Apex United, with Emre Demir pulling the strings from deep, passed the ball with a hypnotic, patient rhythm.

But Leo's black and gold fortress refused to crumble.

At the heart of it all was Matias Gallardo, a 17-year-old defensive prodigy who played with the composure and intelligence of a ten-year veteran.

He was a magnet for the ball, appearing from nowhere to intercept a pass or make a perfectly timed tackle.

On the pitch, the frustration was starting to boil over.

"He's a bloody octopus!" Jonathan Rowe grumbled to his full-back after Gallardo had effortlessly dispossessed him for the third time. "He's got eight legs, I swear!"

In the 38th minute, the tension finally snapped.

Kenny McLean, after a long spell of possession, finally found a gap and drove forward.

He was cynically tripped from behind by an Orion midfielder, a tackle that had no intention of winning the ball.

The referee's whistle blew, and the first yellow card of the derby was shown.

Ethan was on his feet in his technical area. "Come on, ref! He was through there! That's a professional foul!"

Leo, from the opposite dugout, just gave him a smug, infuriating grin and a little shrug, as if to say, 'All part of the plan.'

The first half ended 0-0. It had been a fascinating, if goalless, battle of wills.

The Apex dressing room was a hive of frustrated energy.

"It's like playing against a wall," Viktor Kristensen said, shaking his head. "There's no space anywhere."

"Their number five, Gallardo, is the key," Grant Hanley observed, his voice a low growl. "Everything goes through him. We need to pull him out of position."

Ethan stepped into the middle of the room. "He's right. And that's exactly what we're going to do. We've been too predictable. Too patient. In the second half, we're going to be more direct. David, Jonny," he said, looking at his two wingers. "I'm taking the leash off. I want you to run at their full-backs every single time you get the ball. Be a menace. Make them commit. We need to create some chaos."

Across the corridor, in the Orion dressing room, Leo was ecstatic.

"Brilliant, lads! Absolutely brilliant!" he praised his team. "They're getting frustrated. You can see it. The gaffer over there is starting to lose his hair. More of the same in the second half. Stay compact, stay disciplined, and wait for our chance. They'll make a mistake eventually."

The second half began with a renewed, ferocious intensity.

The game, which had been a tactical battle, was now becoming a personal one.

Tackles were flying in, and the players were exchanging more than just pleasantries.

In the 51st minute, Kenny McLean, tired of being kicked, slid in late on an Orion midfielder, earning a yellow card for his troubles and a round of sarcastic applause from Leo on the sideline.

"Two can play at that game, Leo!" Ethan yelled across the pitch.

"Bring it on, Couch!" Leo yelled back, a huge grin on his face.

The game was on a knife-edge.

In the 62nd minute, the moment of chaos Ethan had been hoping for finally arrived. David Kerrigan received the ball on the left wing.

He feinted inside, then exploded down the outside, leaving the Orion full-back for dead. He drove into the box, his feet a blur of step-overs.

Another defender came across to cover. Kerrigan jinked past him.

He was about to shoot when a third, desperate defender slid in, taking him down in a heap right on the white line of the penalty area.

The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. A free-kick, inches outside the box. The defender who made the challenge was shown a yellow card.

"And the deadlock is almost broken!" the commentator's voice crackled with excitement. "A moment of individual magic from the chaotic David Kerrigan, and he wins a free-kick in the most dangerous position imaginable! This is a golden opportunity for Apex United!"

As the Apex players argued over who would take it, Leo was screaming at his wall, meticulously arranging them. This was it. The defensive test of his managerial career.

After a brief, heated debate, Emre Demir placed the ball down.

He was the artist, the man for the big occasion. He took his run-up and struck the ball with that same, impossible, curling technique.

The ball went up, over the wall, and was destined for the top corner.

But the Orion goalkeeper, who had clearly studied the tapes, took a half-step to his left and launched himself through the air, getting the faintest of fingertips to the ball and pushing it onto the crossbar.

It was a save of world-class quality.

The ball bounced down and was hooked clear by a desperate Orion defender.

But the clearance was a wild, looping one. It went straight up the pitch, into the vast, empty space behind the Apex midfield, who had all pushed up for the free-kick.

Orion's fastest striker, who had been lurking on the halfway line, was onto it in a flash.

He was clean through on goal.

There was only one man who could possibly catch him.

Grant Hanley, the 32-year-old Apex captain, turned and ran, his legs pumping, his lungs burning. He wasn't going to win the footrace, but he was a master of the defensive arts.

As the striker entered the penalty area and prepared to shoot, Hanley launched himself into a desperate, last-ditch slide tackle from behind.

He got a perfect, clean touch on the ball, poking it away from the striker's feet and out for a corner. It was a goal-saving, season-defining tackle. A captain's tackle.

But the referee, who was trailing the play, saw it differently.

He saw a defender, the last man, sliding in from behind. He didn't hesitate. He blew his whistle and brandished a straight red card.

The Apex players were incandescent with rage, surrounding the referee, protesting the decision. Ethan was screaming on the sideline.

But the decision was made. Grant Hanley was off. Apex United was down to ten men.

"Controversy! Absolute controversy at The Apex!" the commentator roared. "Grant Hanley makes a sensational, goal-saving tackle, but the referee has deemed it a professional foul! The Apex captain is sent off! And from the resulting free-kick, Orion FC will have a golden chance to take the lead against ten men! What a dramatic, unbelievable turn of events!"

Ethan watched his captain trudge off the pitch, his face a mask of thunderous injustice.

He looked at Leo, who had the decency to look slightly embarrassed by the stroke of luck.

The game had been turned on its head. His team, who had been inches away from taking the lead, were now facing the final twenty minutes with ten men, their leader and best defender gone.

The dream of the cup run, of the million-pound prize, was suddenly turning into a nightmare.

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