his hand to Terry.

The two men shook hands and a highly awkward moment ensued. Even a footballing surname, but he could be forgiven for that.

“Well, have a good day, Kerri,” Terry replied. “Mr. Cotterill, a pleasure to meet you.”

The group of six split into its former two groups of three, and they went their separate ways.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Rotherham v Chesterfield - Johnstone’s Paint Trophy

In a way, it was good to get out of town.

It was highly unusual, in that the trip was short and Rotherham could be considered a rival, that Terry would prefer to go to a place where the ginned-up controversy about Wade’s moment of madness in that youth match would actually be preferable to him than staying home.

Terry felt better about having Kerri come over to look after the kids after he had had time to think about things, and that was a very healthy sign.

He had long been concerned that Kerri was looking for a quid pro quo in exchange for leaving her job and coming to look after Wade and Dana. The introduction of Cotterill into the picture gave the lie to that assumption.

He was annoyed, though he had no right to be, that she hadn’t mentioned a boy friend to him, but then it really was NOYFB to him, wasn’t it?

And, in his way, he felt he could stay true to Alison’s memory that way.

It was a place where he felt comfortable.

The coach trip to Sheffield was less than ten miles up the A61, to a place that wasn’t the home side’s traditional home.

The Don Valley Stadium is a placeholder while a new stadium is built, but the row the club had had with their landlord in losing their old home of Millmoor still rankled with some fans.

The stadium is an athletics facility, covered on only one side, so when the rain began to fall late in the afternoon, Terry knew the traveling fans were in for a soaking in addition to being farther away from the action than they probably wished to be.

He also did something he had never done before in his squad of sixteen: he didn’t name a spare goalkeeper.

Redmond hadn’t been feeling well the day before and Terry chose to leave him home, relying on Lee to get the job done.

And the fact that it was a cup competition gave Terry the chance to shuttle in some different players as well, including Gregor Robertson, finally back from his leg injury:

Chesterfield (4-5-1)

GK: Lee

DL: Robertson

DC: Ford

DC: Page ©

DR: Hunt

DM: Niven

MC: Cuvelier

MC: Allott

ML: Morris

MR: Talbot

ST: Lester

Terry wanted to see how Lester could lead a line by himself, the 35-year old striker mostly relegated to impact performances off the bench. Lester, for his part, was happy to get the start and eager to prove himself.

Unfortunately, no one in a Chesterfield shirt impressed from the start of the match. It didn’t take Terry long to get to the touchline – diddy cup match or not, there was still pride to play for out there – and finally Lester saved some blushes by blazing just wide twenty minutes into the match.

However, Rotherham’s Adam LeFondre was more than a handful for the central defence, with stand-in skipper Page paired against him without much success. Lee was forced into a save just after Lester’s miss, and Lester’s attempted counter came quickly to naught.

Nicky Law was next for Rotherham, striking the ball wide in 25 minutes as the action at least started to pick up.

Yet in the end, it was LeFondre who found the breakthrough. Page grabbed a handful of shirt which saw him lucky to escape uncarded in 29 minutes, and Tom Elliott headed down the ensuing set piece for LeFondre to stroke home just before the half hour.

The 1,200-plus fans in attendance – split about 70/30 for the Millers – reacted as you would expect. Terry was looking for a response to going a goal down, and at least in the first half, he didn’t find it.

Looking something like the proverbial drowned rat, he led the team into the changing room for a rollicking.

[tenthreeleader]

Robertson was having trouble with the speed of the game, which was a bit understandable given it was his first one in nearly eight months. Yet referee Mark Halsey had seen fit to whistle fouls at better than a 2:1 ratio in favour of the home team in the first half, which Terry frankly hadn’t seen.

As the second half started, Kevin Ellison tested Lee virtually from the kickoff, with the keeper saving smartly. He was saved by a timely intervention from Ford moments later, who slid to block Tom Newey’s cross.

“This is getting ugly,” Terry said to Tommy.

“Getting?”

Terry glared at his old friend, but there was no denying he was right.

The match ground on toward the hour, when the Spireites got their first break. Morris’ cross found the head of Niven, who bounced a header home to get the visitors level when they probably didn’t deserve to be.

“Not so ugly anymore,” Tommy admitted. “Let’s see if we can steal one.”

At that point, Nicky Law slid right through Morris’ legs on a challenge, and as the on-loan midfielder rolled on the ground in pain, Terry was in the fourth official’s ear looking for frontier justice.

It wasn’t coming, and Morris had to leave the game with blood running down his leg. Angrily, Terry waved Ouattara into the game and changed his alignment to 4-4-2 to accommodate the winger, Talbot moving forward.

Yet, it didn’t help. In 69 minutes, Grant Darley look Le Fondre’s lead ball and burst toward goal. Robertson, who had been horrible but who was also determined to redeem himself, gave chase. Their legs tangled, Darley went down, and Halsey sent off Robertson for a professional foul.

That didn’t help Terry’s mood. Fouls were now being whistled against his team at nearly a 3:1 ratio, which was guaranteed not to help his temper.

Talbot came off for Joe Bennett, and the Spireites parked the bus to try to kill off the game and play for extra time. That didn’t work either.

With five minutes of injury time given, LeFondre scored with the last kick of the match to send the Millers on, and send the ten-man Spireites crashing out.

In the rain. In the cold, persistent rain.

Rotherham 2 (Adam LeFondre 29, 90+4)

Chesterfield 1 (Derek Niven 56, Gregor Robertson s/o 69)

A – 1,223, Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield

Man of the Match – Adam LeFondre, Rotherham (MR 8.8)

##

[tenthreeleader]

Terry thought Halsey had been poor, and said so after the match. He knew it would cost him, and it did, in the form of a warning as to future conduct.

