Damukuni 0 - 3 Brenecia
(4-1-4-1) 1 - Woodgate; 18 - Beath, 5 - Heneghan, 6 - Szubanski (vc), 3 - Quill (19 - Cattalock 54'); 4 - Gryphon (c, 23 - Alweather 77'); 7 - Crowther, 21 - Case, 13 - Wheeler, 11 - Ashbrown; 9 - Riordan (17 - Bannion 65')
Goals: Wheeler 17', Ashbrown 37', Riordan 61'
"So, eh. Corby." Not for the first time, Jim Reid reflected that Brenecian names could be bizarre. The avian duo of Falcon and Corby were about to back up Griffin, flanked by Brae and... Tiferet.
In any case, Wheeler looked up. Bright-eyed. Attentive. Not what you'd expect from a mercurial, inconsistent winger, but then Brenecia wasn't the sort of place that bred arrogant types. The constant, battering rains and cloying mist and smell of coal and steel broke you down, forced you to learn humility, your place in the world. As far as first-world nations went, that was at the bottom.
"Chief?"
Her bright voice brought Reid back to the present. "Ah, right. Aye. Look. I've heard it said often enough that you're a flake. That you can't handle the pressure. That you can't offer us anything at the sharp end - hell, that you shouldn't be here at all."
Wheeler grimaced. "Yeah, chief." She'd heard it because, she had to admit, it had been true half the time. Not for want of effort, but she just... had those days. And one of them, annoyingly, had been against Eura, when the team - the nation - had been counting on the 22-year old to shift the balance of the game and force the Patriots' way back into contention.
"You'll have your chance today. Just... prove the bastards wrong for me, aye?"
Seventeen minutes into the match, Corby Wheeler had proven the bastards wrong.
This was not slated to be a thriller, by any means. Brenecia liked to sit back, and so did Damukuni - but it was they who needed a win, with a point enough for Brenecia. But it seemed as though Oyodama and Kopur's lads were happy enough to stay back for now, focus on absorbing pressure, keeping things calm for the first half-hour or so in two flat, low banks of four before making their push. And it had been working well, with Riordan isolated, no space for Crowther or Ashbrown to run into, and Rivera getting just enough possession in the middle to keep the Patriots honest. Already, Woodgate had had to make two sharp saves, albeit from shots outside the box, and Leeds should have put a strike on target but missed badly under pressure from Heneghan.
Still, Brenecia had most of the ball, but it was just a matter of finding that breakthrough...
... and Wheeler was going to be essential to that. She was the sole drifter between the lines, and her refusal to be predictable made her hard for anyone to track. And she'd already threatened a few times, almost finding the right ball for Crowther to break through the line, almost feeding Riordan in, almost slipping Case past his man...
At times like this, sometimes you just had to say 'fuck it' and belt one into the top corner.
So that had shifted the state of play a bit, forced Damukuni somewhat out of their shells, allowed most of Brenecia's line to sit deeper and breathe a sigh of relief. But despite having more of the ball than ever, Damukuni no longer had the chance to hit on the break, with Heneghan and Szubanski comfortably dealing with whatever came their way and the valuable spare midfielder of Gryphon sweeping balls away from under her opponents' feet. And the Patriots were starting to find gaps, Ashbrown was finally allowed to run wild and free down the left, her blistering pace giving Doyle whiplash and career regrets every time Wheeler found her with a long ball, Crowther a threat from the right.
This was... better, for Wheeler. So much easier, so much more assured, one of those nights where her passes stuck wherever she put them, where no touch seemed too heavy or too light, where she just... made the things happen in her head happen on the pitch, where-
CHRIST
Wheeler collapsed under the weight of the studs in her calf, and rolled... and rolled, and rolled. Then rolled back a rotation, clutching her leg and grimacing and trying not to swear and then swearing, a lot. Case was already right in Noala's face, and he was swearing a lot, too, but shut up when the referee showed up and gave him a Look. Noala went in the book. Gryphon lifted her to her feet.
"Alright, love, you rest yourself, I'll take this one-"
"Nah, man, I got it."
"You sure?" Gryphon asked, but in the kind of captainly way that really means, 'reconsider.'
"It's fine," Wheeler said anyway, and took the ball, waited for the whistle and laid it beautifully low and hard down the line, sending people scrambling. Riordan took a swipe at it, so did Jonsen, but both missed - the ball instead found Ashbrown, running at it from the left.
The Kings Park winger was not the most assured finisher at the best of times, but here she found just enough composure to loft the ball, gently but firmly, into the roof of the net.
The third, the clincher, came after quite a lot of not terribly much. There were shades of the Savojarna match again, a match where the Patriots had all the tools at their disposal to sit on a two-goal cushion and stay on top, forever.
And the formation, the setup, even the pep talk were the same. Stay calm, don't implode. Let the result come without a fuss and take the points without the fanfare. Keep doing the basics right and move on. It was a nice tonic after the chastening Eura defeat.
Still, that wasn't Corby Wheeler's game. She wanted to keep pressing, keep up the pressure, keep trying things, and to her credit it was her threat and Riordan's industry that kept Damukuni on their toes. Wheeler, eventually, was the one who snapped into Noala - wasn't that a nice bit of revenge? - and took the ball away from him, swivelling to pay attention upfield, and in the flash of her peripheral vision saw Rivera coming for her-
SWOOSH
- and just edged away from him as he skidded helplessly in the wrong direction, leaving her space, yards of space to run, play the one-two with Gryphon to get behind Jonsen and slam the ball towards goal from point-blank!
Korenaga made himself big, and beat it away with both fists, but was sprawling helplessly as Riordan reached the rebound to tap it over him.
Still, the game was all but sealed on the hour, and while the remaining half-hour was quiet, Wheeler could rest assured she'd done her part. Two assists and one goal (though very nearly vice-versa), the Player of the Match award and a knowing smile from Reid was reward enough for a job well done.
And what did the haters have to say to that?
"Well, that's all very well and good, but she still couldn't hack it against a big side, could she?"
Goddamn it.
Vilita 3 3 0 0 9 6 +3 9
Equestrian States 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1 6
Banija 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3 
New Gazi 3 0 0 3 1 5 −4 0
Silian Parker
