Rory of the Rovers

By Len Morgan

For three years, Rory Miller had been the top scorer for Melchester Rovers, ever since Jason Fairfax, his friend, had been sold to Coryton United.  So, Rory became Melchester’s star player until he was callously hacked down by his ex-friend Jason in a game against Coryton United.  Rory came away with a broken leg and dislocated hip he was out of the game, flying a wheelchair for the foreseeable future.  He still attended all the training sessions and games, as a coach, encouraging the younger players, like Alan Peters who was currently wearing his No.9 shirt.

 

Peters was young, not another Rory but he was a good player and given time would be a great player.  He just needed to gain experience.  Melchester lost their next game and drew the following two.

 

Rory ran through the first game, in his mind, and dreamed it that night, with himself in Alan’s boots.  He knew exactly what had gone wrong, and gave Alan appropriate advice plus some extra training.  The next two games showed improvement but were both draws. 

 

Then came the return fixture with Coryton United.  A few nights before the game, Rory dreamed of the match.  Jason Fairfax pulled the same crippling stunt on Alan that had sidelined Rory.  He warned Alan, telling him when it was likely to happen.

 

He was on the sideline during the first half but hadn’t slept well the previous night. His wheelchair was parked in the dugout with the management team when the second half started, but he was drowsy and dozed off.

 

 He began to dream, he was on the pitch.  The right-back passed him the ball and he headed for goal; as he did so Fairfax slid in with his dangerous tackle, Rory jumped and the attack missed its target.  He shot and the ball went into the top right corner.  Alan turned to find Fairfax writhing in agony; he’d twisted his knee and pulled a hamstrung muscle.

 

The roar of the crowd woke Rory from his doze, in time to see Alan’s celebration at scoring the winning goal!

 

Later, Alan related his experience.

“It was almost as if my body had been taken over by somebody else.  When I started my run on goal, I did it exactly as Rory would have done.”

 

“Except it was you Alan, now I think the Rovers have an excellent player in my place.  I reckon I’ll have trouble winning my place back when I finally get fit,” he smiled and patted Alan on the back. “Nice one!”

 

Copyright Len Morgan