A Tale of Two Brothers

[Offspring8]

Terrier, that's exactly what I thought when I saw he'd been given the captaincy The only players set for captaincy were Joe Burnell (Captain) and Lewis Haldane (Vice Captain) so I was caught off-guard by that one!

dechardonay, thank you for your words . That's good, I hope it goes well for you, let me know how it turns out . And yes, I have taken the place of Chris Wilder but I simply manage as I think he would (E.g with a fair amount of discipline etc.). I'm trying to be as fair as possible as well; if one of the boys falls out of form, they'll be dropped. If they're unfit, they'll be replaced by somebody else. If they're having a bad game, they'll be subbed etc, I just think it's better that way.

And that's the thing, it's definitely possible that they might well stay at Oxford and help the club progress. If a team comes in and makes a bid and if either player wants that bid accepted, then I'll do my part to put the deal through, but that's the only way they'll be moving. I won't be offering them off to anybody (Unless I decide that the story needs that kind of twist You never know, the chairman/manager might decide they want to strike whilst the iron is hot) so it should be interesting!

With 25 minutes remaining, the game was balanced at 0-0 and it would only take a small mistake from either team in order to lose the game. That, or a piece of brilliance.

From a free-kick, Shane Killock hit the ball forward to Colin, who was just inside the Woking half. After hearing Simon Clist giving him the shout to turn with the ball, Colin turned and took a few steps forward before chipping a delightful pass into the penalty area which his younger brother ran on to.

With the backspin that Colin had added to the pass, the ball bounced up nicely for Robert to take the shot first time from an angle. Robert let fly, aiming for the gap between the goalkeeper and the near post. The ‘keeper was long beaten, but the ball then crashed into the outside of the post before bouncing out for a goal kick.

5 minutes later, Oxford successfully located the woodwork once more as Luke Foster headed against the crossbar after rising to meet a corner kick. Then, after winning possession back immediately from the goal kick, Oxford pressed again and it was Colin who fired this shot off.

From 25 yards out, Colin took a first time shot which began in line with the centre of the goal before curling towards the ‘keepers right hand post. Colin was denied by a stretching save and the score-line was still 0-0. Time was passing as Oxford began to throw men forward, urged on by their manager and the cries of their captain, Colin Rudyard.

The home side continued to waste chances and the fans grew nervous. After 90 minutes, the deadlock was yet to be broken. Colin called for one last push from his tired team as the fourth official showed that 5 minutes had been added on. The crowd came alive again as the announcement was made and all of the players in the yellow shirts managed to find that little bit of extra energy to press forward.

With 4 minutes of the 5 played in Woking’s half, Oxford had won a throw-in in line with the edge of the penalty area. Robert made himself available immediately and was given the ball as a reward. With the ball, came 2 Woking defenders to try and shut off any crossing opportunity.

Robert rolled the ball around with his feet, ensuring that the ball was never there to be taken from him. As both defenders hacked and chopped at both Robert and the ball, the young winger dummied one way before spinning the other and passing between both players. The supporters cheered once more as they watched their own local boy skin the Woking defence and advance into the penalty area.

Robert looked up and assessed his options. The angle was far too tight to attempt any kind of shot, which would mean it would have to be a cross into somebody. James Constable was being marked by two players and there was very little movement from anybody else.

That was until Colin came alive once more, making a late charge into the penalty area and calling for the ball to be chipped towards the back post.

As the ball flew over the ‘keeper, Colin slid in to try and tap the cross home from just a few yards out. He connected with the ball and poked it towards the goal line, only to be denied by a goal line clearance as Woking’s Michael Kamara slid in to deflect the ball around the outside of the post.

Colin led on the ground with his hands on his head, breathing deeply. He’d been so close to having his first appearance as the Oxford United captain capped with his first senior goal, only to see it snatched from him by a last ditch block.

“Come on, it’s not over yet. One more chance,” said Simon Clist, picking Colin up and clapping him on the back. Colin looked up at the clock and it showed 94:56. By the time the corner kick was ready to be taken, the 95th minute had passed.

Simon Clist went across to take the corner and Colin lingered just outside of the area, waiting for any scraps. Robert gave Clist the short option and managed to drag two markers away from their goal area, making things a little easier for Simon Clist.

The kick was a straight lump into the 6 yard box and it found Luke Foster. Foster had climbed above the ‘keeper and managed to nod the ball across the line. The whole team then ran across to the corner flag where Clist was and the celebrations began.

Foster spun around in search of Colin. As the young captain came into view, Foster pointed towards Colin and celebrated with him before the whole team got involved. As the group broke away again to allow Woking to take the restart, Colin looked towards where his dad, Danielle and Nigel were all sat, kissing his finger before pointing towards them. It had been a close call, but Oxford had managed to snatch a deserved victory at the last.

Oxford – 1

Luke Foster (90 + 5)

Woking - 0

Man of the Match: Luke Foster (OXF)

Att: 4202

**********

[dechardonay]

Just a quick note of encouragement to hopefully see more of this story...?

[Offspring8]

Sorry about the delay, we're moving houses so it's been a busy week for me - here's another chunk for you to get stuck into though

Also, as we pass the 100-posts mark and approach the 1500 views mark, I just want to say thanks to all of those who have read and continued to read and a huge thank you to those who have dropped comments of encouragement I really enjoy writing this story and playing this game and I can only hope you enjoy reading it, thanks again!

One more thing: Big shout out to Balthazars who helped me a lot with the phase of the story which is coming up shortly. My knowledge on said subject is limited so all credit for any kind of accuracy must go to Balth, he's been a great help, thanks again

Offy

Sugar looked down at the phone that he’d just recovered. It wasn’t amazing, but it would do the job that it was intended for – he only needed it to make one or two calls.

Sugar punched his uncle’s temporary phone number in and held his phone to his ear. Thabo never had the same number for long as he was constantly changing phones. It meant that Thabo could control who could call him as he only kept a select few regularly updated on his phone number.

“Hello?” came the answer.

“Uncle T? It’s Sugar. I just called to let you know that I picked up the phone earlier. Any news on the piece?” Sugar replied.

“Good job. It should be here soon, my boy. I’ll let you know when it’s arrived.”

With that, Thabo put the phone down. He was a busy man and he had little time for small talk with his nephew.

Sugar slipped his mobile into his pocket, flicking his hood up over his head as he began to walk down the street towards the house of the Rudyard’s. It wasn’t a huge distance and on the way, the hooded youngster picked up a rock that was almost the size of his clenched fist.

Upon reaching the house, Sugar pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket with a safety pin. With infinite care, he wrapped the paper around the rock, holding it in place with a safety pin. With the paper wrapped around the rock, Sugar stepped towards the house. He picked the front room as his target after seeing the light glowing through the curtains.

Sugar took a short run before hurling the rock towards the house. He was already running away when he heard the glass shatter and he began laughing to himself in all his excitement. Before anybody had reacted, Sugar was already out of the street and far away from the house.

Liam had been the only person in the front room and he was luckily unharmed. However, after checking outside and seeing nothing, Liam came back inside and saw the solid paper ball in the middle of the front room.

As Liam stooped to pick it up, the rest of the family gathered in the doorway. Colin and Robert jumped out into the front garden and ran to the garden gate, peering down the street to see if there was anybody hanging around who might’ve saw something. All that Colin saw was a few nosey neighbours – nobody that could’ve hurled that rock without breaking a hip in doing so.

Colin cursed and walked back inside to find the rest of his family looking quizzically at Dale, who was stood on the stairs.

“What?” asked the teen, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, who do you owe?” Liam replied, more than a hint of anger in his voice. As he spoke, Liam handed the piece of paper that had been wrapped around the rock to Colin. It read:

‘Dear Dale.

You owe me and you haven’t paid up. If I liked you, I’d give you a bit more time to pay me back – but I don’t like you. Unless I’m paid by the end of tomorrow, I’ll make you truly sorry for messing me about.

Cheers mate, and say congratulations to Robert and Colin for me. Haven’t they done well.’

Colin immediately knew that Sugar had been supplying Dale with drugs. Dale saw it as well. Colin’s jaw line showed through his cheek as he clenched his mouth tightly and Dale could tell that Colin had definitely sussed it.

“Let’s just tidy this up before somebody gets hurt,” Jennie then said, pointing towards all of the glass in the front room. Without another word, Colin followed Liam and Clive into the front room and began clearing up the mess. They were soon joined by Robert and the group set about boarding up the empty space while Dale crept down the stairs and out of the front door. He needed to get away from Colin to let things calm down.

**********

Tuesday 26th August 2008

There was a buzz around the Oxford training ground today as a new player joined the ranks.

Former Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard joined the club on a free. It was a great step forward for the club and, despite Gerrard being 35 years of age, it was being acknowledged as a great piece of business by many.

Neither of the Rudyard brothers had met the former Premier League player yet though, as Tuesday was a school day for them and they were only at the training ground because Chris Wilder had called them to an ‘urgent’ meeting.

As the pair sat down opposite Chris Wilder once again, a big smile spread across his face.

“I know you’re supposed to be at school, so I’ll make this short and sweet. I got a call today from Brian Eastick – he’s the manager of the England Under-19’s,” Chris began. As soon as those words reach the ears of the Rudyard brothers, neither of them could suppress a huge smile.

“They have two friendlies coming up in a couple of weeks and Mr. Eastick wants to call both of you up to the squad for both matches. What do you think, guys? You ready to play for England?”

**********

[Dalbeider]

So, what did Balthazars help with, the drug-dealing or the firearms-smuggling?

Still a top read, Offy. Keep it up .

[TerrierBhoy7]

I hope Sugar doesn't ruin it for them! Or should I say Dale??

[dechardonay]

Great to see you're back, sorry to be a nag! Hope the house-moving went well...

[Offspring8]

Dalb, he helped with both! And you don't even want to know where he hid those drugs either put it this way; he couldn't sit down for weeks.

Terrier, there are plenty of opportunities for things to be ruined for the brothers, whether that be on or off the pitch - but you're right, Sugar/Dale are windows of opportunity where trouble is concerned

I really don't mind it, dechardonay. Not quite finished moving yet which is why there was a delay for this post as well. We're moving out of a pub that we have owned you see, so we have to run the pub and keep it open and try and move house at the same time - it's a difficult task

Thanks for your comments guys

Friday 29th August 2008

John Shinn walked over the threshold and into a small room. One side of the room was completely windowed and it looked over the pitch located in the Kassam.

In the middle of the room, Colin and Robert Rudyard were sat at a small table. John approached the brothers, shaking Colin’s hand first and then shaking Robert’s hand before placing his large pile of papers on the table and sitting down opposite the pair.

“Good afternoon boys, on behalf of everyone at The Oxford Football Post I’d like to say thank you for making yourselves available today,” said the reporter. The questions started and John began by asking about how they had found the opening few games at Oxford. From there, things moved on to how the pair had faired with their new ‘Local Celebs’ status.

“To be honest, we don’t really notice it that much,” answered Colin, “We still hang around in the same areas now as we used to before we were signed up by Oxford so it’s usually only our close mates that we see anyway.”

“So you haven’t really had strangers come up to you in the street and greet you?” John asked.

“Well, it has happened and if I’m honest, I like it. But it’s not like it happens every day so it’s no bother really. It’s just a part of the package that comes with being a footballer I guess,” said Colin. John Shinn scribbled more notes onto his pad before looking up at Robert. The younger brother hadn’t said much during the course of the interview but that was nothing strange to Colin and Robert. Colin was normally the one who took the lead in situations like this.

“Robert, you’ve had a particularly good start to the season with a good link forming between you and James Constable and a goal to your name as well. Does the fact that you’re a local boy who’s made a great start and is entertaining to watch make you nervous at all going in to games?”

“You’re always nervous before games but no, I don’t think being a local kid adds any pressure. In fact, I prefer it – it means the fans will have more patience with me if I go through a dark patch or have a bad game. But yeah, it’s great to play for your local team; I know how the fans feel and I think local players have a certain connection with the fans that is rarely ever found between foreign players and the fans.”

Robert smiled as he finished his sentence. His answer satisfied him and he began to feel more comfortable sat opposite the reporter with the pen and paper.

“Finally, you’ve both been called up to the England Under 19’s and at 15 and 14 years of age, you’ll be the youngest players in the squad. How does it feel to be so highly rated and are either of you looking for a move away to one of the top clubs?” John Shinn asked, clicking his pen as he waited for an answer from one of the brothers.

“It’s an honour to be called up to a squad of players that are considered to be the best in the country under the age of 19. It’s everybody’s dream to play for their country and we’re both really looking forward to proving ourselves on the international stage,” Colin said. John took just a few seconds to finish scribbling down some notes. Then, the reporter peered over the top of his glasses at the brothers.

“And how about the move to a top club?” the reporter smiled.

“Well we’re Oxford United players and we’re enjoying our football at the moment. I think both of us still have a lot to prove here so I’m not looking to move. Obviously I want to fulfil my potential but, as of yet, the club have received no offers for either of us and there hasn’t been any major implications by any other club with regards to signing either of us. Unless the club want me to move, I would like to stay here.”