Much of Rotherham’s attack had come while a man up, which made Chesterfield’s failure to close out the match both predictable and galling.

So, it wasn’t a very good week.

While advancement would have been nice, the board didn’t hold failure against Terry. That was also nice to hear, given the issues he had had with player respect.

In a way, though, the match brought Lester back down to earth a bit. Given his chance to show why he was the big fish he said he was, he hadn’t been there. Sometimes players need to be knocked back a peg – Terry knew that from his own playing days even if he hadn’t liked when it had happened – so there was something to be taken from the defeat.

With another road test coming at Macclesfield on the Saturday followed by a third successive away day at Lincoln, Terry had to rally troops who were annoyed by their defeat to play a side that was solidly mid-table.

It was good for him to do this without personal distraction.

The kids, surprising as it might have sounded, rallied around their father.

“Daddy, I know you like Kerri,” Dana had said with her other-worldly understanding for one of her tender years. “And I’m sorry she did that to you.”

“Well, kids, it’s for the best,” he said. “I have to concentrate on my job, otherwise I won’t get to keep it. There’s that to consider.”

“But what she did was mean,” Dana said. Even Wade agreed with that.

“Look, I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way,” Terry said. “She needs someone in her life. Remember, she lost her husband too and Max doesn’t have a dad. She’s just doing what she needs to do.”

“I wish she had done it with us,” Wade admitted. “I’m angry.”

That admission was, frankly, startling to Terry.

##

[tenthreeleader]

Wade showed his anger a few days later on the pitch.

This time, he didn’t do it by playing out of control. He showed it by playing with a steely-eyed resolve that impressed his father terribly.

Given the start by his coach with the usual admonishment as to his conduct, Wade simply dominated the match. His play was controlled but intense, and even being brought down from behind just outside the box while leading a charge up the pitch didn’t change his demeanor.

He simply scored on the ensuing set piece, looking into the stand at his father in celebration.

Terry couldn’t help it. A tear raced down his cheek.

Wade was starting to get it.

Oh, he was still impulsive, still far too much the hothead, and in short, he was a pre-teen boy. Allowances have to be made for that.

But there was no denying his resolve.

As Terry watched the match, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hi,” Kerri said, her footsteps on the aluminum bleachers making a clanking sound as she crossed behind him. “May I join you?”

“Be my guest,” Terry said, motioning to the spot next to him. “But shouldn’t you be escorted?”

“Trent’s at work,” she replied.

“Which is?”

“He’s a security guard,” she said. “He works in Leicester.”

“That must be hard on your relationship.”

“I don’t see him often,” Kerri said. “He likes to have my time when he’s here.”

“I can understand that.” Terry’s eyes never left the pitch.

“Look, Terry, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him,” she said. “You know how hard it can be with relationships when you’ve lost a spouse.”

That turned Terry’s head. He tried to be gentle.

“No, Kerri, I don’t know. You see, I haven’t had a relationship since Alison was killed. I haven’t gone through that part of the process and I haven’t grieved the loss of anyone I cared about since then. So, yes, perhaps it’s hard. I wouldn’t know.”

He turned his head back to the match and the two of them watched in silence.

“Are the kids upset?” she asked.

“What do you think?”

“I guess I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Look,” Terry said, turning to her again. “Some idiot with the IQ of a claw hammer kills my wife and wrecks my happiness. My kids have been without a mother for quite a long time because of how I have chosen to recover from that loss. Then you come in, they adapt to you, and then they find out you’ve got a boy friend who doesn’t even live near you and they see their father is hurt. Yes, they are upset. They are very upset.”

Kerri rested her chin in her hand, watching sullenly at Terry’s side.

“I think I know why you’re here,” Terry finally said, and this time she turned her head to face him.

“Okay, mister know-it-all, why am I here?” she asked.

“Because you care. You just can’t admit it.”

She said nothing.

“You’re pretty good at psychoanalyzing me, so now it’s my turn,” Terry said. This time, he wasn’t looking at her.

“You’ve hooked into a couple of kids who you care about. Who knows, you may have even found a guy you think shows some promise but who you can’t approach because you’re in a relationship. You had things pretty good, Kerri.”

“But now, you’ve been honest with yourself. You feel guilty. Because you care. You care about those kids. And you feel bad about how you treated me.”

“I love him, Terry,” she finally said. “But yes, I care. I wouldn’t have done what I did if I hadn’t.”

“So, why the hiding? Why didn’t you come clean and tell me you had a son and a boy friend?”

“Because Max isn’t my natural son,” she said. “He’s adopted. By Trent and me.”

##

[Sammy Kay]

WOW, 10-3 ------ you've done it again.. and amazingly enough, did not see it coming. Perhaps should have tho'.

[tenthreeleader]

Terry is not a happy bunny.

___

Macclesfield (3-4-3, 13^th place) v Chesterfield (7-2-1, 1^st place) – League Two Match Day #11

So, that hadn’t gone well. In fact, it had gone about as badly as it could have.

This time, Terry could hardly wait to get out of town, simply to try to collect his thoughts.

It appeared that some sort of arrangement was going to have to be made with Kerri, who still came as usual to look after the kids while he was gone.

Terry trusted her judgment with the kids. He wasn’t sure he could trust her word.

She has said she was going on a date. She wasn’t married to Trent. They had a son, though, and his adoption meant they were intended to be a long-term item.

It just hurt to find out that way.

Match planning was a relief for Terry, giving him a few extra minutes each day to not have to deal with the trouble brewing in his head.

Preparing his side for the trip to Moss Rose, Terry had the chance to talk with his players about dealing with adversity. It was a talk from the heart, and when he was done, he felt better than anyone could have known.

