All week long the loss against Westford stuck in Ethan's mind. At school the classmates who praised him for his previous performances asked him what went wrong. At training Callum was even more frustrated than usual with Ethan, while Mason didn't say much to him. Ethan knew he had to make up for his performance with a good one against Greenford.
Saturday
For the first time this season Crestwood was playing on their home pitch. This was the first time Ethan had seen other people at the ground besides the players and coaches. Parents and scouts surrounded the pitch in folding chairs ready to watch Crestwood take one Greenford.
Inside the changing room Coach Warren addressed the team. "Greenford aren't as good as Westford, but that doesn't mean we should be taking them lightly. They have drawn both of their games against solid sides. They're going to want to come out and prove something to the rest of the league by beating us. We need to stay sharp, play fast, and keep believing in ourselves. Flush last week's loss out of your mind. What makes a team great is how they respond after a loss, especially their fist one of the season."
Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season, Crestwood got off to a bright start. Mason controlled the midfield, Callum caused problems for the Greenford backline, and most importantly Ethan was finding space and his touches were much sharper. The first chance of the game came in the 12th minute when Ethan cut in from the right side of the field past a defender and curled a shot toward the top corner, just for it to be pushed away by the keeper. Ethan's confidence had surged after receiving some applause from the crowd and the bench.
Crestwood grabbed the lead in the 20th minute. Mason won a 50-50 challenge and passed it up to Ethan who played a perfect through ball to Callum who made no mistake and put Crestwood up 1-0.
Crestwood looked to grab a second before halftime, but a long ball by Greenford caught the Crestwood backline flat and let the striker one on one to level the match at one.
At the start of the second half, Crestwood started brightly again, but Greenford wasn't making it easy. The game started to turn scrappy with loose passes and tackles flying in from both sides. Ethan had been rattled by this type of game the last couple weeks, but this time he stayed composed. In the 55th minute he dribbled the ball past two men before passing the ball out wide. The winger put in a low cross towards whose shot got blocked by the centerback. However, Mason was there for the rebound and put the ball in the back in the net to help Crestwood retake the lead.
For the final ten minutes of the game Greenford pushed everyone forward while Crestwood dropped back, content with a one goal lead. Ethan dropped down to help defensively and Greenford couldn't find a way through. When the fulltime whistle blew the scoreboard read Crestwood 2 Greenford 1.
Ethan exhaled after the final whistle blew. He had an assist to his name and controlled the game much better than he did last week.
Mason walked up to Ethan and said "That's how you bounce back."
"Just keep giving me service and we'll be just fine," Callum said.
For the first time in a week Ethan smiled. There was still a lot of pressure with schoolwork and football, but he just proved that he is strong enough to bounce back after a setback.