John looked at Colin and took no notes. After a few seconds of pause, the reporter nodded and began to scribble once more.

“Same as what he just said,” added Robert whilst John was still taking notes. The reporter smiled to himself. After a few more seconds, John finished his notes and asked the brothers to have a photo taken with him for the newspaper. As Colin and Robert stood either side of the reporter, a photographer flashed his shots at the trio. John put his arms around the pair.

“Well done boys. Good luck for tomorrow’s game; bring back the points for Oxford.”

**********

Colin and Robert followed Liam through the front door of their house and through to the living room. The window had been replaced and Clive sat on ‘his’ chair watching TV.

“How did it go?” Clive asked his grandsons.

“It went ok, thanks. Nothing too hard to answer,” Colin said, sitting down alongside Clive.

“Well watch yourself. These reporters are nice now but they’ll soon stab you in the back to pay for their meals.”

Robert then walked across the living room and sat down on the sofa. Granddad Clive always had good advice to give and it was always worth listening to him.

“Well this guy wasn’t that bad. He didn’t try and put words into our mouths or anything,” Robert chipped in.

“We’ll see. But when he nails the pair of you to the wall by your testicals, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Dodgy buggers they are.”

Robert and Colin laughed. There weren’t many people that Clive was fond of and reporters certainly didn’t hold a special place in his heart.

“Any sign of Dale?” Colin then asked out loud.

“Nope, I still haven’t seen him and neither has Linda. He’s probably staying at a mates’ place or something,” Jennie called from the kitchen. Dale had disappeared on the night that the rock had been put through their window and Colin hadn’t heard from his cousin since – which was a good thing for Dale’s sake. Still, it would have eased the worry in Colin’s mind if he at least knew where Dale had gotten too.

**********

[dechardonay]

G'day Offy, hope things are settling in well, any chance of this story continuing? Has been a fave of mine on here...

[stoehrst]

G'day Offy, hope things are settling in well, any chance of this story continuing? Has been a fave of mine on here...

I echo these sentiments, Offspring, this is a phenomenal piece!

[Offspring8]

This story will definitely be continuing guys, no need to worry about that I've just had a bit of a busy (and lame!) start to 2010. And being a Chelsea fan isn't exactly helping much either

Saturday 30th August 2008

Ebbsfleet (19th) vs. Oxford (1st) (Blue Square Premier)

Saturday 30th August, Stonebridge Road

Robert ghosted inside from the right wing, passing behind his marker in the process. The defender spun back around to pursue the nippy winger, but Robert simply rode his challenge and pushed on towards the byline.

Robert’s cross went towards the far post, finding Craig Nelthorpe on the corner of the 6 yard box. Nelthorpe steadied himself before volleying the ball back across goal, narrowly missing James Constable and the goal to go out for a goal kick.

A few minutes later and Robert was down the right wing again, level with the edge of the penalty area. With two players closing him down, Robert rolled the ball along the edge of the penalty area and into the path of Joe Burnell.

Burnell struck the ball first time but couldn’t find the target, cursing as the ball bounced past the wrong side of the post. They still hadn’t scored but it had been a good opening from Oxford and Robert in particular.

But a few minutes later, the strong start was undone by poor defending. Ebbsfleet won a throw-in just inside the Oxford half and William Easton received possession. After a short run down the left wing, Easton knocked the ball inside to Jamie Hand, who had found himself with plenty of space.

Hand dribbled the ball inside until he was centred with the goal, 30 yards from the goal-line. Despite the obvious dangers, the Oxford defenders still stood on the edge of their own area, reluctant to commit themselves to challenging Jamie Hand.

Chris Wilder went mad. He jumped up and down on the touchline, screaming for someone to close down the threat. Having heard their manager screaming his orders, both Shane Killock and Matt Day charged out of the Oxford penalty area to win the ball back for their team.

However, they were too easy to read and too eager to win the ball back. As both defenders closed in on Hand, the Ebbsfleet player simply side stepped on defender before rolling the ball past the second, using his opponents own momentum to beat them with a bit of agility.

After squeezing through Oxford’s defence, Hand pressed on into the area. His resulting goal was more than impressive. From a slight angle, Hand chipped the ball into the far corner of the goal. And it wasn’t as if Oxford’s Paul Gerrard was even far off of his line. It was just a perfectly weighted shot which was actually helped by the fact that it came from an angle.

After going a goal down in the first ten minutes, Oxford picked their game up again and dominated possession. The next shot on target came 20 minutes in to the game. After the original cross had been cleared, Joe Burnell gathered up the ball and fed it inside to Colin Rudyard.

His first touch was good, having started with his back to goal, Colin controlled the pass on his chest and managed to turn to face goal before striking the ball on the half-volley. It was an impressive effort which showed a good level of technique.

The ball rocketed along, about a yard off of the ground, towards the Ebbsfleet goal. Then, as it got closer to the target, the ball began to rise in search of the right side of the roof of the net, only to be deflected over the bar by an outstretched hand.

The game continued to be dominated by Oxford, but very few shots were taken. There were plenty of passes from the away team, but they just couldn’t get inside the Ebbsfleet area and were forced to take shots from difficult angles and distances, meaning that the half ended at 1-0 to Ebbsfleet.

**********

“Where’s the movement?” Chris Wilder asked as the changing room door shut behind the last player. Nobody answered the Oxford manager, but he wasn’t really looking for an answer in the first place.

“James, you in particular had better improve your movement up front otherwise I’ll be pulling you off sooner rather than later,” Wilder said calmly. James Constable simply nodded, appreciating the fact that he’d been anonymous so far in the game. Wilder then turned his attention to the rest of the team.

“I haven’t been particularly impressed with anybody to be quite honest. Midfield; you need to pick your game up and give yourselves more options. There’s not enough penetrating movement. Defence; you need to be on your toes and you need to get on top of any chance that might come up for Ebbsfleet. We gave away a disappointing goal.”

Robert knew that the team performance had been nowhere near good enough, and he was annoyed at his team-mates. He’d started the game well, exploiting the left hand side of Ebbsfleet twice in the opening 5 minutes. But since then, he’d rarely seen the ball in spite of plenty of movement. He knew that Oxford stood a much better chance of getting themselves back into a good position if they put Roberts’s skills to use. But whether or not that would happen would remain to be seen.

**********

It took little more than 5 minutes of the second half before Oxford came close to scoring once more. And once again, it was Colin who fired the shot off.

It was from a free-kick this time. Colin was not the regular free-kick taker, but he was still a fair shout at dead-ball situations and with this set piece coming from the left-hand right-angle of the Ebbsfleet penalty area, it was looking good for a right-footed player to strike it.

Colin tried to curl it into the far corner, and he succeeded in beating both the wall and the ‘keeper. The only thing that prevented the goal, was the woodwork.

And minutes later, football showed how cruel it could be.

For the first time in what seemed an age, Ebbsfleet managed to get the ball deep into Oxford’s half, eventually winning a free-kick wide out on the right, 10 yards from the byline.

William Easton put the ball down with purpose and waited for the rest of his team to get into their positions to attack his cross. The whistle blew, and Easton ran towards the ball to strike it. As he placed his left foot alongside the ball, he slipped, falling down and slicing the cross with his right foot.

In the end though, this was a good thing as it caught Paul Gerrard off-guard and floated in at the near post, putting Ebbsfleet undeservedly 2-0 up with just under an hour played.

[Offspring8]

As the hour mark passed, Chris Wilder grew agitated and told Yemi Odubade to begin his warm-ups. He would go on to replace James Constable, giving Oxford a fast striker to aim for in the hope that it would cause the Ebbsfleet defence a different problem – hopefully, one they wouldn’t be able to deal well with.

While Odubade began his warm-ups, Craig Nelthorpe worked the ball down the left wing, charging to the byline before hanging a cross up at the back post.

Robert Rudyard was the one to attack it, launching his 5ft 8” frame at the ball with as much speed as he could gather. Unfortunately for the winger though, Ebbsfleet’s Sacha Opinel also challenged for the cross, and he was the one who got his head to it.

But not in the correct way. Seeing that Robert was also leaping to meet the cross, Opinel’s jump was slightly enthusiastic, causing him to jump too far and meaning that he would end up heading towards his own goal rather than away from it if he made contact.

He had no choice. If he didn’t get something on the cross, Robert would and it would surely be an Oxford goal. Using all the power he could muster mid-jump, Opinel tried to nod the ball over his own goal.

However, he couldn’t get enough power on the header and would only succeed in putting the ball into his own net, bringing Oxford straight back into the game and leaving Robert and his teammates in one of those ‘How the hell am I supposed to celebrate that one?’ situations.

Soon after the awkward celebrations were over, James Constable left the field to be replaced by Yemi Odubade. Yemi was in an entirely different mould to Constable. Yemi Odubade was one of the few that could match Robert for pace, and that was his main point.

The game then turned into a drawn-out version of pin-ball as both defences took it in turns to hoof the ball to one another with only rare attacks forming. One of those rare chances fell to Odubade after Colin had played a disguised pass through to him. One-on-one with the ‘keeper, Odubade rolled the ball at his feet, only to find out that he had (luckily) been flagged offside anyway.

The final 20 minutes really were disappointing, as each team took it in turns to see who could hold on to possession for the longest, with only Oxford occasionally applying any kind of pressure.

Despite having more possession and chances than the home team, Oxford hadn’t really done enough to pick up any points. After a lacklustre performance from both teams, the game ended up 2-1 to Ebbsfleet, leaving Oxford with their 2nd loss in 6 games and dropping them down to fourth place behind Salisbury, Forest Green and Crawley, an extremely unlikely leading trio.

Ebbsfleet – 2

Jamie Hand (9)

William Easton (57)

Oxford - 1

Sacha Opinel OG (61)

Man of the Match: William Easton (EBS)

Att: 892

**********

Sunday 31st August 2008

There was still no sign of Dale and it had been almost a week since Colin had last seen or heard from his cousin. He’d decided that the best thing to do would be to go out and look for him. Colin knew that Dale had no money or food so he couldn’t have gone far from the Rudyard house.

As Colin pulled his shoes onto his feet, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. The caller ID showed ‘Danielle M’ and Colin smiled as his stomach flipped and he momentarily forgot about his troubles.

“Afternoon Dani, you must be bored to give me a call?” Colin laughed.

“Ah it must just be your lucky day,” Danielle laughed back. “But yes, I am rather bored and I was wondering if you were up to anything? Sundays are always a drag; last day of the weekend before going back to school for another week and everything so I’d prefer not to spend these crappy days alone.”

Colin stood up and walked out of his house, phone still glued to his ear. He wanted to spend time with Danielle and go into town or do something interesting, but he knew he had to look for Dale.

“Well I would like to do something but I have to look for Dale. He seems to have disappeared so I’m just gunna have a walk around to some places and see if I can find him. I mean, you’re free to join me if you want but it might be kinda boring.”

There was a pause for a few seconds before Danielle answered again. In his head, Colin was willing for her to agree to help him look for Dale. Then he got an answer that made him smile.

“It’s better than sat here on my own, where shall we meet?”

The pair agreed to meet at Danielle’s house. Colin was comfortable there; Dani’s parents had seemed nice and he got on with her dad Nigel in particular. The only one in the house that didn’t make him feel welcome was Sam, and Danielle had already picked up on the bad vibes between the pair.

But nothing serious had developed between Colin and Sam, so there was no need for too much worry. Once again, the pair ignored each other when Colin came to call for Danielle, but at least they weren’t squaring up to each other.

“Where are we off to first then?” Danielle asked as they stepped through Danielle’s garden gate and out onto the street.

“Erm... I guess we could look in the park first, see if he’s there?” Colin suggested. Danielle nodded in agreement. After a few seconds of silence, Colin took a deep breath and stretched out his hand. Danielle looked it, smiled, and then put her own hand into Colin’s. He fought back his sigh of relief and had to look away as he smiled because of how much of an idiot he must have looked.

Colin and Danielle soon reached the park but there was still no sign of Dale. Then Colin’s phone went off again, showing his home phone number on the ID this time.

“Hi Colin, I just called to let you know that Linda called me a few minutes ago and said that Dale is round her house sorting things out,” Jennie said after her eldest son answered the phone.

“That’s good then, but where’s he been?” Colin answered. Jennie then told him the story she’d been told by Linda: Dale’s spent time at a friend’s apartment to think about things. But his hygiene levels, his unhealthy looks and his obvious lack of sleep would suggest otherwise. Still, Dale maintained that he’d been spending time at a friend’s place.

It was good news to Colin. He was angry at Dale but at least he knew that his cousin wasn’t led in a gutter somewhere or starving any more.

“Dale’s turned up safe at my auntie’s house,” Colin said, turning to Danielle. “You wanna come back to my house, hang out for a bit?”

Danielle smiled and nodded, taking a step towards Colin. They both leaned in towards each other and their lips met for the first time. If Colin could have just paused time there forever, he would have.