He talked about trust. He talked about laying it on the line for someone else. He talked about a sense of team that no one should try to break, and woe betide the man in blue who did.

Then he sent them out to play, in a 4-4-2 that promised much:

Chesterfield (4-4-2)

GK: Lee

DL: Bennett

DC: Breckin ©

DC: Page

DR: Tingay

ML: Ouattara

MC: Niven

MC: Allott

MR: Talbot

ST: Davies

ST: Lester

Lester was practically jumping up and down in search of another chance. Terry gave it to him.

Nearly from the kickoff, the veteran confirmed his manager’s faith. Working up the lefthand channel in the Macclesfield defence, the striker squared up to shoot – and then slid a wonderful ball to the left for the run of the completely unmarked Ouattara. He slammed a low shot to the right of keeper James Dormand that snuck home between the keeper and his short post for a 1-0 lead with just 68 seconds on the clock.

It was the Burkina Faso native’s first goal for the club and it seemed to have left little doubt about how the players would respond to going out of the cup.

Ouattara was so good in the early going, in fact, that the home team gave him a little extra treatment, shall we say, and he limped off in need of treatment in the 14^th minute. Soon, though, he was back and determined to show he couldn’t be scared that easily.

Allott then stepped up, teeing up Lester for a drive in 22 minutes that the striker blazed wide of the left post by only inches.

“So, how are you doing otherwise?” Tommy asked Terry as they watched quite a pleasing first half indeed.

“I think there’s a match going on,” Terry responded, as Lester gave the ball to Davies. The striker twisted, turned, and darted his way through a static Macclesfield defence – and then smashed a vicious shot against the crossbar which had Terry twisting in his chair with remorse.

“That other thought can wait – for the coach trip home,” Terry said, and Tommy returned to business. He didn’t have much to say in the way of feedback, since the visitors were completely dominant all the way to half time.

Terry was almost afraid to talk to his team at the break, as well as they were playing, save for a simple warning that the home team could wake from its slumber at any time.

“Be mindful of it,” Tommy added, as if reinforcing his friend’s words. At least, he tried to.

Lester was playing very well – in fact, the veteran was doing everything except scoring, which was a keen annoyance to everyone in a Spireites shirt. He forced Dormand into an excellent save five minutes into the second half and in response the overwhelmingly ineffective Emile Sinclair came off for Vinny Mukendi as the home team looked for ideas up the park.

Mukendi at least kept possession of the ball when The Silkmen were able to bring it into the attacking third – which wasn’t too often, to Terry’s satisfaction. In 65 minutes, he gave the home team its first real threat of the match, which was cleared off the line by the roving Page.

Izak Reid followed with another half chance a few minutes later and it seemed that the home team was starting to exploit the tiring Tingay at right full back – so that brought Hunt into the game in his place. Whitaker also came on for the flagging Allott as Terry tried to insert a bit more steel to hold the lead.

It really was his kind of game. Early lead, dominate proceedings and then let the opposition bang their heads against the back line in a futile attempt for an equalizer.

“At least I hope,” Terry mumbled, as he listened to the voices in his head.

“Eh?” Tommy asked.

“Meh. Nothing,” he replied. “Thinking out loud.”

“Any kind of thinking from you is good,” Tommy said, and his friend shot him a baleful stare in reply. Then he broke into a grin. The team’s play made all that possible.

Talbot, now playing on the right side of midfield, then took a very nice ball off his chest from Niven, and played it into the run of Lester, in the same channel he had exploited earlier in the match.

Lester dipped, swerved, played the ball between Paul Morgan’s legs, and then scored the goal his play so richly deserved. Fourteen minutes from time, the Spireites were home and dry, with an away win that was as comprehensive as it was comfortable.

Macclesfield 0

Chesterfield 2 (Mouassa Ouattara 2, Jack Lester 76)

A – 2,880, Moss Rose, Macclesfield

Man of the Match – Jack Lester, Chesterfield (MR 8.2)

##

[tenthreeleader]

On the coach trip home, Tommy finally extracted a pound of flesh from his friend.

Terry had shared a post-match glass of wine with the Silkmen’s caretaker manager Gary Simpson, who was in his post after the tragic death of Keith Alexander in March. Without saying anything to him about his own situation, Terry knew he was in the company of someone who understood what meant to lose in sudden and dramatic fashion.

Somehow he felt better as he boarded the coach for the trip home. The ride chugged through Buxton and the Peak District National Park on its way to the A619 and home, and along the way, Terry finally relaxed. It wasn’t a long trip, only about thirty airline miles, and so he didn’t have to talk much before it was done.

“Don’t let her control you like that,” Tommy said. “You never let Alison control you.”

“I loved Alison,” Terry said. “With her it wasn’t control, it was simple respect. Honestly, Tommy, you’re a bachelor – how badly would it pi** you off if you found out that someone you…”

His voice trailed off.

“Someone you love?” Tommy asked.

“No,” Terry said, almost too quickly for his own good. “Someone you care about. I’m allowed to do that, aren’t I?”

“Of course you are,” Tommy said. “But you need to be honest with yourself. When the Aces would go out and get drunk and there were only three of us, we used to talk about how perfect you had life.”

“How so?”

“Great kids, beautiful wife, everything you could want,” Tommy said. “You had that once. You can have it again.”

“Not with her,” Terry replied. “Hell, she can’t even be honest with me.”

“You have to be honest with yourself first,” Tommy said. “Maybe that’s what she’s trying to tell you.”

“You, my friend, are a Leicester boy, not a professional shrink. Which I do not need.”

“Suit yourself,” Tommy said. “But anyone who looks at that woman when she’s with you knows she could care less about Trent or whatever the hell his name is.”

“Her boy is theirs,” Terry replied. “Adopted. Together.”

