enough in time to play tomorrow,’ she told him. ‘But I’ll let Mr Carey know.’
Eoin was miserable enough without missing the big rugby match too. Why were the days you were allowed to stay in bed always the days you felt too terrible to enjoy it?
He dozed off eventually, but was awoken by a rustling noise in the corner. He opened one eye to see Brian peering under Alan’s bed where the trapdoor lay.
‘Hey, Brian,’ he said, ‘what are you doing here?’
‘Kevin told me you wanted to see me,’ he replied. ‘And I was wondering about that trapdoor message – I presume the trapdoor is the one under this bed?’
‘Yes,’ said Eoin. ‘It leads to a secret passageway that goes up to another dorm. The lads in there were using it to sneak in here and steal our phones. It was weird, though, they just took the phones out of here and then left them down in the secret room. We told the teachers, but they don’t seem too interested in finding out any more about who did it or why. There’s a second door down there too, with a huge lock on it. It’s all very mysterious.’
‘I’ll have a look around. Why are you in bed during the daytime?’
‘I woke up with a cold this morning. The nurse says I can’t play in the Junior Cup quarter-final tomorrow, which is a pain.’
‘Well, she’s probably right. Never a good idea to play a match too soon after a cold. I’ve seen a lot of lads get much worse. Get yourself right for the semi. They’ll befine without you.’
Brian was right, of course, and Eoin was still in bed when Castlerock found their way past St Ultan’s in the quarter-final. Rory came straight up to the room to give him a blow-by-blow account of the game.
‘It was too close for Carey to empty the bench, so Paudie never got a look-in,’ he chuckled. ‘He wasn’t too happy about that. Paddy Buckley got a knock though, so Gav got on. I suppose I’ve moved up in the scrum-half pecking order too …’ he added.
‘You definitely have,’ said Eoin. ‘But I think they can only play guys in the 35 they send in before the cup starts.’
‘Oh,’ said Rory, suddenly gutted.
‘Sorry to break that to you, pal. It’s just the stupid rules.’
‘But what if …’ he started, before shrugging his shoulders and sighing. ‘Oh well, there’s always next year. We’ve a decent team – or we will when we get you back anyway.’
Dylan and Alan arrived, and the four sat around talking rugby for a while before Dylan tried out one of his stupid jokes and they all cracked up laughing.
‘Thanks for coming to visit me, lads,’ chuckled Eoin. ‘Just a shame no one cared enough to bring me a few grapes.’
Chapter 19
. . . . . . . . .
E OIN recovered quickly and a couple of days after the JCT game he was up and about. His return to training took a couple of days more.
‘OK, Eoin, good to have you back,’ Devin called as he jogged onto the training pitch. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Good, thanks,’ he replied. ‘Raring to go.’
‘Right, Ronan’s looking a bit dodgy for the semi,’ said the captain. ‘I want you to work with the first team backs in case you need to be brought in. Mr Carey’s still not sure whether to stick with Paudie, but I’m pulling hard for you.’
Eoin nodded and took his place with the backs. The session went well, but when it came to rejigging the first team backline, Mr Carey called out KPaudie Woods’s name.
‘OK, Woods, let’s see what you can do with the big boys,’ he called, as Eoin gritted his teeth. Devin looked across and shrugged, as if to say that he had done his best, but the teacher had made the final call.
Paudie did OK too, but Eoin still reckoned he was abetter out-half. Paudie was just too slow making decisions and was often caught in possession. Eoin knew whether a pass or a kick was the better option before the scrum-half had even turned to pass him the ball. He wished he had another chance to show that to Mr Carey.
Eoin was put at
Eoin was miserable enough without missing the big rugby match too. Why were the days you were allowed to stay in bed always the days you felt too terrible to enjoy it?
He dozed off eventually, but was awoken by a rustling noise in the corner. He opened one eye to see Brian peering under Alan’s bed where the trapdoor lay.
‘Hey, Brian,’ he said, ‘what are you doing here?’
‘Kevin told me you wanted to see me,’ he replied. ‘And I was wondering about that trapdoor message – I presume the trapdoor is the one under this bed?’
‘Yes,’ said Eoin. ‘It leads to a secret passageway that goes up to another dorm. The lads in there were using it to sneak in here and steal our phones. It was weird, though, they just took the phones out of here and then left them down in the secret room. We told the teachers, but they don’t seem too interested in finding out any more about who did it or why. There’s a second door down there too, with a huge lock on it. It’s all very mysterious.’
‘I’ll have a look around. Why are you in bed during the daytime?’
‘I woke up with a cold this morning. The nurse says I can’t play in the Junior Cup quarter-final tomorrow, which is a pain.’
‘Well, she’s probably right. Never a good idea to play a match too soon after a cold. I’ve seen a lot of lads get much worse. Get yourself right for the semi. They’ll befine without you.’
Brian was right, of course, and Eoin was still in bed when Castlerock found their way past St Ultan’s in the quarter-final. Rory came straight up to the room to give him a blow-by-blow account of the game.
‘It was too close for Carey to empty the bench, so Paudie never got a look-in,’ he chuckled. ‘He wasn’t too happy about that. Paddy Buckley got a knock though, so Gav got on. I suppose I’ve moved up in the scrum-half pecking order too …’ he added.
‘You definitely have,’ said Eoin. ‘But I think they can only play guys in the 35 they send in before the cup starts.’
‘Oh,’ said Rory, suddenly gutted.
‘Sorry to break that to you, pal. It’s just the stupid rules.’
‘But what if …’ he started, before shrugging his shoulders and sighing. ‘Oh well, there’s always next year. We’ve a decent team – or we will when we get you back anyway.’
Dylan and Alan arrived, and the four sat around talking rugby for a while before Dylan tried out one of his stupid jokes and they all cracked up laughing.
‘Thanks for coming to visit me, lads,’ chuckled Eoin. ‘Just a shame no one cared enough to bring me a few grapes.’
Chapter 19
. . . . . . . . .
E OIN recovered quickly and a couple of days after the JCT game he was up and about. His return to training took a couple of days more.
‘OK, Eoin, good to have you back,’ Devin called as he jogged onto the training pitch. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Good, thanks,’ he replied. ‘Raring to go.’
‘Right, Ronan’s looking a bit dodgy for the semi,’ said the captain. ‘I want you to work with the first team backs in case you need to be brought in. Mr Carey’s still not sure whether to stick with Paudie, but I’m pulling hard for you.’
Eoin nodded and took his place with the backs. The session went well, but when it came to rejigging the first team backline, Mr Carey called out KPaudie Woods’s name.
‘OK, Woods, let’s see what you can do with the big boys,’ he called, as Eoin gritted his teeth. Devin looked across and shrugged, as if to say that he had done his best, but the teacher had made the final call.
Paudie did OK too, but Eoin still reckoned he was abetter out-half. Paudie was just too slow making decisions and was often caught in possession. Eoin knew whether a pass or a kick was the better option before the scrum-half had even turned to pass him the ball. He wished he had another chance to show that to Mr Carey.
Eoin was put at
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