Eventually, the pair came apart from each other and Colin nodded in the general direction of his house. Danielle smiled once more at the thought of Colin’s home. She got on well with the whole of Colin’s family and she particularly enjoyed being around his granddad, Clive. He always had something to say and he could turn any kind of dark mood lighter with a few words.

With the sun sinking to another face of the earth, Colin and Danielle walked slowly, hand in hand, back from the park to the Rudyard’s house with no more worries about Dale and his whereabouts. All in all, it had been a good day for Colin.

**********

[Balthazars]

Firstly, I would like to continue to encourage you Offy, this is a great story with plenty of character, so I hope you continue to take your time with it and enjoy writing it. A wonderful read.

Secondly, Dalbeider, I can't believe you'd say that about me. I'm such a nice guy! (btw, if I was involved in either, it would be the firearms. Drugs are the devil's work)

Also, not being from the UK, if there are any inaccuracies in what Offy does in this phase of the story, it's totally not my fault. Conversely, if it's super-accurate and spot on, I will obviously take all credit.

[Offspring8]

Thanks Balth, you've been a great help with this story and it's good to have you along

Tuesday 2nd September 2008

Northwich (16th) vs. Oxford (4th) (Blue Square Premier)

Saturday 2nd September, Victoria Stadium

Robert grabbed his foot and pulled it tightly behind him as part of his pre-match stretches. As he focussed on maintaining his balance, he saw a familiar face in the crowd – one of his school friends. Robert let go of his foot and waved at his friend. He hadn’t expected to see anyone he recognised with this match being an away game, so it was nice to see this show of support.

Colin wasn’t taking much notice of the crowd. Instead, he was thinking of Danielle while he warmed up. The past week had been good and it was about to get better. Today was his last day in England before flying off to Andorra with his brother to meet up with the rest of the England Under-19’s squad for their friendly match. Colin couldn’t wait.

**********

The eagerness shone through early and it worked well for Oxford. Colin was buzzing and that managed to transfer itself onto the pitch.

From a Northwich goal-kick, Robert brought the ball down with one touch of the laces on his right boot. From just inside the opposition’s half, Robert then went on a run down the right flank, skipping and jiving in an attempt to get away from two markers.

Robert done terrifically, speeding past 3 Northwich players and making it to the by-line before chipping a deep cross into the penalty area, putting the ball on the edge of the 6 yard box almost central with the goal mouth.

It was an Oxford player that met the cross, sliding in and poking the ball past the ‘keeper to give his team an early lead. At first, Robert couldn’t see who it was that had gotten on to the end of his cross. Then, Colin came charging out of the crowd and towards his younger with a huge smile on his face. He’d managed to get his first senior goal for Oxford by tapping home from Robert’s cross.

Robert jumped onto his older brother when he eventually reached him. The team then celebrated together before the referee began signalling for the re-start. Colin’s week was just getting better and better.

The opening 30 minutes was dominated by Oxford and the Rudyard brothers were leading the charge. Robert repeatedly latched onto Colin’s passes into space on the right flank, and he repeatedly whipped crosses into the penalty area. The problem was, however, James Constable was repeatedly missing chance after chance. He’d come close once, striking the post from a cross, but other than that he’d missed his chances badly.

But the home team were being held back into their own half, and it wasn’t until just seconds before half time that they finally got through on goal.

A long ball wasn’t properly cleared by Simon Clist and it trickled through the defensive line, where Northwich’s Liam Coleman latched onto it, knocking the ball forward into the area before thumping it at goal.

Paul Gerrard went down to ground quickly after rushing out. He managed to get a hand to the shot and deflect it up into the air, but the ball still passed him. As it began its arc back to ground, it was unclear whether or not it would go under or onto the bar.

Everybody in the stadium watched on as the ball fell from the sky, eventually bouncing off of the bar and out for a goal kick. The ringing sound of the woodwork was music to Chris Wilders ears, just as the ref’s half time call was. A goal just before half time would have been dramatically unfair and his team deserved to go in ahead.

They’d earned their lead. Or to be more specific, the Rudyard brothers had earned Oxford’s lead.

**********

“Pablo? You have an update for us?”

“Yes, Albert. I’m at one of their games right now. They’ve done well up to now, but in this game, they’re carrying their team. There’s definitely potential in this tip-off, Albert,” said Pablo Forte in fluent Spanish.

“Well done. Keep it up and get us the kind of report we require. I’ll keep Mr Vilanova informed and he’ll pass on what needs to be passed on to Mr Guardiola. We might have found ourselves some gems here, Pablo. Keep up the work, my friend - we need to be properly informed before we make our final decision.”

**********

[viperk1]

.....you are sh**ting me, right?

Barcelona?

[Dalbeider]

Ohoho, this is getting (even more) interesting .

[meylan]

More more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Offspring8]

Kinda the same reaction as me when I saw, Viper still, their interest may yet fizzle out, which could be both a bad thing or good thing depending on personal opinion.

Dalb, you gotta love some of the twists this game throws at you sometimes

I was actually planning on updating the story last night but I got sidetracked anyway Meylan, I'm more than happy to oblige and welcome to the story, I hope to keep you asking for more

“I’ve got to go off,” Robert said, grimacing and clutching his side as he spoke to his brother. Robert had hurt himself in a fall soon after the second half had begun and he was in pain – not a good slice of luck as the brothers were both due to fly out tomorrow to meet up with the England squad. “I want to travel to Andorra to the England camp. If I have to miss the rest of this game so that i can travel with England, it’s worth the sacrifice.”

Colin nodded and patted his brother on the back, reassuring him that it was only a small injury. Robert nodded and then headed for the bench, slapping hands with his replacement before being approached eagerly by the club physio.

Northwich seemed relieved to see the pacey winger leave the field, their effort levels rising as they searched for the leveller that their fans cheered for. The home side pressed and pressed until almost every Oxford player was in or around his own box, but their shots were poor. Time and time again, the ball flew over the bar or floated past the post and the shots that looked half decent were blocked en-route by a yellow shirt.

After an hour of play, the home side won a corner. Oxford pulled every man minus Colin Rudyard and James Constable back into their own are to defend the set-piece and preserve their lead.

Strength in numbers though, was not enough. The cross was dropped into the 6 yard box, towards the back post. Paul Gerrard came out to pluck the ball from the skies, but he was blocked by a mass of yellow and green shirts, resulting in him being stranded and the goal gaping.

That meant that when the ball fell to Johnny Allan, he had an easy job to finish. On the volley, Allan simply side-footed the ball into the open goal to level the game up. The home crowd erupted and Colin threw his arms into the air in frustration.

There was less than half an hour to play and things were all square with Northwich doing all of the attacking. Colin fell back into the very center of midfield in an attempt to clog that area up and stop Northwich from simply passing it past the Oxford midfield, but even he struggled to keep wraps on the home side’s attacking display and they used their momentum in search of a winner.

Unsure of how to act, Oxford simply hung on to whatever they could to stop themselves from being swept away and losing all of the points that Colin’s first half goal had looked to have given them. Without Robert, Oxford struggled to find that ‘out ball’ as James Constable was repeatedly muscled off of the ball by the Northwich defence. From Oxford’s point of view, it was hard to see where any kind of a winner was going to come from.

Colin did his bit though. Tackles were dished out any time the ball came near him, and he ran endlessly to close down the opposition. When he got the ball, he was always looking to give it early out of habit. He was used to seeing his younger brother marauding down the right wing but that wasn’t the case in this game. Instead, Colin was pressed into just keeping possession rather than making any advances.

Eventually, the fourth official raised his board towards the sky and showed 5 minutes of extra time. The crowd cheered in hope of a late winner, and Colin answered the home fans with some shouting of his own, calling out to his team mates for one last push.

Eventually, 2 minutes in to extra time, Oxford attacked with substitute Yemi Odubade. The fast striker sped down the left wing before hanging a cross up to the back post.

Joe Burnell was the man who arrived, taking the cross onto his chest just 9 yards from goal. As the ball bounced from his chest, the Oxford captain glanced at the goal. The ‘keeper was on his way out, and he’d left a nice little gap at his near post.

As gravity pulled the ball back to the ground, Burnell swung his right boot, connecting before the ball hit the ground. In actual truth, the shot was scuffed. It bobbled along the ground at a questionable speed and it wasn’t going to win any awards.

But it beat the ‘keeper and stayed the right side of the post, rolling home to return the lead to Oxford with only minutes left to play.

They say that when a team is on the back foot, playing badly and heading for a draw and then they grab a scrappy goal thanks to a poor refereeing decision or a set piece or a bit of luck, that is the mark of champions. For Oxford, the ingredients were there.

**********

“How’s it looking?” Colin asked his brother, coming in to the dressing room still celebrating the victory. In his right hand, he held tightly onto the Oxford shirt he’d worn for that game. He planned on keeping it and putting it on his wall, as the shirt he wore when he scored his first ever senior goal.

“Doc reckons I’ve bruised my ribs, Col. I don’t think I’ll be flying with you tomorrow,” answered a dejected Robert.

Colin rubbed his fingertips along the side of his face. It wasn’t the news and he could see that Robert was gutted. Yes, they were only friendly games for the England Under 19’s, but it was a game of football where he would get the chance to represent his country, and that meant the world to both boys.

“Don’t worry about it mate. Concentrate on staying fit and just play well again when you’re back in action. You’ll be called up again soon, I’m sure of it,” Colin said, attempting to comfort his brother.

While Robert knew Colin was talking sense, it still didn’t make him feel any better. No matter what Colin could say, Robert wouldn’t be playing for his country in either of their upcoming friendly matches.

Northwich – 1

Johnny Allan (61)

Oxford - 2

Colin Rudyard (11)

Joe Burnell (90 + 3)

Man of the Match: Joe Burnell (OXF)

Att: 724

**********

[Offspring8]

Wednesday 3rd September 2008

Colin sat on the edge of his bed, listening to a lonesome bird singing outside somewhere. It didn’t bring him joy.

The fact that it was 4am and he had to get out of bed simply made Colin want to stab himself in the face. Not literally, but he really didn’t want to be awake. His legs still felt heavy from the match before and the journey from Northwhich to Oxford was a fair old punt.

After the game, they’d travelled down the M6 before switching on to the M40 which lead them home. It was a 2 and a half hour journey, which meant that by Colin and Robert walked back into their house, it was getting on to 1am.

After just 3 hours of sleep, Colin didn’t even have to look at Robert to know his younger brother was out for the count. Maybe his injury wasn’t that much of a curse, Colin thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes and yawned once again. The temptation to lay back down and pull his bed covers back over him and fall into a cosy slumber was almost overwhelming, until the image of the England shirt threw itself to the fore of Colin’s mind.

That was all he needed. Groggily, Colin rose from his bed and stumbled downstairs, past his already-packed bag and into the kitchen before fumbling around in the cupboard in search of some cereal to get him going.

Thought’s of the England crowd screaming behind him as Colin drove the team forward sent a shiver down his spine, and he began to dream of that England debut he so desperately wanted. To Colin, there weren’t many honours bigger than representing your country on the football stage.

Meanwhile, Clive was already awake. He never really needed much sleep and as soon as he heard his grandson downstairs, the old man followed suit.

“Tired?” Clive asked, standing alongside Colin as both of them looked through the cereal available to them. Colin eventually pulled something from the shelf, leaving Clive to ponder over what he fancied to start the day off.

“Dead is probably a better description,” Colin muttered, pouring milk over his cereal before taking his place at the kitchen table.

“Well just think; this time next week, you could have an England youth cap to your name – and if you were to offer that to any young lad in the country, that’s worth a million sleepless nights and early mornings.”

Colin didn’t reply. Partly because he was concentrating on keeping his eyes open, but also because he knew it was true. He wasn’t ungrateful, but he wasn’t exactly in dreamland either right now.

He faced an hour long drive to Southampton Airport before he’d catch his first ever flight and leave the country to fly to ‘Aeropuerto De Barcelona’ or ‘Barcelona Airport’ – alone. While that wasn’t much to some people, it scared Colin. His family had never been able to afford a flight to anywhere which they couldn’t drive to easily and he’d never travelled so far on his own, let alone been that far from home for a few days.

The actual flight itself would take around 2 hours. Then, after touching down in Barcelona, Colin would be picked up by a member of the England Under 19’s staff. From there, he’d face a two and a half hour drive to the Andorran capital, Andorra la Vella, where he would meet with the rest of the team and begin training. It was fair to say that he had a long way to go before he could even begin thinking about being part of the England set-up.

“F*ck it, it’s all tasteless sh*t,” Clive then said, cracking Colin from his own thoughts. Colin looked over at his granddad. He slammed the cupboard door shut, seemingly unaware that everybody in the house was happily asleep at 4:15am, before making his way over to the fridge and pulling out some bacon and eggs.

“I thought you were trying to get into shape?” Colin asked.

“I am,” Clive replied as he eagerly cracked the shells of the eggs on the edge of a large, plastic bowl. “And I’m going for the triangle.”

**********

[Offspring8]

Colin felt his eyelids slowly closing. At first, the loud humming sound produced by the plane was an annoyance, but as the minutes wore on it almost began to lull the Oxford midfielder into a light sleep, which he really wouldn’t have minded.