You could have knocked Tommy over with a gust of wind.

“Well, that does make things a bit different,” he said.

“No s**t.”

##

[mark wilson27]

Another good victory there Tenthree, Mr Wilson is very happy with how things are going with Chesterfield

[chesterfan2]

welcome back 10-3, or rather welcome back Terry. I've missed this one.

[tenthreeleader]

I've missed writing it, cf. Feels nice to be back in the saddle with a favorite character of mine. And it's always nice to get praise from FMS' greatest gaffer!

___

With the lunchtime kickoff, Terry was home for dinner. He arrived to find Kerri and Max in the living room with Dana and Wade, just like usual.

He entered without a word, and Dana rushed to her father for one of those sweeping hugs that every father loves.

“Great game,” she offered, as he kissed his daughter’s forehead.

“I’ll take it,” he said. “Still leading on goal difference.”

“Port Vale won again today,” Wade said. “They and Oxford never seem to lose.”

“Only to us, pal,” Terry said, the first hint of a smile returning to his face upon dropping Dana’s embrace.

After the conversation with Tommy, Terry’s mood had improved. The fallout from his issue at Wade’s match seemed to be not as bad as he had thought it might be – though, in the finest tradition of the fatalist he thought it still could become that way – and for the moment, he was content to realize it could have been worse.

Kerri, though, had some explaining to do to the children, if she hadn’t done it already.

“Did you talk to them?” he asked, moving across the room to sit in his easy chair.

“Of course,” she answered.

“About what they wanted to talk about?” he asked.

“I resent the question,” she replied.

“You made it necessary,” Terry said, speaking frankly. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind answering it.”

“Let’s do this out of earshot,” she suggested, motioning down the hall toward the bath and master bedroom.

Terry got up out of his chair and the two grown-ups walked away from the children.

“They were hurt,” Terry said. “So what did you tell them?”

“I told them the truth,” she said. “I’m in a relationship and the reason I didn’t tell them was because I didn’t want to hurt their father.”

Terry nodded. He was taking her statement one word at a time.

“Because I didn’t want him to get emotionally tied up,” she added.

He nodded again.

“Because I could see that he cared about me and since I cared about the children, I decided to allow the situation to continue.”

Terry read between the lines.

“You cared about the children … but not about …”

She looked at him and sighed. The hall lights cast her face into shadow, and she wiped away a tear that raced down her cheek and into the darkness.

“I’m sorry, Terry,” she said. “Truly, I’m sorry.”

##

[tenthreeleader]

Lincoln (4-3-4, 11^th place) v Chesterfield (8-2-1, 1^st place) – League Two Match Day #12

It figured.

It just bloody figured.

Terry had tried to come out of his shell, to show a more or less normal human face, and this was the result.

Even the kids were angry. It just made him wish all the more that Alison was still alive.

His mood was dark, but thankfully drink did not return to Terry’s agenda. The kids made sure of that.

“We’ll get through it together,” Dana had promised and for once even Wade hadn’t made a smart comment. He was just as upset as his father.

Terry didn’t love her. He knew that for sure. But he had taken the time to care, only to be double-teamed by Kerri and some guy he had never heard of before.

The Terry Christian that returned to training with his team was a different person. He had a much harder edge, and was much less willing to suffer fools than he had been.

“Fool me once, shame on you,” Terry had said over and over while dressing for the team breakfast. It only made him angrier, which for the time being was just where he wanted to be.

Terry left the hotel immediately after the team breakfast, with Lincolnshire just far enough away from Chesterfield to make an overnight stay a good idea.

He left the team in Tommy’s charge, hired a cab to take him to Sincil Bank and was in the visiting manager’s office by 9:00 for the noon kickoff. He was alone. That was a good thing.

Terry watched the pre-match shows that devoted hours to the Premiership and a few minutes to the lower leagues. That was fine. That was the order of things.

That ambition was starting to drive him, though, and that was also a good thing.

He had the top club in League Two and that was what he was supposed to have. Good for him.

He was hoping for much today. The Imps were solidly mid-table and Chesterfield had pursuers in the form of both Oxford and Port Vale.

With that in mind, Terry sent out his stall with an attacking bent:

Chesterfield (4-3-1-2)

GK – Lee

DL – Bennett

DC – Breckin ©

DC – Page

DR – Hunt

MC – Niven

MC – Allott

MC – Cuvelier

AMC – Whitaker

ST – Talbot

ST – Davies

With those high hopes, Terry sat back on the bench, to watch the match with Tommy. He had other things on his mind.

“You okay?” Tommy asked, as the match kicked off.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t look like it. You look like you’re ready to rip someone apart with your own two hands.”

“I’ll get over it. Let’s watch the match.”

The two watched as former Rushden and Diamonds striker Drewe Broughton spurned a good chance fifteen minutes into the match. Actually, Broughton was a ‘former’ for just about everyone – Lincoln was his 15^th professional club.

It was a quarter of an hour before Chesterfield generated a decent chance, but Allott put Hunt’s square ball into orbit and that ended that.

Davies then crashed a shot off the right post but was offside anyway, and proceeded to make a complete hash out of a one-on-one with keeper Alvin Rouse six minutes from the interval, chipping both wide and high in his attempt to lob the ball over the onrushing Imps shotstopper.

That was as good as it got in the first half. So much for attacking football.

##

[Scribe]

I've read all of this over the last few days and have really enjoyed it. It makes me want to write something myself, so thanks for posting 10-3

[tenthreeleader]

Thanks, Scribe ... get thee to your computer and let's see what you've got to offer!

___

At half, Terry inquired as to whether his charges were, in fact, interested in gaining three points on the day, and then, receiving answers in the affirmative, sent out an unchanged eleven for the second half.

