Lily and the Missing Goals
On Saturday morning, the goalposts have disappeared! Time for the Football Detectives.
On Saturday morning, Lily arrived at Maple Street Pitch with a football under one arm. But something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The goalposts had vanished!
‘Who would steal goalposts?’ said Kofi. Lily took out a notebook and magnifying glass. ‘Time for the Football Detectives,’ she said. ‘First, we need clues.’
They looked at the grass. There were two big dents where the goalposts had stood. And next to them, Lily found a dropped paintbrush. ‘Aha,’ she said, writing it down.
‘Perhaps it was a giant!’ said Kofi. Lily shook her head. ‘The tracks go this way,’ she said, pointing at the path. The detectives followed them past the swings and the old oak tree.
They crept up to the little shed behind the pavilion. The door was open a crack. A strange sound came from inside. Scrape, scrape, scrape. Kofi gulped. ‘Ready?’ whispered Lily.
They pushed the door open. Inside was Sana the owl, the groundskeeper, holding a paintbrush! And there, laid out on the floor, were the goalposts, gleaming with fresh white paint.
‘Surprise!’ said Sana. ‘The big match is tomorrow. I wanted the goalposts to be sparkling clean.’ Lily burst out laughing. Kofi laughed too. The mystery was solved!
They helped Sana carry the goalposts back to the pitch and set them up. The Football Detectives had solved their first case. ‘And now,’ said Lily, ‘who wants to play?’
The little lesson
When something puzzles you, look for clues and ask questions before you decide.
Let’s talk about it
- Which clue helped the detectives most?
- What do you think the surprise was for?
Finish stories to collect Lily as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
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