52 A Star is Born

"It's in! What a finish!" Ian Hawk can't help but burst out in appreciation. "Stupendous!"

"That was…" Martin Jones was having trouble finding the words to say. "Absolutely phenomenal from the youngster!"

"Atkinson struck it, on the half-volley, with the outside of his right boot, top left corner... that was a worldie if I ever saw one!" Eddie Thompson was stunned by that strike.

The stands went bedlam. The cheering and shouting reached an unimaginable high after that ridiculous goal gave their spirits the fuel it needed to go wild.

Atkinson too, went wild. He jumped the barriers and hugged it out with his father who's already lost it from the shock of his son scoring that glorious goal. The other Sheffield players followed suit, as most of the team hugged it out at the sideline near the stands.

He struck the ball with inch perfect precision with the outside of his right foot, rifling the ball goalwards and clearing the defenders as it flew across the field… and curled to the top left corner in pinpoint fashion.

There's not many goals that could be better than that.

"I can say now that this Atkinson lad, he is gonna make it big if he keeps this up." Ian Hawk became a fan the next instant.

***

The old couple's eyes went wide with shock. Their old bones were almost unable to contain their emotions after seeing that out of this world strike.

"Did… did the teenager just do that?" The old man can feel his wrinkly hands trembling while he forced himself to calm down.

But before his wife could answer, they heard something shatter from just behind them.

"Ah!" Serra screamed in displeasure. "I'm sorry, grandma, grandpa."

"Oh, why are you watching from back there?" The older woman caught on quick. "I know you're as surprised as us, honey."

Serra once again blushed like a lovestruck girl. "No I'm not! I just… lost control of the cup…"

"You're not convincing me, dear. I know you." The grandma didn't let up one bit, even if the grandfather had returned to the sofa to watch the game again.

"That goal was really good… don't you think grandma?" She smiled as she helped the older woman get back to her seat before rushing to clean the mess up. "I'll join you in a few, grandma, grandpa."

Serra could feel the butterflies in her stomach as she hopped and skipped away in the dark.

***

After Blaise Atkinson's supreme display of skill earlier, he became an instant center of attention for the Birmingham defense. The initial plan had been to mostly ignore the newcomer and give him the least amount of attention among the four central midfield players.

Well, that plan failed them in spectacular fashion.

So now, they are giving him extra attention, spreading their already thinning defense even thinner. It's not like they need to man mark him, they just need to be there to cover him when needed, and as true League One players, they can at the very least do that well.

Well, the men of Birmingham also needed to do something about their two goal deficit though…

Birmingham became more proactive at the restart, not waiting for Sheffield to seize the initiative once again. Their opponents fell back, adjusting to a less aggressive approach to the game after going ahead by two. The away side took control of the flow, but as the minutes passed, they still couldn't seem to break the midfield down.

Blaise Atkinson was once again the rock that held them back. If he wasn't making plays, he's disrupting Birmingham's game.

A glancing header from a Birmingham defender was cleared away with the slimmest of margins at the goal line by a Blades defender. This drew a wave of relief from the home crowd, and a wave of curses from the other.

The next corner came in, but unlike what happened with Sheffield's back to back corners at the start of the second half, there were no happy endings in theirs.

The Sheffield keeper punched the ball out, with Blaise Atkinson reacting quickest to it in open field again.

He carried the ball uncontested up into the middle of the field, where George Williams was waiting for the pass in the wide grass in front of him to run into. Blaise happily obliged, sending the football delightfully with speed to the path of Williams and the two people tracking him.

Williams got his foot there first, shrugging off one of the two defenders in the process.

He ran side by side with the other defender until he pulled the ball behind his back with his right heel, a little over thirty yards from the target. This seemingly random move caught the defender unaware of what Williams was trying to do.

'Oh he's gonna switch it to his left and shoot huh.' He stood his ground and pivoted left, keeping in step with Williams while trying to figure out where the ball is. 'Wait where the fuck's the ball!'

He thought that Williams would just pull it aside and then reposition before shooting with his left. Well, he didn't manage to see the man running diagonal behind them, unlike the Sheffield forward.

Blaise Atkinson followed the ball after he released it from his foot. He surged in open field, free of any defender, as the defender beaten by Williams struggled to keep up with him in full sprint. He was only a few yards away from George when he got a gllimpse of a man wearing the same jersey as his running diagonally to his left.

So, the striker without hesitation, snuck the ball behind him and faked a left turn.

Blaise smiled ear to ear in delight. He controlled the ball, and went right before hitting the ball goalwards.

The keeper was confused the same way the defender was. He didn't manage to get anywhere close to the ball before it curled inwards to the top right corner of the goal.

"Oh my world! That was a banger!" Martin Jones was the first to react. "Oh my!"

"Wow! What happened there, Eddie?" Ian Hawk gave the mic to the analyst Eddie Thompson.

"A lot has happened during that short sequence." He started, as the fans once again sang Blaise Atkinson's name. "After that through ball, Atkinson timed his run perfectly, not giving the defenders behind him any chance of catching up. George saw him right before he was about to take the shot, and knowing that he doesn't have as clear a chance as he'd have, he laid it off. I'd have to say, that was a pretty slick move on his part."

"Yeah, as you see, this lad Atkinson appears to have great sniping boots." Jones added.

"Sheffield are in dreamland right now, what a top quality performance from their debutant!" Ian Hawk commented with some emotion. "Tonight, a new star is born here in the Bramall Lane!"