The first half had been dire, but playing away from home stayed Terry’s hand – until Broughton got the hosts on the scoreboard just before the half hour.

Broughton had a reputation for being able to find the back of the net, but a maddening inconsistency in so doing had led to him becoming one of the most traveled players in England.

Yet for now, the only traveling that mattered was the long trudge the Spireites made back up the pitch for the kickoff after falling behind a goal to nil.

Niven tried for an instant response but headed over the bar; Davies followed by completing his hat trick of near misses three minutes later.

The game then became a panoply of misses for the misfiring Spireites striker. He missed the top corner on the next sequence of play after his third miss, and then fired directly into Rouse’s body not five minutes later after doing well to get into the penalty area with the ball.

His frustration was apparent, but Terry left Davies out there when he pulled Allott off for Lester in 73 minutes, switching to 4-3-3 to try to get an extra man in the Lincoln penalty area.

A period of prolonged pressure came to naught, and four minutes from Breckin intercepted a ball and hoofed it forward for Bennett, now moving forward to provide extra width from the full back position. Terry and the Spireites were now down to the last gasp, throwing players forward and trying to recycle possession.

Bennett swerved to the byline and crossed for anyone in a white shirt.

He found Lester, and the veteran saved the day by heading past Rouse.

Lester stood in front of that part of Sincil Bank known as Poacher’s Corner, though called that for a different reason. Today, though, it hadn’t mattered. It was the thought that counted.

Lincoln City 1 (Drewe Broughton 58)

Chesterfield 1 (Jack Lester 86)

A – 5,041, Sincil Bank, Lincoln

Man of the Match – Joe Bennett, Chesterfield (MR 8.0)

##

[tenthreeleader]

He would take it. It wasn’t perfect, but Terry would take it.

Oxford had outclassed Morecambe 2-0 at home and Port Vale had also won. The table now showed Chesterfield joint top with Oxford, with the 22-6 goal differential of Terry’s club barely beating the 20-6 of United. Port Vale was a point behind.

It was going to be a long, hard slog and everyone knew it. But Lester’s late heroics had saved the situation from being a lot worse.

Terry still returned home angry, though. He was processing, and so when Tommy called asking if he wanted to go out on the town, Terry had to tell him no for the wrong reasons.

“I don’t have a sitter,” he fumed. “And frankly I’m so pissed off at Kerri at the moment I have no desire to call her.”

“Look, you can’t hang her out to dry like that,” Tommy said.

“And why not? She led me on.”

“Look, Terry, you haven’t exactly had a lot of experience in ending relationships,” his friend said. “The only woman you ever wanted in your life, you got.”

Terry, by the hardest, overlooked the fact that he had had all the practice he needed in ending relationships, and used the last of his patience to explain himself.

“She put herself into this house, and then she ripped out our hearts,” Terry said. “Not just mine. The kids’ too. Whatever happened to the Aces, after all? Weren’t we supposed to look out for each other?”

“We did, until you left,” Tommy said. “Look, that’s just being true and it’s being fair. When you got married, things changed. We’re still there for you but one thing friends do is tell each other when they’re wrong. And right now, you’re wrong. At least as it relates to this. Kerri isn’t worth your time.”

It was the sort of thing only a best friend could hope to get away with saying and both men knew it.

“I need to think this through, Tommy,” Terry said. “Right now I have angry kids and that’s bad.”

Terry had had to call his parents to look after the children while the team was away, and he had felt terrible about doing that. It was just like the bad old days.

Now that they were all together again as a three-person family after the match, Terry didn’t want to go out on the town.

“Look, you’ve never been married and never had any kids,” Terry said.

“That you know of,” Tommy replied, trying to interject some humour into the situation.

“Smart-ass,” Terry replied without missing a beat. “I’m trying to drive a point through your skull. If you want to go out, let’s do it tomorrow and give me this evening with the kids. Okay?”

“Fine,” Tommy answered. “Suit yourself. But I am going to pull you out of this funk or I am going to die trying. You get that?”

“Don’t even joke about dying,” Terry said. “You get that?”

##

[tenthreeleader]

It was called “The Doughnut”, and Tommy wanted Terry to go bar-hopping near there.

Terry’s parents were nice enough to take the children for the evening

They had jointly decided Leicester was a bad idea if they wanted to go out, and due to the bad publicity and police sanctions involved in being caught drink-driving, they took a cab.

But once in the heart of Chesterfield, the two were able to at least try to enjoy an evening.

They wound up at a place called the Twisted Pinnacle, fitting enough for their employer’s nickname, and were sat at a corner table.

There, Terry could listen to his friend’s views on life and … well, on everything.

But when the topic came to women, Terry wasn’t engaging.

“I just don’t really want to talk about another relationship, or feelings or anything like that,” Terry said. “I’m not in touch with my inner woman. Sorry.”

“Well, maybe you don’t want to be in touch with your inner woman,” Tommy said, his tone stopping just short of chiding. “Maybe you should just go out and have a good time.”

“I couldn’t do that to Alison,” Terry said, almost reflexively.

“She isn’t here anymore, Terry. You know that.”

“So I’m just supposed to hop into bed with the first woman I see.”

“I didn’t say that and you know it. Look, man, you have to start living. I know you thought Kerri could help you with that, but she can’t. Or won’t. Whatever. But it’s time for you to realize that you’ve got a life to live.”

“Seems we’ve had this conversation before.”

“That we have. Now, let me get you another drink.”

As Tommy went to the bar, Terry looked out at the bar’s dance floor. He saw young people out there enjoying themselves, and, like any man, could tell who was trying too hard in their search for after-dinner action.

“What, you want me to be like them?” Terry smiled, jerking a thumb at the dance floor.

“No. Please, not like them,” Tommy replied, still happy his friend could joke. “But you know what I mean.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” Terry replied.