Then, he felt somebody sit down next to him. Colin opened his eyes and looked at the man who had approached him.

He was of quite a small build and Colin took a guess that he must have been about 5 ft 9 when stood. His hair was black but with touches of grey fading in here and there, and his skin was tanned nicely.

“Good morning, Colin,” said the stranger. His words had an accent to them, but Colin couldn’t figure out where about in the world he was from. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, but do I know you?” Colin asked, wary of the strangers’ seemingly friendly attitude towards himself.

“Excuse my manners. My name is Pablo Forte. I’m employed by a man you might have heard of; Joan Laporta?”

Colin wracked his brain. He had heard the name before but he couldn’t match it to a face or anything else. Then it came to him. Laporta was the President of FC Barcelona. Once that thought had finally come to him, Colin’s stomach flipped. He hoped that this meant that Barca were interested in him and Colin’s mind began to wonder.

He imagined playing the one-two with Iniesta, flicking a pass through to Messi and even scoring at the Nou Camp and he felt almost sick from excitement.

Then, he forced himself out of the clouds and back to the earth. There was no suggestion at all that Barca were even interested in him and Colin felt stupid and embarrassed for letting his mind wonder them avenues. He played for Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium for £55 a week, not for Barcelona at the Nou Camp for £100k a week – the two situations felt a million miles apart. And that’s because they were.

“I’ve heard of him, yeah. What’s all of that got to do with me though?” Colin asked, holding back his secret excitement.

“Well let’s just say we’ve been monitoring your situation, Colin. Coach Guardiola has made it known to us that he likes the potential you have shown in a short space of time.”

Colin wasn’t sure what to say. A part of him wanted to scream at this Pablo bloke to tell him to call Guardiola and tell him to put an offer in straight away. And Colin still hadn’t been able to absorb the fact that the Pep Guardiola had noticed him and had liked what he saw.

Then again, Colin thought about his situation at home. He loved his family, he was on the verge of getting together with Danielle and he didn’t feel like it was the right time to let go of his friends and family – in particular, his brother – for football.

“What are you trying to say?” Colin then asked, unsure of what to say himself.

“Basically, we’re considering making a move for you. However, all parties would have to be interested and I am here to ask you what you make of the fact that the most attractive football club on the planet wants you?”

Colin thought about it for a while, mulling it all over in his head. He imagined leaving for sunny Spain and becoming a Barca legend. He imagined scoring in front of the huge crowd at the Nou Camp and playing alongside the best players in the world.

Then he thought of all the people he’d need to leave behind in order to do that, and that raised doubts in his head. He was also attached to Oxford personally. He’d just began building a healthy rapport with the fans and he was enjoying his football.

In the end, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but he didn’t feel like he was ready to leave Oxford just yet.

“Well obviously I’m flattered and it’s a dream to play for a club of Barcelona’s stature, but I really don’t know if I’m ready for it. If my club wanted me to go then I might consider it, but at the moment, I feel good with Oxford United and I don’t feel ready to move abroad for a future which could go either way.”

Pablo Forte nodded as Colin spoke. He could see that the young midfielder had thought things through in his head. Deep down, Pablo had already guessed that it would be too early for the kid.

“Isn’t this type of thing against the rules anyway?” Colin then asked. Pablo smiled and chuckled to himself.

“Since when was it against the rules for a young man to discuss his dreams,” Pablo said, standing from his seat. “If it helps you sleep, forget that this conversation ever happened.”

Colin simply nodded in reply. Without saying another word, Pablo offered his hand and Colin shook it. The pair looked each other in the eye as they shook hands. Pablo marvelled at the light-blue, cold eyes that stared back at him. They seemed to possess a solid confidence that could be found in almost every big football player and Colin had that determined look about him.

As Pablo turned to walk back to his seat, he hoped that it would not be the last time he’d talk to the young lad. The Rudyard boy seemed to have the potential to go to the top and he was exactly the kind of player that Barca were in need of. He felt confident that, one day, he’d see ‘RUDYARD’ on the back of a Barca shirt. He was sure of it.

The plane glided down to Barcelona Airport and Colin had a million-and-one things on his mind. As he got ever closer to the England U19 team, Colin found himself silently hoping that this would not be the last time he’d touchdown in Barcelona.

**********

[nbrethe]

This is acracking read, I came home early from universoty at about 11 30 to play football manager and have ended up reading this for however many hours it took me whilst playing in between. Keep it up, Im loving it

[Offspring8]

Thanks and welcome nbrethe . I only wish I had all of that spare time so that I could write more hope to keep you enjoying this, thanks alot for the feedback mate, it's appreciated and it helps with motivation

It was almost mid-day by the time Colin arrived at the Under-19’s training ground. They’d been given permission to use the Andorran national stadium, ‘Estadi Comunal d’Aixovall’ by its official name.

The stadium could hold up to 1800 people – less than most of the stadiums in the Blue Square Premier. If their stadiums were anything to go by, the standards of football here weren’t all that high.

“Alright there, son!” shouted Brian Eastick. The England Under 19’s manager was a well known coach across Europe and he had built a good rep on being able to spot youngsters with potential and work with them to fulfil the potential they possessed.

Brian Eastick could see immediately that Colin was tired and wasn’t comfortable in this new environment. He was the youngest lad here and a relatively unknown name to many of the others and Eastick could understand why he was nervous.

“My name is Brian Eastick, I’m in charge of the Under nineteen’s squad as you’ll soon find out,” he smiled, offering Colin a handshake.

“Hi, I’m Colin as you probably already know,” smiled Colin. “Bit bloody warm out here, isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is, but you’ll be alright, we’ll keep you properly hydrated. You look tired though, the hotel isn’t far from here, we’ll have someone take you over so you can get a couple of hours rest and then you can meet the rest of the lads at dinner tonight, how does that sound?”

Colin nodded, he was tired and a little nervous about how things would go but he was in no mood to sleep. He wanted to get out to where he was most comfortable; on that football pitch with a ball at his feet. The very thought of it woke him completely.

“I’m fine, sir. I slept through most of the travelling so I’m ready to start now if that’s okay with you?”

Brian Eastick smiled inside. The boy had a good footballing attitude, he was obviously feeling tired but Brian saw his eyes light up as soon as the thought of playing football entered his brain. For a second, all looks of tiredness left his eyes as he thought about playing football and Brian liked the kid already.

**********

After putting on his kit and tying the laces on his boots, Colin strolled out into the hard, dusty arena that was the Andorran national ground. The sun was at full strength and Colin could already feel the back of his neck tingling after only being in the sun for about half an hour.

As Colin joined up with the team, they were all circled around Brian Eastick and his assistant, Bolton coach Steve Wigley.

“Boys, this is Colin Rudyard. He plays for Oxford and he’s a tremendous talent who has earned his place here after only a couple of months playing for Oxford,” Brian Eastick announced, clapping his hand on Colin’s shoulder. Colin scanned his eyes across the rest of the team and nodded in greeting. There were various smiles, murmurs and nods back at him as the group attempted to make the new kid feel welcome.

As he looked around, Colin saw the faces of various young footballers that he recognised like Keiron Gibbs of Arsenal, Dan Gosling of Everton, Andy Carroll of Newcastle, Fabian Delph of Leeds and a couple of others.

It was Fabian Delph who made the earliest attempts at welcoming Colin to the team. Delph was making his name in League 1 with Leeds as a determined central midfielder who had a shot and a half in his arsenal.

“Bit warmer here than in England isn’t it?” said the 18 year old.

“Just a bit, but it’s nice, I’m more of a summer guy than a winter one,” Colin answered. And it was true, he much preferred playing football on a sunny Saturday rather than on a dark, damp, cold Saturday.

“Yeah, just you wait ‘til we get back to the hotel mate, straight into the pool. The hotel we’re staying at is quality and there’s some amazing views of all these mountains and sh*t,” Delph said. “You got a roomy?”

“Ah sounds good. Yeah I seen some nice places on the way here, you can feel it as well can’t you, slightly harder to breathe cause we’re higher up or something. And nah I ain’t got a roomy yet,” Colin replied.

“Definitely, it is a bit harder to breath up here – not so hard that you can’t breathe but it’s noticeable. Okay cool, I got a spare bed in the room I’m staying in if you want, it’s up to you mate.”

And that was it. Colin found himself training with the England Under 19’s in a foreign country and with Fabian Delph offering to room with him. It was slightly surreal but Colin wasn’t going to complain.

At 3, the players stopped training. As they began warming-down, Brian Eastick called all of the players in around him.

“Right then boys, I’ve made my decision on the team that’ll be playing tomorrow – bar any major c*ck-up’s.”

Brian then stated the formation that they’d be playing in (plain 4-4-2) and the players that would be playing:

John Bateman (GK)

Nathaniel Clyne (DR)

Ryan Bertrand (DL)

Gavin Hoyte (DC)

Mark Beevers (DC – Cpt)

Dan Gosling (MR)

Scott Sinclair (ML)

Miles Addison (MC)

Ross Jenkins (MC)

Jay Simpson (ST)

Andy Carroll (ST)

Subs:

David Button

Victor Moses

Danny Welbeck

Steve Hoyte

Ben Tozer

Nathan Delfouneso

Mark Randall

There was no place in the team for Colin and he felt annoyed with himself all of a sudden. It had been a long day and it wasn’t the best way to end it.

Brian had seen Colin’s head drop as he finished reading the list and he smiled once again to himself. He wasn’t smiling because he’d upset the kid, but more because it showed that he cared and wanted to play. As the players then went off to finish their warm-downs, Brian held Colin back.

“Listen mate, I know you’re disappointed about it, but don’t get yourself down about it. You played a whole 90 minute match only yesterday for your club and you’ve spent most of the day travelling - this is an important game for us and we need our players to be in peak condition. You’ll get your chance soon mate, don’t worry,” Brain explained, putting his arm around Colin’s shoulders.

“I get it, but I can play tomorrow if you want me too, I’m not tired,” Colin pleaded.

“It’s alright mate. Get some rest and we’ll see how things are when it comes to playing Croatia next week, alright?”

Colin nodded. He understood where Brain Eastick was coming from but it was still frustrating. He wanted to play and impress but to be told you weren’t going to feature at all was hard to take.

Tired and frustrated, Colin set off after the rest of the team to warm down, looking forward to relaxing in the pool before heading off for bed to get some much needed sleep. It had been a long day.

**********

[Offspring8]

Thursday 4th September 2008

Andorra U19’s vs. England U19’s (U19 International)

Thursday 4th September, Estadi Comunal d’Aixovall

There were 90 fans watching the game, only a couple of whom were English. Colin Rudyard was one of the few Englishmen in the stands and he sat alongside Fabian Delph, waiting for the game to kick off. The reason there was such a low attendance was because the game was meaningless. These were simply matches arranged to get everybody introduced to each other and prepare the team for their Under 19’s Euro Championship Qualifiers that were due to begin in just over a months’ time.

In just his shorts, Colin tucked into the cheeseburger he’d bought from the burger stand outside the ground. It was nearing 30 degrees so there was no need for a t-shirt, and Colin felt for the lads who would be running around for an hour and a half in this heat and at this height. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t swap places with any one of them. He’d play in any situation as long as he could put that England shirt over his head.

The game turned out to be a straight-forward one for the Englishmen. Straight away, they were given a lead as Andy Carroll stretched to tap in a cross that had come from a deeply-positioned Scott Sinclair, and they found their team ahead before the minute mark had even passed.

Half an hour later, Arsenal’s Jay Simpson was the next person to find the net as he was released by a long ball over the top from Mark Beevers. Simpson sped away from his marker, latching onto the pass/clearance before sliding home from 30 yards as the ‘keeper made the poor choice of coming miles from his own line.

Simpson’s game didn’t last much longer though, as he was forced off of the pitch due to a minor injury to be replaced by Crystal Palace’s Victor Moses. Moses had had a poor start to the campaign for Crystal Palace, failing to find the net in any of his 7 league appearances – and that poor level of form continued with the national team as he churned out a poor performance of misplaced passes, a hat-trick of offside’s and a generally lacklustre display.

And even though Moses was unable to split the sea of Andorran defenders and midfielders, Scott Sinclair pulled off a magnificent 20 yard run, skipping past 3 players with his pace before smashing home from an angle to put England 3-0 up with 50 minutes played and kill off the game.

After Sinclair’s goal, England sat back and retained possession and energy levels to see it out for a 3-0 victory.

Andorra U19’s – 0

Alejandro Rodriguez Gonzalez inj (14)

England U19’s - 3

Andy Carroll (1)

Jay Simpson (31)

Scott Sinclair (50)

Jay Simpson inj (33)

Man of the Match: Andy Carroll (ENG)

Att: 90

**********

The team celebrated their win with a trip to a local pub. All those that wished to drink, were given the go-ahead to have 1 pint (the legal drinking age in Andorra was 16, much to the teams’ joy) each. For Colin though, this change of rule didn’t matter – sods law would have it that he was still a year below the limit despite it being reduced, as he was 15.

