After Valhalla Academy took the lead, they pressed for another goal as they wanted to expand their lead. Rising Star Academy wasn't to be trifled with however, and responded in kind, allowing the match to continue with its pace.
By the sixty-fifth minute, the two goalkeepers had done quite a lot and any one of them could stake a claim to the man of the match award.
James decided to make a change, and brought on Jason, who was on the bench, for the right winger who started. He had been kept quiet all game and didn't make any meaningful contribution. Even Tyler, who was basically triple-teamed, managed to create a spark once or twice in the second half.
In the seventieth minute, Rising Star Academy had another chance to score. It was Tyler and Jason who orchestrated things.
Tyler figured out that if he was going to have three players on him when he got the ball, then it meant that the middle of the pitch or the other half was going to suffer for it, leaving space to be exploited. He planned to punish that.
Rising Star Academy's central midfielder passed the ball to him on the left and as he predicted, three players instantly rushed to where he was. One of them was directly confronting him while the remaining two were zonal marking.
Tyler drove the ball forward and used the outside of his boot to cut inside, before sharply turning the ball, using an elastico to get past the first player.
The other two started rushing towards him but before they got to him, Tyler played a pass to his team's left back who made an underlap.
As his left back got the ball, the players marking him turned their attention to the left back who returned the ball to Tyler who had already run into the space behind them.
A couple of steps later, he found himself at the edge of the penalty box, facing the right center back who had come out to mark him in order to give his team time to compose themselves.
Tyler didn't try dribbling him as he had predicted. He used the outside of his boot to play a trivela pass between the two center backs, to the far width, where Jason was making a run into the right flank.
Jason used his left foot to take his first touch, taking it in his stride and pushing it forward, setting himself up for a powerful right-footed shot to the roof of the net.
The Valhalla Academy goalkeeper had made a lot of unbelievable saves throughout the game so far, but he simply stood no chance against that thunderbolt of a shot. He stood rooted to the spot and could only stare at the shot and hiss when he heard the sound of the ball smashing against the net.
Jason had scored. Rising Star Academy had equalized. 2-2.
He went crazy with his celebration, doing a knee slide in front of the small crowd present while doing James Maddison's celebration. The rest of his teammates ran to join him, clapping him on the back and hugging him. It was a high-stakes match, and they were very glad to not be the losing side anymore.
After the match restarted, Rising Star Academy piled on the pressure. They were looking to go into the lead. After the scare that they went through earlier, they realized that they needed to run away with the match.
In the next few minutes, Valhalla Academy's goalkeeper was faced with a barrage of shots.
In the seventy-second minute, Tyler managed to shake off his markers and sent a curling effort towards the top corner of the far post. Unfortunately, it seemed like he didn't quite have the hang of the finesse shot and his shot went over the bar.
Two minutes later, Rising Star Academy's striker slipped in behind Valhalla Academy's center back and managed to latch onto a very beautiful through pass from Jason. In the end, Valhalla Academy's goalkeeper came to the rescue, managing to make himself big enough to get a hand to the shot.
In the eightieth minute, the Rising Star Academy players all got a scare when Valhalla Academy's troublesome attacking midfielder caused trouble once again. He went on another solo run through the midfield, and played a one-two with his team's striker to get him inside the box.
He found himself one on one with Rising Star Academy's goalkeeper and fired a blistering shot between the legs of the goalkeeper.
The shot bounced off the leg of the goalkeeper as he brought himself to the ground in an attempt to keep the shot out. As the shot ricocheted off the goalkeeper's leg, about to enter the back of the net, one of Rising Star Academy's center backs managed to get a leg to it, deflecting it off the line and away for a corner kick.
Tyler, who watched everything happen, placed his hand on his chest as he heaved a sigh of relief. A millisecond ago he thought that everything was over.
It wasn't only Tyler, but everyone else on the team felt this way. They knew that they were one moment away from going behind at such a late stage in the game.
That scare made them a lot more relentless in their search for the lead. They began creating more chances, but Valhalla Academy were holding out quite well.
In the ninetieth minute, all the efforts of the Rising Star Academy players finally paid off.
The team's central midfielder intercepted a pass at the middle of the pitch and sent a through ball to the right, towards Jason who was already sprinting towards it.
As Jason ran towards the ball, two other players flanked him. One behind him and one slightly in front of him.
Jason reached the ball first and kicked it between the legs of the full back in front of him who had turned around to mark him. He quickly left the full back in the dust and made his way to the edge of the box before sending a cross towards the near post.
Rising Star Academy's attacking midfielder had made a run in that direction and rose to meet the ball with his head. The Valhalla Academy goalkeeper, along with the Valhalla Academy defenders, crowded the near post, thinking that the attacking midfielder was going to head the ball into the back of the net. His next actions shocked them. Instead of heading the ball towards the goal, he flicked it off his head, towards the far post, where Tyler was running into. Tyler made no mistake from point-blank range and headed the ball into a virtually empty net.
Goal. 3-2.
A/N: This is kind of a survey, I'm new to writing this so I need some feedback to better myself. Was this match too long, or too short or it's just right?