“Keep your eyes open. Find some friends. Believe it or not, once people pound their way into your skull, you’re actually not a bad guy. Just ease up a little bit and see what’s going on around you. Who knows, even the kids might appreciate that.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, they’re hurting for you. Anyone can see that. You go out and find someone to spend some time with, maybe your mood improves. And that helps your kids.”

Mulling it over, Terry had to admit that Tommy was probably right.

“You know what I think,” he finally said.

“I have no earthly idea,” Tommy grinned, as their waitress approached with two more beers.

“Maybe the Four Aces need a night out again.”

“Hyatt might be difficult,” Tommy said, warming quickly to the idea. “You know how Ferguson is with his players running all over England.”

“Yeah,” Terry replied. “Kinda like I’d be with mine.”

“Well, maybe we can get him to come down some Saturday night after a match,” Tommy said. “It’d be good for all of us, I think.”

Rishe was in Leicester. Tommy and Terry were getting drunk in Chesterfield. Three-fourth of the Aces were already within reach.

##

[mark wilson27]

Tommy and Terry were getting drunk in Chesterfield.

##

Trust me there's plenty of good places in Chesterfield to get drunk..not that I'd know

[tenthreeleader]

Vodka, Mark?

___

The headlines were plain:

Sven Out?

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s career had taken a bit of a detour after he decided to accept the England manager’s job.

The first man to win league and cup doubles in three different countries, as England manager Eriksson fell afoul first of Faria Alam and Mark Palios and then of “The Fake Sheikh”, investigative reporter Mazher Mahmood.

Now, the man who had once managed Roma and Lazio in addition to England, Mexico and Ivory Coast was biding his time at the Aces’ club, Leicester.

While Terry was worried about his club’s flat-footed tie with Oxford in League Two, which the Spireites led by goal difference a point ahead of onrushing Port Vale, Sven had other problems.

Such as keeping his job.

The Foxes had won only four of their first eleven matches in the Championship with three draws, good for twelfth place – which was below where the board thought they should be.

The papers, those paragons of virtue and accuracy, were now screaming for Sven’s head on a platter. That was par for the course in the management game. Anyone not winning, and winning regularly, was on the block.

It was all the more reason for Terry to be gratified with the quality of his club’s start, especially as a first-year manager.

But he couldn’t figure out all the falderol regarding Sven.

The man had been places. He had won things, including a UEFA Cup. Yeah, he had had issues in the business. Some of them had been highly embarrassing. That happens. But to be mid-table at a club with Leicester’s resources wasn’t bad work.

They hadn’t been horrible. But evidently they weren’t good enough.

So Rishe was under a bit of pressure too. Still the club’s leading goalscorer, his place in local lore was secure but his position with the club was not. If the club fell too far back in the table, a player of his considerable talent might well be a transfer target.

Trouble was, Darren didn’t want that. So when the boys called him, he was just as down in the dumps as they were.

Well, Hyatt wasn’t. Nobody who plays for Manchester United is ever truly unhappy.

But Hyatt was still a Leicester man unless his club was playing them, which was to be understood. He was as concerned as anyone about the fate of his hometown club.

So the four got together that week for some time out as ‘the lads’. It was the first time the four of them had been together since the last time Terry had put on a Foxes’ shirt.

In his way, he felt responsible for breaking up the group, so he got a measure of satisfaction in trying to get them back together again, even if only for a night.

They talked. And drank. And talk. And drank some more.

Hyatt was careful, and so was Riche. Tommy wasn’t quite as careful. Terry wasn’t careful at all.

“I never knew you could drink like that,” Riche chided, as Terry downed a Newcastle ale with surprising speed.

“I never knew I could either,” Terry replied, wiping his mouth without missing a beat.

“Well, we’ll find you another good woman,” Hyatt said, in the way that only a truly good friend could get away with. “Then you can knock off the juice.”

Terry punched Hyatt’s arm in a playful fashion. He was finally starting to loosen up, at last back with his old friends.

Rishe turned to Terry.

“So where have you been the last seven years?” he finally asked.

“I’ve been gone.”

Truer words were rarely spoken.

##

[tenthreeleader]

Terry had always had to watch his drinking around his children. That was plain. So he reported home in halfway decent shape for their sake.

He felt like he would have let down Alison had he done it any other way, and in that regard, he knew he was probably right.

The inner shrine he had built to his late wife seemed ridiculous to some people who knew about it, but he also knew of other people who hadn’t remarried after losing a spouse and who were of the same mind he was.

So, arriving quietly at the apartment at bedtime for the children, he thanked his parents for sitting with the kids and prepared to get some sleep.

The thought of Kerri was really bothering him. It was as though she was hovering over him, looking over his shoulder at how he ran his life. She and whats-his-name.

It was starting to annoy him. So the next day, when Wade played a game and she showed up, he decided to play cool.

They sat together in silence. Wade looked up into the stand and saw his father sitting with Kerri and frowned, spinning back to the contest with a look of disgust on his face.

This was still a different Wade Christian, and he was as different from the furious one as he was from the mild-mannered one.

This time he was angry but controlled. There was no possible way he could hold that mood for his entire playing career, but his concentration was very taut and his play was razor-sharp.

He raced up and down the field, the wind sailing through his hair, as he played the game at a higher tempo than anyone around him. Terry was impressed by his son’s elan and drive.

Even Kerri noticed.

“He’s playing well,” she said.

Terry nodded. “You’re responsible,” he replied.

She looked at him, a tinge of anger in her eyes.

“You mean he’s angry. Because I have a relationship? That’s hardly fair.”

“Because you have a relationship you didn’t disclose. Now, please, I don’t want to fight over that ground again. I’ve already lost that engagement, thank you very much.”