In spite of not being able to have a drink, Colin still had a good time with the rest of the group. Tonight would be their last night in Andorra la Vella because tomorrow morning, they’d be driving back to Barcelona airport before facing over 1000 miles of flight over the Mediterranean sea, Italy and then the Ionian sea before arriving at Osijek Airport in Croatia for their next game on the 8th of September where they would face the Croatian U19’s.

It was bound to be a hard game and everybody knew it – Croatia was a developing country in terms of football and they had come on strong in recent years, producing players like Darijo Srna, Davor Suker, Dario Simic, Ivica Olic and, of course, Arsenal’s ‘Eduardo’ among others.

If that crop of players were anything to go by, Monday’s match would be far from easy.

**********

Saturday 6th September 2008

Oxford (3rd) vs. Kettering (17th) (Blue Square Premiere)

Saturday 6th September, Kassam Stadium

Colin wasn’t the only one who found himself rested. Robert was sat in the stands of the Kassam with his family, watching on as his team took on a struggling Kettering side.

Robert’s ribs were still sore, but he still wanted to be out on that pitch. With no training to take part in and no match to prepare for and with Colin thousands of miles away, Robert almost felt lost.

In fact, his mood was symbolised with the weather; no wind, grey skies and plenty of rain. He hated being injured and he was already itching to get back onto the pitch with his team, helping them gather three points.

Today would be a little bit of a test for Oxford though. It was time for them to see if they could manage without their lightning-quick winger and their determined centre mid, and some of the fans were nervous. Even without the two youngsters, this was a side that should be competing at the top of the league, but they stood a much better chance with the Rudyard brothers on the pitch, and Chris Wilder wondered whether or not that would show today.

**********

Sugar simply rolled the gun over and over in his hands. He definitely wanted to hurt one of the Rudyard brothers, but was this worth the risk?

If it went wrong, he would be looking at a jail sentence and he knew it. But hey, what big time street name hasn’t been to jail? If anything, having a stint inside for something serious enhanced your reputation and even though he’d look stupid at the beginning, at least everybody would know that to mess with Sugar meant to gamble with life.

If he managed to pull it off, Sugar could only imagine the adoration he would receive from his friends and – more importantly – his uncle. If he could impress his uncle Thabo, he might get himself taken into the big time under Thabo’s wing. That’s where the real money, respect, reputations and women were, and that’s right where Sugar wanted to be.

He knew what he had to do to make it there. If he wanted to become a big name on the street, he’d have to pull something like this off. It was time he started thinking that shooting one of the Rudyard’s was an opportunity to make it big, rather than a risk of going to jail. He had to go through with it.

**********

[dartwos]

Brilliant story mate. Keep it going...

[viperk1]

Arsenal’s ‘Eduardo’ among others.

Strictly speaking, he was a nationalised Croat - born in Brazil.

Other than that, top notch stuff, Offy.

[Offspring8]

Welcome to ATOTB, dartwos hope to keep you reading in the future, thanks alot for the encouragement!

Damn you Viper, you always pick me up on something but still, I can at least say that I have now learnt something new today. Thanks Viper, always appreciated mate

Simon Clist slid the ball past the Kettering ‘keeper to put his team 1-0 up and the atmosphere in the Kassam improved. It had been a very slow opening quarter and it was a bit of a relief to see Clist put the ball into the back of the net for the home fans. It was his first goal for Oxford and he was clearly enjoying the moment.

Danielle pulled her phone out of her pocket. She’d gone along with the Rudyard family to the game and she had told Colin that she’d keep him updated on the score. Sending these texts turned out to be a bit pricey, but at least it would mean she could talk to Colin.

Colin had confessed to Danielle that he had found being that far away from home with nobody that he really knew a little hard, and he was looking forward to returning home to Oxford. Still, as soon as it came to playing football and training, Colin was fine. It was just in the evenings and early mornings that Colin seemed to struggle.

By half time, it was still 1-0 to Oxford and it had been a fairly comfortable 45 minutes for the home team. Kettering had brought next to no fans with them and they were being outplayed so it was looking increasingly unlikely that they’d get themselves back in to the game, but there was still a danger while the score remained at 1-0.

Oxford soon put the game beyond doubt though as James Constable bagged his 3rd and 4th goal of the season in a quickfire double.

His first (or third, rather) came about as Nelthorpe’s shot was parried to him, and Constable met the rebound on the half volley to guide the ball into the target from 10 yards out. His second (or fourth) was even scabbier. He caught the Kettering ‘Keeper in possession of the ball outside of his area and rounded his embarrassed opponent before putting the game beyond doubt at 3-0 to the home side with over half an hour remaining.

Chris Wilder then used this match as an opportunity to stretch and rest some legs, taking George Abbey, Damian Batt and Craig Nelthorpe off of the pitch before replacing them with Matt Day, Lewis Haldane and Barry Quinn respectively.

The only minor to come from the game came from the man of the match performer. In the final 15 minutes, Constable tripped in a small hole on the pitch while chasing a ball. After the fall, Constable immediately reached for his ankle and it proved to be the end of his game.

With all of their subs used, Oxford finished the remaining 15 minutes with 10 men but were cause very few problems by a poor Kettering side. A match that could have been so different had Kettering got the first goal, finished off comfortably for Oxford as they ran out 3-0 winners without their young protégés in the side.

Oxford – 3

Simon Clist (24)

James Constable (53, 55)

James Constable inj (78)

Kettering - 0

Man of the Match: James Constable (OXF)

Att: 4015

**********

Colin nodded as he saw the final result of Oxford vs. Kettering. It had been a comfortable victory and that was exactly how it should have been.

The England Under19’s had finished their training for the day and Colin was sat in his room with Fabian Delph. Fabian had his laptop with him so the pair were taking it in turns to browse the web whilst searching for something vaguely interesting to watch on the Croatian channels.

“You’re missing home, aren’t you?” Fabian asked Colin. He’d seen that the younger footballer was constantly checking his phone and didn’t look like he was relaxing.

Colin didn’t want to admit it to Fabian. It wasn’t his style, Colin saw it as a weakness and it wound him up enough that he was missing home – knowing that it was clear enough for Fabian to see as well just annoyed Colin even more.

“I’m just tired mate,” Colin answered simply. Fabian nodded and a short silence followed, only interrupted by the light sound of Fabian’s laptop mouse pad clicking and the occasional flurry of the tapping of keys as he spoke to some friends back in England.

“It’s gets easier bro, don’t worry. The first trip is always the hardest. After a little while, you’ll be one of the lads and you’ll enjoy it much more, trust me.”

Colin knew Fabian was right. But he’d hoped to come in and set the international scene alight, and that hadn’t happened. He felt as if he’d let himself, his family and his friends down by not establishing himself in the team straight away, and that hurt. He’d hoped to return home to his mum, Liam and his granddad with at least one England Under 19’s cap under his belt, but it wasn’t looking promising.

With the game in just a couple of days away, Brian Eastick had spoken to Colin again today and had told him not to get his hopes up if he was hoping to get into the team for the game against Croatia.

At first, Colin had thought it was harsh, but now he could see why he’d done it. It meant that Colin knew where he stood and he could sleep easily without worrying about whether he’d made it into the team or not.

Brian had also expanded on his revelation as well. He’d told Colin that it wasn’t because he wasn’t good enough to play, but rather because Brian simply wanted to ease him into the team so that, when the time came for Colin to represent his country, he’d be comfortable with his team mates and he could perform to the best of his ability.

In all honesty Colin wasn’t sure whether or not he should buy into the answer given to him by Brian Eastick – but what other choice did he have? The fact is, he was going to have to wait at least a month until he could play for the England U19’s team and that was the facts.

On the bright side, at least he’d been on a mini tour of Europe and seen some interesting, new places. Colin had never left England before and this was a whole new experience to him. He enjoyed visiting these new places but, in his heart, he looked forward to returning to England, to Oxford, to his family and friends and – in particular – to Danielle.

**********

[dechardonay]

Caught up once again. Great that you're still plugging away at this one! It's one of my fave stories on here...

[ScottleeSV]

Just finished Page 1 after, well, probably weeks and weeks of post-by-post reading. Very good stuff, and always nice to come back to. I like the sugar sub-plot, the match reports are addictive, and Clive is a character of the year contender in my opinion.

[Offspring8]

Thanks Dechard, I'm glad you enjoy this story - now I just gotta keep you interested

Scott, it's great to have you along and thank you for the feedback as well I like Clive's character as well. This isn't all that much of a happy-jolly story, but having somebody like Clive in there enables me to throw in a couple of lighter moments every now and then, so it adds a bit of contrast thanks again for commenting, hope you continue to enjoy and read

Monday 8th September 2008

Croatia U19’s vs. England U19’s (U19 International)

Monday 8th September, Gradski vrt

As Colin already knew, he wasn’t included in the team to face Croatia. He sat and watched from the stands as his England team-mates took to the field – including Fabian Delph, who was making his first start of the year for the under-19’s side.

The scenery reflected Colin’s mood. Rain was falling lightly from the dark sky, making the surface of the pitch slick and nice to play on. With just over 400 spectators for the match, it was louder than the Andorra game but it was still hardly an electrifying atmosphere.

Colin tried to sink as far into his coat as he could so as to try and keep warm. It wasn’t freezing, but the breeze kept the temperature low. With his hands buried deep into his coat pockets, Colin watched on as England got off to the better start.

Although Croatia were shading the game in terms of possession, they looked blunt going forward and they left themselves open to numerous England counter-attacks. The pace and agility of Scott Sinclair was England’s most potent weapon in the first half. The Chelsea youngster zipped up and down the left wing all night and was always causing problems.

England’s Victor Moses had a hatful of chances to secure the lead, but he was wasteful. He fluffed chance after chance and his team paid the price after half-an-hour of the gamer had been played.

Croatia’s highly rated 16-year-old Kristijan Zeljkovic showed his class by hammering home a volley from around the penalty spot to put the home side ahead and belittle an embarrassed Victor Moses. Moses had missed many an easy chance, while Zeljkovic had turned his first half chance into a very good goal.

At the start of the second half, both ‘keepers seemed to have fallen asleep. England’s Danny Welbeck saw his powerful shot slip right through the hands of the Croatian ‘keeper in the 47th minute.

Then, no more than 60 seconds later, Zeljkovic pounced onto a poor headed pass from England ‘keeper John Bateman before chipping him from outside of the penalty area to restore his nation’s lead and eventually win the game for the home side.

Colin shivered and frowned again as his teeth began to chatter. His team had been poor and he wished that he’d been given the chance to show what he could bring to the team – but it wasn’t to be. If Colin wanted to play for his nation, he’d have to wait exactly a month until the England U19’s returned to action to face the Serbian U19’s in a European Championship Qualifier.

The final whistle then graced Colin’s ears and he looked forward to leaving the stadium, getting some sleep and then heading back home again tomorrow. It had actually been a good experience for Colin, but he was still disappointed not to have been given a chance to show what he could do. He was now looking forward to pulling that yellow jersey on once again and helping his club make a charge for the league. That, at least, was something which was a cert; Colin definitely had a say in whether or not Oxford would win the league.

**********

Tuesday 9th September 2008

Colin jumped as his head bumped into the car window once again. He’d just been picked up from Southampton Airport by Liam and he was tired from the flight. Robert and Clive were also sat in the car, but their questions went unanswered as Colin attempted to drift off to sleep.

All 3 of them wanted to know what Colin’s experience with the England squad had been like, but they could all see that, for the moment, he needed to rest. Still, Clive didn’t hold back on letting them all know what he thought about Colin’s apparent tiredness.

“Pah! Tired? You kids don’t even know the meaning of ‘tired’. Nowadays you footballers are complaining about having two or three games in a week – I can still remember when that was a normal week in football! You never saw players like ol’ Chopper Harris complaining that they were tired.”

To his annoyance, nobody took any notice of Clive’s words. Then, Clive smiled to himself. He realised that he was starting to sound like a rambling old fool and, inside, he laughed at himself. With a sigh and a quick shake of the head, Clive crossed his arms and attempted to get some sleep himself as Liam drove back towards Oxford.

It was good to have Colin back, even if he was out for the count.

**********

“Sugar?” said the voice on the phone.

“Yeah, what’s up man?” Sugar replied. He knew what he hoped the phone call would be about, and his hand fumbled around inside the rucksack that was beside the teenager. Eventually, his fingers found the cold hilt of the gun and Sugar felt his heart beat intensify.

“I’ve just seen them. They just drove past my house mate, looks like they’re on their way home. Colin and Robert were in the car so you’ve got a chance if you want to take it, man.”

Sugar bit his bottom lip. This was it. This was what he’d been waiting for and psyching himself up for. This was his chance to prove what he was all about. Without replying to his friend, Sugar put the phone down. With the gun in his hoody pocket, Sugar walked outside and jumped into his black Citroen Saxo.

He pushed the key into the ignition and turned it, feeling the engine start up underneath him. He pulled the gun out and laid it down on his lap before pulling the handbrake off, flicking the car into first gear and then driving off towards the Rudyard’s house.

