It was Thursday and Coach Sinclair had decided to split the team in half in order to play mini-matches to work on speed and accuracy. Vincit was a fast sport and on a court of fourteen well-built, goal hungry players, it took skill to be precise. There were people wherever you looked and filling the gaps between them were near-meter long wooden sticks, constantly sweeping and batting at the ground, furiously attempting to nab the rubber ball. That ball would be tossed between the ravenous strikers, protected by their iron shields of defensive partners as they tried to get it into the net. The sport took concentration and a good eye that was able to navigate around the crowded court without getting caught out. The purpose of mini-matches was to target the way a player moves and works with their partner and then  improve on it. This made a significant difference when the court was full during a real game.

             The size of the court was decreased to make it more difficult and Rosie stood on the left of the quarter-way line closest to the other team's goal. Her defensive partner Aidan Ferguson was positioned opposite her, bouncing between his feet and at that moment Rosie was thankful to have such a hyperactive partner. Her two best friends, Juliet Strickland and Nate Figueroa, completed the team with Max Kennedy filling in as their goalkeeper. They were playing against Denise Haynes, Stephanie McArthy, Quentin Osborne and Gabriel Vasquez; everyone on the squashed court were skilled players with years of experience between them. Vincit was never easy, that's what Rosie loved about it. All the teams that the Ospreys would face during the Championships were extremely talented and if you combined pure skill with utter perseverance, you had a near-unbeatable team. It was a good thing that the Ospreys were just as unsurpassable. Rosie could barely contain her excitement for that first match in two weeks .

An immovable object meets an unstoppable force.

        A blow of Sinclair's tinny whistle threw the game into dizzying motion. The ball, which was sat in the middle of the centre circle, was thrashed at by opposing strikers Juliet and Gabriel; they were desperately attempting to gain possession. Rosie darted towards Aidan and the pair ran to the other side of the court with their goal. Max stood ready in the net, stick gripped tight in both gloved hands. Mini-matches were especially hard for goalkeepers as they no longer had the same amount of defense from other players, their pin-point accuracy had to be mastered in order to save the ball. Strikers couldn't make contact on purpose in the game so Juliet and Gabriel had to watch their bodies as they fought for the ball. When strikers were trying to gain possession it was up to their partners to make sure nobody got in the way. Defenders were made of thick steel and when they collided together Rosie could sense the pain, not that it bothered them. Juliet managed to steal the ball and her nimble body had cut past Gabriel and his partner Stephanie, causing both of them and their teammates to follow her as she ran towards the goal. It was too crowded for Juliet to attempt to shoot from where she was stood, even despite her defender Nate trying to clear the way. Rosie was trapped behind Quentin and Denise and she motioned for Aidan to help her out. He crashed into Quentin's side, distracting Denise who was entirely focused on both getting the ball and stopping Rosie from getting past. It would only take a few seconds for Quentin and Denise to get themselves back together so Rosie had to be swift. She crossed past them in a blink, she was a lightning flash of navy and white with the same amount of immense power. She would rely on Aidan to join her side in his own time, all Rosie needed to do now was get into Juliet's line of sight so that she could make the pass. Juliet still had ownership of the ball despite multiple quick attempts by the other strikers to take it however by now the opposing team had started to corner her. Rosie yelled Juliet's name in pure panic, it was now or never. Juliet's head twisted in Rosie's direction and a grateful expression flashed across her face while Nate made sure that the enemy pairs who were on Juliet's tail were halted as she swung her stick, a sweeping arc. Rosie knew that the ball wasn't going to make it all the way to where she was waiting so she had to run towards it and clearly the other strikers had thought the same thing. Gabriel and Denise sprinted for the ball too, sticks stretched out far in front of them to give them a bit of extra distance. Gabriel crashed into Rosie's side, an inevitable occurrence they couldn't avoid and if it had been done on purpose during a real game one of them would have been given a warning, however Coach Sinclair must have knew that it was accidental as he blew his whistle in dismissal. The collision caused Rosie's shoulder to sting but she blinked through the ache, focusing her mind on getting hold of the ball. There was the clattering sound of a heavy stick on the wooden floor and Denise managed to snatch the prize in the brief moment of Rosie's distraction; she twisted her body around and began to dart towards her goal, rolling the ball with the long, curved end of her stick.

"Damn!" hissed Juliet at the other team's possession and Rosie watched as they left them to run after their striker. The two girls glanced at each other and it was almost as if they had read each other's minds. They weren't letting this game end without a good fight.