He looked down at Wade, the wind now moving the father’s sandy hair in the same manner as his son’s. He wondered why Kerri still chose to come to the games, and why still she chose to sit with him.

Terry didn’t want to make a scene, which getting up and moving surely would have done. He also preferred not to tell her not to sit with him, because that would have made a scene as well.

So he sat there and sucked in his emotions. It was just the last seven years writ into one afternoon.

“I have begun the process of finding another caretaker for the children while you’re away,” Kerri said.

“How could you do that? You have no job with the child service agency.”

“I still have friends there who can help.”

“You did so without asking me,” Terry said. “I must therefore ask that you stop.”

She looked at him, gobsmacked.

“You mean you really wouldn’t want me to help you, as a friend?” she asked.

“You said you didn’t care,” Terry said, his words calm, clear and clipped as an electric trimmer running through a hedge.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she countered.

“Assume that’s true,” he said. “As a friend, perhaps. But as someone who just comes into my house and arranges for the care of my children when you aren’t a parent? No.”

She got up from her seat next to Terry.

“That tells me something about you,” she said, tossing her words over her shoulder as she walked up the aisle leading to the exit.

“That tells me something more about you,” Terry answered, his words seeming to bounce off Kerri’s retreating back. It was verbal tennis.

On the pitch, Wade looked up at his father, now sitting alone, and smiled.

##

[chesterfan2]

I'm beginning to like Wade, is that the plan ?

[Calubalay]

Long time lurker here. I've just read through this FMS in a couple days and have to say it's excellent.

Definitely got me hooked and I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on this.

Once again, excellent work 10-3.

[Ratonbox]

wow, just found this now and I don't know how I missed it. Amazing job with the story!

[tenthreeleader]

cf, Wade isn't a monster. At least, not all the time. Thanks to everyone for following along!

___

Chesterfield (8-3-1, 1^st place) vs. Torquay (6-3-3, 7^th place) – League Two Match Day #13

There was plenty of reason for nerves as Terry woke to go to the ground.

For one, it was Terry’s first matchup against a player he had had words with. Martin Gritton, the on-loan striker, played at Torquay and Terry thought back to his one and only conversation with the man at the time he took charge of the club.

It hadn’t gone well.

Gritton had netted twice for Torquay in eleven matches, which was a bit low in terms of rate of return, so Terry wasn’t worried that he would show up in Paul Buckle’s side for the day.

What he was more concerned about was 23-year old Elliot Benyon, a pace striker who had scored goals for fun so far in the campaign, and his midfield supplier Chris Zebroski.

Terry thought his Spireites could scheme their way around Benyon, especially if Torquay showed their favored 4-4-1-1 away formation, and he set out his charges in a far more aggressive bent:

Chesterfield (4-3-1-2)

GK – Lee

DL – Bennett

DC – Breckin ©

DC – Page

DR – Hunt

MC – Niven

MC – Allott

MC – Cuvelier

AMC – Whitaker

ST – Lester

ST – Davies

It took Davies just four minutes to spurn the first chance of the match, taking a very nice little lead ball from Whitaker and bending it around Simon Rayner’s left post.

Then it was Zebroski who launched the visitors into the match, finishing a distressingly good buildup by lashing into Lee’s side netting from fifteen yards.

Lester was active in the early going as well and after Page found a way to head over from a corner when it would have been easier to score, the veteran opened the scoring by losing his marker at the edge of the area and screaming for Whittaker to see him.

The two Spireite longtimers hooked up nicely and Lester finished coolly for a 1-nil advantage just 14 minutes into the match.

Billy Kee then challenged Lee moments later but the keeper collected at feet. Even Lee, though, couldn’t stop Zebroski from equalizing when the Spireites failed to clear their lines seven minutes after Lester’s opener.

Terry leaned his head back in frustration against the back of the dugout, while Tommy realized that now was not the time to talk to his friend. It was a basic defending error and, rare though goals conceded had been, it was an error that should never have been made.

Zebroski, for his part, went into the referee’s book moments after scoring for holding back Cuvelier, but a series of corners and two more spurned chances by Whitaker and Niven didn’t improve Terry’s mood at halftime.

It was 1-1, but Torquay was more than holding its own thanks to profligacy on the part of Chesterfield’s front men. The alignment was generating the designed pressure. Yet the players weren’t executing.

##

[TwinsFan86]

Yet the players weren’t not executing.

##

Not to be the grammar police or anything... (Lord knows, I have my own issues with that)

[tenthreeleader]

The energetic Kee came off at halftime for the visitors, replaced by Saul Halpin as the visitors looked for a little more muscle up front.

As it began to rain, Zebroski imposed himself on the game again by forcing Allott to head the ball behind after some nice skill work inside the Chesterfield area.

Terry was already waving for Cuvelier to get Zebroski closed down, but the visitors outnumbered the Spireites in the midfield and Zebroski could get into wide positions at his pleasure. It seemed to please him quite a bit.

It pleased him so much, in fact, that he put his team ahead in 57 minutes. He wasn’t inside the box when he did it, though, which made Terry even more upset.

Taking a ball right at Page, Zebroski this time cut inside and gave the despairing Lee no chance at all with a rising rocket that banked down off the keeper’s crossbar and home for a 2-1 advantage to the visitors.

“We’ve got to have four across,” Terry snapped, motioning for Ouattara to come into the game, replacing Allott.

“Get the bloody ball forward,” Terry hissed in the midfielder’s ear as he stepped onto the pitch, and Ouattara nodded, perhaps in self-defense as much as anything else.

It started to rain harder as Chesterfield kicked off, and the embarrassed Page started Niven away right from the kickoff. He in turn fed Davies, and this time the striker didn’t miss. He beat Rayner with ease from twenty yards in an near mirror-image of Zebroski’s second goal and just like that, the Spireites were level.