With his gun loaded and his mind set, Sugar approached the Cul-de-sac that had become a home to the Rudyard brothers. Then, with one swing of the steering wheel, his car rumbled onto the road where the brothers lived.

**********

As Colin and Liam pulled the suitcases from the boot of his car, Colin heard the rumbling of a car engine just down the street. At first, he assumed it would have been one of the many ‘boy racers’ that live in and around Oxford. Then, the sound became clearer as the car turned into their street and Colin began to wonder who the car belonged to. He hadn’t heard it driving up or down their road before, but it was probably just somebody picking up or dropping off a friend.

Just outside the house, Colin’s mum Jennie and his sisters had gathered to welcome Colin back home. After pulling his suitcase from the car boot, Liam locked the car and headed towards the house with Colin just behind him.

Jennie saw the black Citroen coming down the road. The tinted car window then began to slide down and Jennie’s eyes grew wide at what she saw next.

After the window had been rolled halfway down, Jennie saw what looked like the tip of a gun resting on the window, pointing out towards her house. Without actually saying anything, she pulled her two daughters into her arms and tried to usher them back into the house, almost pushing them over in the process.

Robert and Clive had seen Jennie’s face and they turned to see what had startled her. They saw the same thing and, as the first shot was fired, Robert called out to his brother and dad.

Two more shots then cracked off as Colin fell to the ground. After the third shot had been fired, Colin heard the car speed up and then brake hard at the end of the road. It reversed before skidding off again in the direction it had come from. He knew who had fired the shots instantly.

Finding the shooter soon became Colin’s second priority though. As he sat up, breathing heavily and attempting to regain his bearings, he heard somebody behind him groan and fall to the floor.

The teenager’s heart skipped a beat before accelerating to seemingly impossible speeds. He didn’t want to turn around and see one of his family members on the floor bleeding, but he couldn’t stop himself. One of his family members had been shot, and Colin had to help them.

**********

[Dalbeider]

Okay, if you leave this cliffhanging for a full month I'm going to find you and kill you Sugar-style. You've been warned .

[dechardonay]

Dalbeider: I'll drive the Saxo.

[nbrethe]

I'll supply the gun

[Offspring8]

I'd normally thank you guys for the comments, but you can each count yourselves off of my christmas card list now Only kidding, thanks for the comments, I'm sure that somewhere, hidden deep inside those comments, there was some good meaning thanks again for continuing to read guys, much appreciated

PS.

Don't worry - put the panic riots on hold. You aren't really off of my Christmas card list.

Colin scrambled to his feet, trying to find out who had been struck by the shots. The first person Colin saw was Liam, who appeared to be fine – if a little shaken. The next person was Robert.

Robert was sat upright, trying to get some idea of what had just happened. He too scanned the area around him and eventually, everyone’s eye’s found Clive. He was on his hands and knees for a few seconds before turning over and laying on the cold grass.

Colin ran across the garden to where Clive was led to try and get some idea of how bad things were. He wasn’t sure of what to say, still in shock from the shots that had been fired. Clive saw Colin’s pale, blue eyes wide with fear and he knew he had to block out and not show the pain that he felt in his side. He was bleeding and the initial sharp pain had now turned itself into a dull, aching pain. Clive guessed it was his adrenaline kicking in.

“I’m alright Col, stop worrying you bloody woman,” Clive said, closing his eyes and trying to speak as firmly as he could.

“Have you been hit?” Colin asked.

Clived searched with his right hand for a wound. He eventually found the small hole in his side, between the top of his hip and his bottom rib-bone. He felt the warmth of the blood running out onto his hand and decided that he’d be better off keeping his hand there and applying pressure to the wound rather than to let Colin see that he was bleeding.

By this time, Robert was also knelt down beside Clive while Liam phoned for an ambulance. As Clive led on the lawn underneath the dark sky, bleeding from the bullet wound, Colin heard the distant echoes of an ambulance headed their way.

“Colin, do me a favour?” Clive then asked.

“What’s that, granddad?”

“Pour me a little helping of whiskey will you? I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

**********

As he ran through the field, Sugar pulled the gun out from his hoody pocket once more. His lungs were burning and he could hear the coppers catching up with him. They’d been chasing and shouting at him for what seemed an age, but Sugar knew that, unless some kind of a miracle popped up, he would soon be caught by the supremely fitter policemen chasing him.

Using the strength he could muster, Sugar threw the gun somewhere to the side, praying that it would hide itself somewhere and never be found.

Only a few seconds after throwing aside the gun, Sugar felt a strong hand grab the back of his hoody before a swift kick took Sugars legs out from underneath him. Before he could even take a breath and realise what had happened, he had 3 policemen piled on top of him, each of them shouting different things at him. None of it registered with Sugar though, he was deep in thought.

He didn’t know where he was or if they’d seen him throw the gun, but as the cuffs were tightened around his wrists, Sugar could only hope that luck was on his side and the gun had found a decent hiding spot. Even he knew that if they found that firearm, he had no chance of getting away with it.

For all of the preparation he’d done on the actual shooting, he hadn’t put any real thought into what to do afterwards. Sugar was annoyed at his own naivety, almost wishing aloud that he'd made his act 100% foolproof. But it didn't matter any more. From here on in, it came down to luck.

**********

[chesterfan2]

Ooooh, great story. excellent read.

[Offspring8]

Thanks Chesterfan looking forward to seeing the next story from you to hit the board, thanks again mate

Wednesday 10th September 2008

“They expect him to make a full recovery and be back on his feet by the end of the week,” Jennie said, rubbing Colin’s and Robert’s shoulders. “He lost a fair amount of blood because of where he was hit, but it’s looking okay and he seems fine.”

“Can we go in and see him?” Colin asked. His nerves wouldn’t rest until he actually saw his granddad was okay.

“We can go in and see him in a couple of minutes, yes.”

Colin didn’t reply. He was tired and drained from the night before and he wanted to get some sleep, but refused to rest until he saw that Clive was okay. As Colin played the shooting over again in his head, Danielle and her parents joined the Rudyard family.

Colin had called Danielle shortly after the shooting. She’d decided to buy Clive a box of chocolates – she didn’t even know if he liked chocolates, but she had to bring some kind of present for Colin and Robert’s granddad. She hadn’t known him for long but she’d already seen that he was a barrel of laughs and she could tell how much he meant to the brothers.

“How are things looking?” Danielle’s mother, Christine asked. She’d never actually met Clive, but she had seen him around.

“We’re doing better now that we know things are looking good for him. Early signs are that he’s recovering well so we can only hope that it carries on that way I guess,” Jennie smiled, shrugging her shoulders. Christine could see the signs of stress and a lack of sleep in Jennie. But it was understandable – the woman had almost lost her dad to a shooting.

One of the double doors behind the group then opened and a nurse popped her head around it, finding a set of nervous eyes staring straight at her.

“You’re free to come in and see him if you would like?” the nurse then asked. Colin and Robert were the first to head for the doors. They weren’t running but they weren’t exactly taking their time either. When they went through, they saw their granddad sat upright in a bed with various wires and tubes attached to him.

It was a poor sight to see: a proud man looking so frail and fragile. But it could have been worse. At least he was still breathing.

One by one, they all hugged Clive. He was smiling and he seemed okay, but then again Clive rarely showed anything on the surface if he was in pain. He saw it as a sign of weakness – and that had been passed on to both of the brothers as well. It gave them a bit of steel and Clive knew it would help them if they made it as professional footballers.

After a few awkward minutes, the room began to fill with chat once again as it normally would do with any room that Clive was in.

“We’ve had loads of people asking how you are,” Colin said to his granddad, making the old man feel like a local celebrity. “The lads at the club wished you well as well. I spoke to the gaffer this morning.”

“Well what can I say? My fans care about me,” Clive smiled. “When’s your next match then, boys? I’ll try and get out in time for it.”

“Well, the boys are playing on Saturday but the boss has given me and Rob this week off because of all that’s happened,” Colin replied.

“And you decided to take this week off?” Clive asked, raising his eyebrows. Colin nodded. As soon as he’d done so, he wished he hadn’t.

With lightning-quick speed, Clive’s right hand flew up and smacked Colin in the back of the head, making a sweet connection.

“You don’t need a week off! You need to be out there playing and helping your team!” Clive said, laughing. He wasn’t shouting, but he’d raised his voice a little. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I’ve got a tiny scratch but that doesn’t mean the world has to come to a halt, does it? Go out there on Saturday and do what you do best, boys. I don’t need anybody’s sympathy.”

**********

[gavrenwick]

Offy! Did our chat on Xbox last night make you want to publish some work?

[Offspring8]

It did indeed Gav you're the new 'Mr. Motivator'! bit of a beefy update here - I owe it

“If you co-operate with us, it will make it easier for you in the end.”

Sugar stayed silent. He sat sideways on from the table, staring down at his shoes. He was doing his best to avoid looking at or listening to the detective sat across the small table, but he knew he was talking sense. Sugar knew that things didn’t look good for him and he was more than likely to go down.

The police had found the weapon, they’d recovered the bullet which would soon be matched to the weapon, there were fingerprints and there was even CCTV Footage. Add that to Sugars past run-ins with the law and things were looking bleak for him. He knew that all he could do now was try to soften the blow.

He could play it along that he was sorry for what he’d done, he understood that it was wrong and all the rest of it, potentially shortening his sentence.

“Listen to me,” the detective then said, pulling Sugar from his thoughts. “This isn’t a game anymore. This is all real. Honestly kid, you’re looking at a charge for attempted murder. There isn’t much considered to be more serious than that. Co-operate with us and you can help yourself.”

Sugar sighed. He only had one choice. It felt as if the very walls of the tiny interviewing room were pressing towards him and attempting to trap him. He sat up straight and unfolded his arms. “Alright Bob,” Sugar said, slowly turning to the detective and putting his hands out onto the table. This was it. Sugar knew that if he went ahead and co-operated, he’d be consigning himself to a prison cell and the mercy of a judge and jury.

Then he reminded himself. All of the big street names had spent time inside. This was just his turn. With a simple thought of ‘Man Up’, Sugar nodded to himself.

“What do you need to know?”

**********

Friday 12th September 2008

Danielle’s phone went off again, as it had been doing all night. It was beginning to wind Colin up – the couple had barely had 5 minutes alone without Danielle having to pick her phone up and text back to whoever it was.

“Somebody’s popular tonight,” Colin joked, hoping that Danielle would take the bait and reveal who she’d been texting all night.

“Well I guess I’m just a popular person,” Danielle laughed, showing that smile which always made Colin happy. Well, almost always made him happy. She still hadn’t revealed who it was that she was talking to and Colin had a feeling that she knew he wanted to know who it was, yet she was simply reluctant to reveal the name of the mystery person. In the end, Colin simply couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“So who actually is it then?” Colin asked in a light tone. He didn’t want to seem nosey or clingy but the flow of the night had been interrupted by the constant texts and Colin was feeling a little irritated because of it.

“It’s just a guy from near where I live. He goes to a school in the city. I used to know him when I was younger but he’s just started talking to me again.”

And that didn’t improve Colin’s mood. As the string of jealousy was plucked inside Colin, he decided to do what he always done and hide his true emotion.

“Ah cool, what’s his name? I might know him.”

He was trying to sound laid-back and cool about it all, but he wondered if Danielle could see through his act. The phone buzzed once again and as Colin turned his fiery gaze upon it, Danielle caught the look on his face and she smiled to herself. She could see that he was jealous.

“Nah I don’t think you know him, his name’s Matt Jackson,” Danielle said, picking her phone up from the table to text back once again. “There’s no need to be jealous, he’s just a friend who I haven’t spoken to in ages.”

“I’m not jealous,” Colin replied, the words speeding from his mouth. “It’s just a little annoying when we’re trying to spend a bit of time together and your phone keeps goin’ off all the time.”

“You are jealous, I can tell – and it’s okay, I’d probably be the same if the roles were switched. And what do you want me to do, just not talk to my friends ‘cause I’m with you?” Danielle replied, in a slightly more serious tone. Colin could see where this was heading, but he didn’t want to stop it. The fact that she knew it would make Colin jealous just annoyed him even more and Colin was currently in no mood to back down from a way of letting off some steam.

“What do you mean ‘I’d probably be the same’? If you knew it was going to get to me, why are you doing it – are you trying to wind me up or somethin’?”

Colin’s voice raised a little and the tone changed. Both of the teens sat in silence. Then, Danielle’s phone went off again. It was almost as if this ‘Matt’ was in the room with them, doing his best to wind Colin up even more. At first, Danielle made no move towards her phone. She wasn’t scared of what Colin’s reaction would be like, she was simply being stubborn, sitting with her arms crossed, staring straight at the TV.

“Well aren’t you going to reply? Matt’s probably wondering where you’ve gone ‘cause he hasn’t had a reply within thirty seconds.”

“Fine, if you’re gunna be childish about things, I’ll leave you to it,” Danielle said, standing up and pushing her phone into her pocket. “I’ll speak to you again tomorrow. Good luck with your game, bye.”

