Yesterday was a very exciting day at school. It was the day of the annual match between our school and Parkview. They are our great rivals.
Most years the teams had been evenly matched. Sometimes we had won and sometimes they had won, but neither team had ever won by a big margin.
This year our team were feeling more than a little nervous, although our coach was doing his best to be optimistic. There was a stomach bug going round the school and three of our best players went down with it. Three substitutes were told that they would have to play instead. The worst thing was that the three players who were taken ill included our goal-keeper and our best striker.
Then we heard some good news; well, good news from our point of view, at least! Apparently, the stomach bug was affecting Parkview as well and three of their best players were suffering from it. By an amazing coincidence, the three players included their goalkeeper and their best striker! We tried very hard not to feel pleased.
The match got started and the two seemed, once more, to be evenly matched. Throughout the first half, the play moved from one half of the field to the other fairly evenly. Neither team scored a goal, although both of them came close in doing so.
Then, at the start of the second half, one of our substitutes scored a goal. A few minutes later he scored another! Just before the end he scored a third. We could not believe it. We had won! Everyone congratulated the scorer of the three goals. We had not missed our best striker at all. Indeed, he would be lucky to keep his place in the team.
Vocabulary
Rival—someone who competes with you in some way
Optimistic—having a positive outlook