Ashley Yeoman then came on as a sub for midfielder Eunan O’Kane as Buckle put on fresh legs.

The teams were now equal in numbers in the midfield, and moments after the equalizer it was Torquay’s Kevin Nicholson who made a bid for the lead, skidding a ball through the soup and inches wide of Lee’s left post.

It was starting to hot up on the pitch despite the cold and rainy conditions, and Terry had a decision to make as the home manager. With his crowd behind him, he could have been expected to try for the three points while Buckle was under no such onus. Yet it appeared to be Torquay carrying the play rather than the other way around.

With twenty-five minutes left, Terry stood up and headed out into the rain, whistling for Cuvelier’s attention. When he got it, Terry made a push-pull motion with his hands, indicating he wanted a change to a counter-attacking bent.

Tommy raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

Terry returned to sit down, wiping rain off his forehead as he did.

“Let’s absorb some of that pressure,” he said. “I think Paul is going to go for three points and I want to be ready for him.”

Torquay continued to surge forward until Ouattara trapped the ball on the left touchline and skittered away down the wing. He found Davies, and the striker held the ball beautifully, waiting for help before sliding a ball across one of the few remaining dry patches of ground to Whitaker.

The midfielder took the ball with Rayner caught on the move, and it was simple to slot behind him for a 3-2 advantage twenty minutes from time.

The soggy faithful at the B2Net Stadium certainly enjoyed seeing their team vault back into the lead, and this time when Terry looked at Cuvelier, he pulled both hands back so there could be no mistaking his meaning.

Torquay was left to flail away against a white and blue wall for the last twenty minutes, but the deteriorating conditions and stoutness of the Spireites’ rearguard made it a hopeless task.

It had been difficult. But it was over.

Chesterfield 3 (Lester 14, Davies 59, Whitaker 70)

Torquay 2 (Zebroski 21, 57)

A – 5,581, B2Net Stadium, Chesterfield

Man of the Match – Chris Zebroski, Torquay (MR 8.8)

##

[noah08]

Just ran across this story the last few days. One of the best in the forum!

[Novatheorem]

I cannot believe I'm almost two years late to the start of this party. I hope this story sees more light in 2014. Terry Christian is my favorite L2 manager of all time. =D

[tenthreeleader]

I love this story as well. And I don't want it to go away. Thank you for the kind comments!

___

Had he been a less patient man, Terry might well have been angry.

Opposing supporters hadn’t been kind. The story about Terry’s alleged transgression at Wade’s match, even though already proven false, had been the stuff of meme.

Which is to say, it would be repeated now wherever he went. He was furious at the damage to his previously golden-boy reputation.

At least, he thought it was.

The Torquay match had been a good one for Terry and his team, but personally it hadn’t been a good one for the Chesterfield boss.

His retreat to his car after the match was greeted with cheers by the home faithful that waited outside the players’ entrance, but the jeers and whistles of a few loud fans at the back window of a Torquay fan bus left him frustrated.

The idiot who had threatened Terry with a charge after the incident might well have succeeded in destroying national good will for him, generated under the hardest possible circumstances after Alison’s death.

And it wasn’t even true. Terry could have handled a fall from grace had he actually done what he had been accused of. Yet, he hadn’t.

So he was happier than usual to see his children when he arrived at home, this time under the care of Alison’s parents for a change.

They had come to see their grandchildren from their new home in London, where they had moved after Alison’s death.

Alison had been an only child, and living in Leicester had become too painful for Bill and Dana Hartsfield.

Dana enjoyed her namesake especially, doting on the girl as any loving grand would do.

Wade was close to Bill, even though he had been named for Terry’s father, but there was plenty of time on both sides of the family for the two children.

Terry had enjoyed the company of his in-laws while married, so when he arrived and tossed his kit bag into the corner of the closet as was his custom, he showed an easy familiarity.

Dana rose from the couch and ran to her father as was her custom, throwing her arms around his waist and hugging him tight. Wade gave his father a sloppy grin and simply said, “Nice match, Dad.”

“How’s the boy, then?” Bill asked, using his favorite name for Terry.

“Three points,” Terry said, slumping into his chair. “But I worry about going on the road again.”

“Team’s playing well,” Bill said. “Don’t know why you’d worry.”

“I’m worried about the kids,” Terry said. “When I’m getting savaged by opposing fans, it’ll be hard on them, maybe even at school.”

“That’s what you signed up for,” his father-in-law replied. “And surely the kids know the truth.”

“They do, but it hurts to hear,” Terry replied. “Weren’t you ever a child, Bill?”

The older man smiled ruefully and smiled as “Nana Dana”, as the kids called her, poured a cup of coffee first for her husband and then for her son-in-law, who really needed one to finish warming up after the cold, wet match.

“Of course,” he answered. “But there are things that families must do together, Terry. Getting through all this is just one of those things.”

“Well, I’m sorry to drag you all the way out here for this.”

“Because someone you asked to help you reneged on her responsibility?” Bill asked. “Good heavens, man. Don’t give it another thought. Besides, we love our grandchildren.”

Terry knew that his in-laws weren’t aware of the personal issues he had with Kerri, and was thankful for that.

“So, Terry,” Dana said, sitting beside him on the couch. “Did you fall for her?”

Or, maybe they were aware.

##

[mark wilson27]

Its good to see you carrying on with this one sir, as with all your work this is excellent

[chesterfan2]

I will happily second Mark's sentiments here, it's good to see this story return.

[Kinnell]

I discovered this story this evening, and I'm hooked, cannae wait to read more

[lewis999]

I can't wait for more content either. Hopefully this goes on for a while.