And before Colin could reply, she’d left the room and Colin could hear her walking down the stairs. This made his mood even worse – he was angry and annoyed, and left with nobody to argue with.

He couldn’t wait to get back out onto that football pitch tomorrow.

**********

Saturday 13th September 2008

Kidderminster (17th) vs. Oxford (2nd) (Blue Square Premiere)

Saturday 6th September, Aggborough

To both Robert and Colin, it felt like it had been years since they’d played a competitive football match. Robert had been hit by a rib injury, which was now healed. It was rather a case of regaining match fitness and sharpness than recovering from the bruised rib. As for Colin, he’d been away with the England Under-19 squad.

For both of them, it was great to be back on that rectangle of grass which felt so much like home. Away from their problems back at home, it had become a place of freedom – even if they were over 70 miles from Oxford.

While Robert was a little rusty (having only taken part in some light training since his injury), he was focussed on having a solid game and regaining some fitness. As for Colin, he’d been training as per normal, and he had a lot to get out of his system.

Firstly, he felt he had a point to prove after having not made it into the England U-19’s first team. It had been frustrating, trekking across Europe just to watch a couple of games from the stands. Even if he had made new friends and experienced what it is like to be with an England squad.

Secondly, he wanted to give his family and his granddad something to cheer about. It had been a bit of a rough week and a good performance today would lift the mood a little.

Finally, he wanted to get his frustration out after the little spat with Danielle. He didn’t know this ‘Matt’ kid, but he did know that as soon as he got the chance to take a shot, he would imagine the ball was Matt Jackson’s head and leather it with every ounce of strength in his body.

In short; Colin was feeling extremely fired up for the game and he was itching to get back into the thick of it.

**********

[Dalbeider]

Wow, I don't know what you did to get him to post two days in a row, but keep on doing it, gav .

[gavrenwick]

Wow, I don't know what you did to get him to post two days in a row, but keep on doing it, gav .

I am totally gifted.

[dechardonay]

Maybe I should get this.... Xbox thingy.... does it handle better than that damn Saxo? That was real awkward to drive while silly Sugar was flapping about out the window, no wonder he missed...

[Offspring8]

Well I cant argue with that statement, Gav

Ha, that explains why that Saxo took over an hour to go from one end of the street to the other and kept crashing into everyone's wheelie bins - you were driving it ;)

Thanks for the comments again guys

It was a quiet start from Oxford as the home team kept the ball away from the visitors. However, they never got a spare second on the ball – Chris Wilder could only watch as Colin Rudyard chased almost every pass down and put his opponents under constant pressure.

It meant that there was a big hole being left where Colin should have been playing, but Chris Wilder couldn’t get through to the youngster. Besides, Joe Burnell and Simon Clist were plenty capable of holding the centre of the park by themselves so Wilder let Colin get on with it.

Kidderminster controlled the opening minutes though, hitting the side netting in the 8th minute. It wasn’t until the 15th minute when James Constable won a free kick that was about 30 yards from goal that Oxford had their first real effort.

Colin was the first to pick the ball up and claim the kick for himself. There was a lot of distance between the goal and the free-kick spot, but that didn’t put Colin off.

Without taking a look at the goal, Colin strode towards the football, hammering it with everything he had. The power of the kick took it over the wall and at the goal, surprising Kidderminster’s shot-stopper.

With the ball headed for the top corner, the ‘keeper pulled off a great save to tip the ball over the bar and out for a corner. It was a screaming effort and it had been saved brilliantly.

Simon Clist took the resulting corner. Clist dropped a deep cross into the penalty box which was punched clear by the ‘keeper. The ball flew to the half-way line where George Abbey picked it up. Abbey pumped the ball back towards the area but that was headed clear once again. There was only one difference with this clearance though.

It fell to Colin. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. Colin controlled the clearance using his chest, then, as the ball began to drop in front of him, Colin imagined that the ball was Matt Jackson. With that thought fresh in his mind and an anger that made him grit his teeth, the Oxford youngster volleyed the ball from 35 yards out.

He could tell immediately that he’d struck it sweetly. The ball flew way over the Kidderminster ‘keepers head before settling itself in the back of the net. The goal had looked virtually identical to Joe Cole’s volley against Sweden in 2006 and Colin was obviously delighted.

He celebrated, screaming as loud as he could in an attempt to force his anger and stress out of his mouth. By the time he’d finished, he had his team-mates climbing all over him. It had been a fantastic goal and it gave Oxford a surprise lead.

The goal acted as a sucker punch to Kidderminster. Both the team and their fans fell silent as if they’d been winded by Colin’s goal just minutes earlier.

So Oxford knew that they had to take advantage quickly. And what better player to use for speed than Robert Rudyard?

The nippy winger received the ball out wide on the right. Instead of skinning his man and running for the byline as he frequently did, Robert feinted and jinxed inside, leaving his marker for dead behind him as he pushed into the area from the right.

Robert got his head up to look for an option and he already had an idea of who to look for. Colin had made a late dart into the area and was heading for the back post. He had two big defenders marking him, but Colin also had a crazy look on his face. And Robert knew that when Colin had that look on his face and that fire in his eyes, he’d challenge anybody and anything to fulfil his goal.

Robert chipped the ball over the ‘keeper from the right and aimed for the back post. Colin barged his way past the bigger men before launching himself at the cross and connecting with a diving header. He dived into the post in the process, but that didn’t stop him from getting up and celebrating as soon as he saw the ball cross the line.

The whole team celebrated once again as the brothers combined to get Oxford their second goal of the game and give themselves a bit of a cushion early on. With just over 20 minutes played, Oxford had bullied their way ahead thanks to two goals from an angry Colin Rudyard.

The worst thing for Kidderminster was that they still had to try and withstand over another hours worth of an angry Colin Rudyard and an in-form Oxford side. At the moment, it looked as if Colin Rudyard was ready to tear his opponents’ limb from limb in order to get the three points.

**********

[nbrethe]

good to see this is still oging! A very good read

[Offspring8]

“Remember to pressurise them as a team. Gaps will start forming in our defence if only one man closes them down – we need to go as a team a squeeze the ball from them,” said Chris Wilder as he paced around the dressing room. Robert was pulling the tape from his socks as his manager spoke. He’d been told that he was going to be subbed off at half time and he was disappointed. He had been extremely average throughout the game and that wouldn’t please any player.

“When we have the ball, don’t be afraid to pass it backwards and recycle the ball if there are no attacking options. Remember; we’re two-nil up. We don’t need to chase the game and force opportunities. We just need to see it out.”

Oxford then headed out for the second half of the game – a half that would prove to be a bore from a fans’ point of view. Colin continued to lead the attack, coming close to completing his hat-trick on a couple of occasions.

Kidderminster awoke and forced Paul Gerrard to earn his keep, hitting the post along the way. Gerrard repeatedly beat away shots from inside the penalty area as the home team failed to capitalise on their chances.

In the end, safe hands from Paul Gerrard and a brace and man of the match performance from Colin Rudyard saw Oxford pick up the 3 points on the road once again.

Kidderminster – 0

Oxford - 2

Colin Rudyard (17, 23)

Man of the Match: Colin Rudyard (OXF)

Att: 1316

**********

Monday 15th September 2008

As Robert walked into the school dining hall with his friends Ryan and Chris, he felt somebody call him and touch his shoulder lightly. As he spun around, he saw Colin’s girlfriend, Danielle. Robert and Danielle hadn’t really spoken to each other properly before, and as Danielle stood there confidently in all her beauty, Robert’s cheeks began to colour.

“Hi Robert, have you spoken to Colin today? It’s just I haven’t seen him and I couldn’t find him out on the field so I was just wondering if you knew where he was?” Danielle asked, smiling.

“Hey Dani, he should be out on the field? He’s probably having a kick-around with Darren at the moment – we’re going out there again after we’ve grabbed some pizza, come out with us if you want?”

Danielle agreed and waited for Robert, Ryan and Chris to buy some food from the canteen before strolling out to the field with the trio to find Colin.

As they walked towards where they expected to find Colin and Darren, Robert couldn’t help but admire Danielle as the sun shone down and reflected from her caramel-brown hair. As her eyes fell upon Colin, Robert could see that she really liked his older brother – and Colin was a lucky boy. Danielle was one of the most sought-after and popular girls in the area and Robert couldn’t deny that he certainly found her attractive.

Colin had seen the four of them approaching a while ago and once they reached Colin and Darren, he kicked the ball over to Robert before walking over to Danielle with his hands in his pockets. Danielle stood a yard away from him, her arms crossed as she looked away.

“You haven’t spoken to me for a few days. Are you still mad about the whole ‘Matt’ episode?” Danielle finally asked, still not looking at Colin, who just shrugged in reply.

“What do you want me to do? Never speak to him again? ‘Cause I won’t do that – he’s my friend and you have to accept that.”

Colin just stared at his feet, anger spiking inside him whenever Matt’s name came from Danielle’s mouth – it almost sounded like a vulgar swear word every time.

“I’m sorry,” Colin finally muttered, even though he didn’t mean it. “It’s just annoying that you were texting him for hours rather than spending time with me.”

“What? I was with you?” Dani said sarcastically, a look of confusion spreading across her face.

“I know you were, but it made it seem as if you didn’t want to be and as if you’d rather be with him. If that’s jealousy then I don’t care, that’s how it felt to me at the time.”

Dani thought about it for a few seconds and it kind of made sense to her. She sighed before falling into Colin’s arms.

“Okay, let’s just forget about all of this, yeah? I don’t like it when we’re not speaking, it’s horrible and I spend most of my time checking my phone for a text from you,” Dani said as she put her arms around Colin.

Colin nodded without saying anything. He still wasn’t entirely happy but at least Dani had shown that she cared. Robert looked over as his brother and Danielle shared a hug. He really was a lucky guy; Robert just hoped he realised it.

**********

We touch, I feel a rush, we clutch, it isn't much

But it's enough to make me wonder what's in store for us

It's lust, it's torturous, you must be a sorcerous

Cause you just, did the impossible, gained my trust

Don't play games it'll be dangerous if you f*** me over

Cause if I get burnt, Im'ma show you what it's like to hurt

Cause I've been treated like dirt before you

And love is "evol", spell it backwards, I'll show you

Lyrics from Eminem – Space Bound

[Offspring8]

Friday 19th September 2008

“The little sh** confessed,” Clive muttered as he rested on the sofa, watching television. “He’s been remanded in custody, so he won’t be around here for a while.”

“He confessed?” Colin and Robert both asked, looking at their granddad, who hadn’t been home long.

“Yep. As I said, we won’t be seeing him for a while.”

Comlin smiled. It would help cool things off with Dale’s issues and it also left the path clear where Dani was concerned. Well, there was still Dani’s brother Sam who was also one of Sugar’s best friends, but he was nothing that Colin couldn’t handle.

“Well, that’s not the only good news,” Colin said. “We’ve just signed Rooney.”

The room fell silent before Clive launched one of his slippers at Colin’s head. Luckily, Clive’s aim was pretty poor at the moment and Colin easily avoided it.

“Don’t be such an idiot,” Clive replied.

“It’s true! We’ve just signed Rooney... John Rooney from Macclesfield,” Colin smirked. John was the younger brother of the famous Wayne Rooney, and Oxford had managed to get him on the cheap for 1k. John was a striker, just like his brother, but he would never be half the player of Wayne. Even so, he had the talent to become an important player for Oxford.

He wouldn’t be arriving until January though, which would mean he’d miss half of Oxford’s games this season, including the match tomorrow against over-achieving Crawley at the Kassam.

Crawley were currently 3rd in the league, one place below Oxford, even though they were considered to be a bottom-half team. They had been weak away from home so far this season and they would be playing away against an Oxford side who had won all of their home games thus far without conceding a single goal.

Oxford had to be wary though. Just three days after the Crawley match, Oxford would host fellow championship favourites Cambridge at the Kassam in an early-season title clash. If Chris Wilder let his players get too tired during the match against in-form Crawley, there wouldn’t be much left in the tank for Tuesday’s match against Cambridge which he desperately wanted to win.

**********

Saturday 20th September 2008

Oxford (2nd) vs. Crawley (3rd) (Blue Square Premiere)

Saturday 20th September, Kassam Stadium

Colin pulled the no. 13 jersey over his head and shoulders, glad to be back at the Kassam for the first time since his European adventures with the England U19 squad. This place felt like home – everything to do with pressure, expectation and trouble all fell away for Colin when he was here. It almost felt like a parallel life to the other side of Colin, and he loved every second of being in this life.

Colin threw his younger brother the tape and Robert proceeded to wrap the tape around his leg below the fold of the socks, and then just below the shin-pads. He was still trying to feel his way back into full fitness having only recently come back from his rib injury, and he’d been given the aim of making it to the hour mark by the physio.

Oxford United Starting Lineup vs. Crawley:

GK: P Gerrard

DR: G Abbey

DC: S Killock

DC: L Foster

DL: C Carruthers

MR: R Rudyard

MC: J Burnell ©

MC: S Clist

ML: C Nelthorpe

AMC: C Rudyard

ST: J Constable

Subs:

GK: B Turley

D RLC: M Day

AM RL: L Haldane

D R, M RC: A Chapman

ST: Y Odubade

**********

The match started well with the Oxford fans in full voice following a good turnout. Their team were the first to throw a punch, making good use of Robert Rudyard’s pace down the right flank. Rudyard flicked a cross back to the edge of the penalty area after making it to the byline just outside the penalty area. Simon Clist was the man coming on to Robert’s cross, meeting it on the volley and testing the Crawley ‘keeper just 3 minutes in to the match.

The stopper was equal to the shot, getting two strong palms to it while his defenders correctly anticipated the ball bouncing back towards them. They hoofed it clear, but it was a sign of intent early on from Oxford United, and it’s what the fans want to see.

Just shy of the 10 minute mark, Crawley’s Ben Gill received the ball in the centre of the pitch, just inside his own half. As he tried to pick out his next pass, Colin nipped around him to nick the ball from his feet and fire off an Oxford counter-attack.

Colin ran forward with the ball, looking up after each touch he took. James Constable was running towards the penalty area, and his marker was trying to keep up with him. In an attempt to set Constable free, Colin ran at the defender that was trying to mark Constable. He could do nothing but commit himself to Colin, leaving Constable onside and open through the middle.

As soon as Colin saw the defender step towards him, Colin crafted a top-class pass around the defender and into the path of Constable. The Oxford supporters stood and most of them applauded Colin’s brilliant pass before observing as Constable ran into the penalty area and went up against the ‘keeper.

With defenders snapping at his heels, Constable put his head down and decided to put power into the shot. As he struck the ball, Crawley’s Chris Giles attempted to make a last-ditch tackle.

He connected with the ball, but only succeeded in helping it past his own ‘keeper. The ball spun quickly into the bottom corner and Oxford went 1-0 up. Constable ran towards the corner flag to celebrate with his fans and team-mates. Colin wasn’t far behind, and his contribution was being recognised by Joe Burnell and Rob Rudyard before Constable turned and clapped hands with the youngster.

Oxford could go top today if Salisbury failed to get a result at York. They were currently the team to beat and it was proving very difficult for any away team to come to the Kassam and even score, let alone win.

However, Crawley were also a dangerous team in a good bit of form. All it would take would be one small mistake and things could go pear-shaped for the Oxford boys.

**********

[Offspring8]

Oxford had been in the lead for just shy of 10 minutes when Crawley began to slowly work down their right wing. The first cross flew over the heads of everyone but Crawley still managed to retain possession on the opposite wing.

Robert charged at the man in possession of the ball, but was not supported by any of his team-mates, meaning that the Crawley players could just pass it straight past him. The cross was put into the box from the byline, and Crawley’s centreback Chris Giles had wandered forward unmarked to power home a looping header from just inside the area, attacking at the near post.

It was all level again and the noise levels inside the Kassam dropped dramatically. In a matter of seconds, the Kassam had gone from being a screaming fortress, to a silent mass gathering. Oxford looked in danger of folding – and that is what sparked the Rudyard brothers into action, it was almost as if somebody had thrown a lit match into a sea of fuel and explosives.

Colin surged through the centre of the field at full speed with his head down. He’d carried the ball 20 yards into Crawley’s half by the time Robert had decided to cut inside from the wing. With a quick shout, Robert let Colin know that he’d be running across the pitch behind him.

Colin, still sprinting at full speed with the ball and approaching the penalty area, trapped the ball dead using the sole of his boot and continued his run, leaving the ball behind him. Robert, sprinting at full speed towards his opposite touchline, picked up the dead ball and carried it across the face of goal, just outside the penalty area.

He eventually swung his left boot at it, connecting sweetly as the ball rolled away from his body, causing the out-swinging effect of the shot. It beat the ‘keeper, but firmly struck the inside of the post before bouncing back out into the penalty area. Unfortunately for Crawley though, Colin had continued his run into the penalty area and he was the first to the loose ball to smash it home from close range and restore Oxford’s lead.

The brothers didn’t stop there though. 20 minutes from time, Simon Clist had the ball on the left wing. He lobbed a deep cross into the Crawley penalty area, which met handsomely wth James Constable’s head. Colin had made a late run into the box and was the closest to Constable.

The Oxford striker nodded it back to Colin, who was in line with what was now the near post. The ‘keeper dived at Colin’s feet to collect the ball, and as he did so, Colin heard another call behind him to let the ball run.

Colin let the ball bounce through his legs and Robert was the next in line for a shot. With the ‘keeper led at Colin’s feet, Robert side-footed the ball home from the edge of the 6 yard box to make it 3-1 to Oxford and secure all of the points.

5 minutes from time, another goal was added to the tally. After a double One-Two between the brothers which resulted in a perfectly weighted pass from Colin into the path of Robert, the young winger pelted in a low cross to the near post.

James constable met the cross first-time on the half-volley and finished it neatly with a hard, low shot which squirmed inside the post to make it 4-1.

A match that could have gone so wrong had turned into a rout, and most of the praise was aimed at the young brothers. Through an incredible understanding of each-other’s game, they’d been the centre-pieces of the machine that systematically tore Crawley’s defence and midfield apart.

Salisbury had only managed a draw at York, which meant that Oxford United had climbed to the top of the table. The celebrations began in the changing room, but they were only brief. There was still a long way to go before the title was decided, and there would surely be many more twists and turns between now and then. Not least of all for the brothers.

Oxford – 4

James Constable (10, 86)

Colin Rudyard (63)

Robert Rudyard (71)

Crawley - 1

Chris Giles (56)

Man of the Match: Colin Rudyard (OXF)

Att: 4080

**********

[stoehrst]

Oh look, an update for A Tale of Two Brothers. Nearly as rare as an update for Chimney Charlie

What a comprehensive performance from the Rudyard brothers that was. Glad to see you updating this Offy

[gavrenwick]

Just waiting for Kipling to appear.

[Offspring8]

No Kipling just yet, Gav - and hopefully not for a while either

Thanks Stoe I personally would like to see you follow suit; it's been a while since I read about Charlie being involved in another drunken pub brawl

ATTENTION: I’ve had to uninstall FM09 from my laptop (asking my little laptop to hold 09, 10 and 11 is a big ask) so I’ve edited an FM11 database and plan to continue the story starting at the beginning of the 2010/11 season. The edits have been realistic (The brothers have both retained the same DOB as they had on the FM09 database, so they are now 17 and 16 years old, their CA has been bumped a little bit to reflect their progression and development as footballers, although their PA is still the same as before etc.) so I doubt you’ll even notice much of a difference.

I’ll be providing you with a bit of a fill-in on what went on through the two years that we’ve skipped – this includes the personal side of things, as well as the footballing side of things.

Thanks for continuing to read this (currently intermittent) story, I’ll be trying my hardest from now on to maintain a steady flow of updates so that this thread doesn’t go weeks without any sign of anything. Thank you again for following and I hope you continue to read and enjoy,

Offy

**********

The 08/09 season started well for Oxford and the Rudyard brothers, but it finished disappointingly.

By the end of January, Oxford were 2nd in the league, 4 points behind the leaders Wrexham. During early February though, Colin suffered an ankle injury that would keep him out for two months, while Robert broke his arm during training, keeping him out for a matter of months as well.

In the absence of the brothers and one or two other key players (Paul Gerrard, back injury, Simon Clist, foot injury), Oxford began to stumble their way down and out of the promotion and play-off places. By the time the brothers had recovered to play again, the season was almost over and they could have little impact on the final say in terms of league positions.

Oxford United finished in 8th position following a dramatic fall from grace, spelling another year in the Blue Square Premier for Oxford – but not necessarily for the brothers.

Colin finished the season with 7 goals from a total of 32 appearances and was voted as winner of the ‘Young Player of the Year’ award, narrowly beating his own brother.

Robert finished having played 28 games with a total of 4 goals to go with his debut season. Both brothers were the subject of various transfer rumours, with the biggest potential suitors being Newcastle United.

There had been rumours of various top clubs making a move for either or both of the brothers, but none of that ever materialised. Newcastle United offered £1.2M for each brother, and for a while it looked as if Oxford were going to cash in.

Chris Wilder, the Oxford United manager, argued to keep the pair at the club for another year, promising promotion and - with it - an increase in the financial value of the brothers. The board opted to leave the final say to the brothers. After much discussion, the Rudyard brothers decided they wanted to stay a little longer – at least until they’d helped drag Oxford back into League 2.

The Newcastle bid was rejected and both brothers would be staying at their hometown club for at least another year in a bid to gain their team promotion.

Off the field, Sugar was sentenced to 8 years in jail with eligibility for parole in 4 years meaning that that worry was out of the picture for a few more years at least. At first, it made things easier for everybody connected with the Rudyard family.

But with Danielle’s brother, Sam, having been one of Sugars best mates, it was always going to be a bumpy ride. When Colin and Sam were around each other in front of Danielle or her family, things were civil, if a little unfriendly between Colin and Sam.

On the occasions they met away from their families and Danielle, the pair made no secret of their dislike for each other and it had come to blows on more than one occasion. Nobody even suspected there was this much hate between the two boys - not yet, anyway.

With gang brawls raging on the night-time streets of Oxford, the 09/10 season began with Colin and Robert having both nailed their place in the team. They were household names around Oxford nowadays, and they received a fair bit of attention from their smitten fans. It was a hard life, sometimes.

**********

[ashbag]

Just read this from start to finish from last night. Loving it.

[tenthreeleader]

Offy, I'm well pleased to see you posting this again. Looking forward to your plot line progression and getting back into the swing of things.

[Offspring8]

Thanks for the comment, ashbag hopefully you continue to read and enjoy!

I'd like to think that this story will stick to the board this time, tenthree. I'm able to write a bit more nowadays

**********

The first half of the season was a little bit shaky, with Oxford sitting in 7th as January passed. Chris Wilder was under pressure to deliver and he put his faith in the players he had, refusing to go out and make signings in the January transfer window, even though he’d lost his captain Joe Burnell at the beginning of the season.

Instead, he wanted to make Colin the sole focus of the team and use his ability to catapult the team to on to better things.

Although through the first half of the season Colin struggled for good form, the turn of the year saw a change in the young midfielder as he went on a run which saw him score 8 goals in as many games through February/March.

Before Colin hit his good run though, things were turbulent off the field. After Sam made some comments about how he couldn’t wait for his friend Sugar to get out from being inside due to them having to ‘Finish off personal projects’, Colin flew across the living room of the Murillo’s and had Sam pinned up by his throat against the wall in front of Danielle and her parents.

Nigel, Danielle’s dad, grabbed Colin and threw him out of the house, telling him not to return. From then on, Danielle’s family made it increasingly difficult for the pair to see each other. Colin was banned from the Murillo’s property and Danielle was banned from going out after 9pm unless Nigel knew where she’d be and who she’d be with.

Despite the difficulties, Danielle and Colin remained a couple, seeing themselves through hard times with Colin’s promises of how they’d move away together once he finally got a big contract somewhere.

Back on the field, Colin and Robert had both made appearances for the England U21 side. They’d both came on twice from the subs bench in international friendlies. It wasn’t much, but at least they’d represented their country in some form.

While away on international duty, the brothers had formed a strong friendship with 19 year old Fulham prospect Nigel Winters.

Winters was known as a spirited player, who could play anywhere on the left flank. He’d built a bit of a reputation as being a strong tackler, fiercely loyal to his friends, family and his club and he also had a ‘Dirty Streak’ within him. He was unafraid to speak his mind and was considered by some to be ‘Controversial’, though Colin and Robert admired his honesty and his unwavering loyalty.

He was considered an important part of Fulham and England’s future and he was set to start making a few appearances for the Fulham first team this season.

Back in the gritty underworld of the Blue Square Premier, Oxford managed to finish in 4th position thanks to a late flurry of form from the club. For Chris Wilder to retain his job, the team would have to secure promotion through the playoffs.

They did, beating Cambridge 2-0 in the final to secure an important promotion back to League 2, sparking massive celebrations in their hometown. Colin finished the season having played a total of 45 games, in which he scored 12 goals.

He was pipped by his younger brother to the ‘Young Player of the Year’ award this time though, as Robert finished a blistering season with 7 goals in 39 appearances – his best stat being his 22 assists.

That was the last time the pair would see the Blue Square Premier as players, as there was a host of clubs lining up to secure the signatures of the youngsters.

Many teams attempted to purchase both players together, but when Aston Villa came in, they were only after Robert. Colin had Watford, QPR, Northampton and MK Dons in for him, and their offers had all been accepted (All were around the £3M mark) meaning he was discussing terms with all of them.

The catch for Colin, though, was that he didn’t want to move too far away. He couldn’t. Danielle was pregnant.

As for Robert, the lure of Premier League football was almost overpowering, but he felt guilty for Colin – even though Colin had told Robert not too – and Aston Villa were situated a long way from home.

Both boys had decisions to make about their future, and they were hard decisions. But, with the help of their agents, their family and their friends, both brothers eventually came to a conclusion about their immediate future.

**********