Tales of the Tournaments

July 20, 2023

Stadium Australia, Sydney

Australia vs. Republic of Ireland

"Steph, can I have a word?"

Steph Catley finished straightening her uniform and pulled on the Captain's armband, turning to face Alanna Kennedy with raised eyebrows.

"Sure. What about?"

"It's about Ellie." The defenders shared a look, and Steph turned to regard the little blonde, pulling her boots on next to Clare Hunt as they readied themselves for the signal to head out.

"Is something wrong with her? They're meant to start the defensive line with us - are you saying someone needs to be watching Ellie's back?" Steph frowned.

"Mu-I mean, Sam's on the bench."

"Yes, well, that's entirely her own fault," Steph retorted. "If it was up to me I would have told her to not dress for the match at all, but Coach decided to give her a second chance."

"You know how Ellie can be. She's in the starting eleven with us, and Sam isn't. Captain Sam, the Matildas' hero, Ellie worships the ground she walks on."

"Doesn't everyone? But Sam has to sit out sometimes, and it's her own stupid fault she got her status made uncertain right before our opening match," Steph sighed. "Look, you mind Ellie and make sure she doesn't get into trouble, but both of you, keep your minds on the match. Let Sam take care of herself, she's a big girl and can live with the consequences of her mistakes."

Alanna sighed and tossed Steph a careless salute, wheeling around and heading off to collect Ellie. "Ellie Madison Carpenter, don't you dawdle. I know you're capable of tying your own boot laces. Get moving."

"I don't want to if Mummy's on the bench." Ellie finished tying her shoes and got up, pouting.

"Coach decided to play you, that means you get your head in the game and straighten out. We're going to need every one of our girls playing their best and working their hardest today."

Ellie scowled. "It's just Ireland, Lanna."

Alanna swatted Ellie's bottom twice, making the younger Matilda yelp. 

"That's enough out of you, Ellie. You will take Ireland seriously. Take every opponent seriously. Steph may not be Mummy Sam, but I can tell you right now she will roast your bottom good and proper for you if you play distracted and screw up."

Ellie kicked at the floor, but nodded reluctantly. "I'll be good, Lanna."

"Good girl. Come on." 

As the Matildas took the field to the roar of approval from the home crowd, Alanna Kennedy tried not to think too hard about Ellie, still no doubt indulging herself in a childish tantrum even if she was keeping it inside her head, and especially not about Sam, who usually was the one concerned about their welfare. Not having Sam on their side was...more than difficult.

Frankly, Alanna was almost tempted to give in to a childish tantrum herself. She ignored the urge. 

Hayley Raso didn't, committing a foul not only just three minutes in but (even after a sharp word from Steph), again, twelve minutes later, earning Ireland a corner kick.

Denise O'Sullivan nearly had the ball in the net, but Katrina Gorry blocked her path, and Alanna breathed a sigh of relief. Thank you, thank you, Kat, we don't need Ireland getting ahead of us this early.

There were fouls on both sides as the match progressed, and Alanna noticed Hayley charging around like a beast, taking out her temper on the field. As long as she kept her mood to constructive gameplay, though, Alanna guessed Steph wouldn't complain. 

The first half was winding down, still scoreless for both sides, and then the ref's whistle rang out.

The yellow card flashed out at Denise O'Sullivan.

Alanna couldn't help a brief moment of sympathy for Sully - it was one thing to face Sam or Steph for a yellow card, but the Irish captain was Katie McCabe, for fuck's sake. That was going to be painful.

Despite a couple more attempts at the goal, the first half finished scoreless, still. 

Alanna and Ellie went to the bench to sit with Sam as they hydrated up, each leaning against one of her shoulders.

"You're playing so well, my Joeys," Sam soothed. "But Ellie, you mustn't have a tantrum because I can't play today."

Ellie sighed. "But Mummy," she said plaintively. "You're the Sam Kerr. You got to play."

"I would love nothing better, but Coach is being careful because of my calf injury," Sam told her patiently.

Alanna snorted under her breath. A minor calf injury 'picked up during practice', the public report had said.

She really doubted that.

Halftime was over before Alanna could think of how to press the issue, so she and Ellie went back in (no halftime subs were made by either side). 

A few minutes before the hour mark, one of Ireland's players fouled, and Australia were awarded a penalty.

Alanna and Ellie - and the rest of the team - collectively held their breaths as Captain Steph Catley stepped up to take it. This would make or break Steph's position as Captain, Alanna thought, a touch pessimistically. But everyone was still looking to Sam to be Sam, and Steph deserved that respect, too.

She would have it.

Goal.

The Matildas mobbed Steph, celebrating. The stands were erupting with cheers. Steph had scored. Australia were ahead. The Matildas could win this.

A little after the hour, Ireland made some halftime subs, but Alanna didn't care. All she cared about was winning the game, and watching out for Ellie.

Ellie was spiraling. She'd fouled earlier (though not enough to get carded, thank fuck), and in the seventy-second minute, she fouled again. 

A few minutes after that, Australia made their first substitution (finally), bringing on Emily Van Egmond to replace Cartnee Vine. 

Alanna relaxed. Emily would help her watch Ellie and keep her out of trouble. She was very good at handling a little Ellie.

When Clare Polkinghorne came on in the eighty-fourth minute to replace Mary Fowler, Alanna felt even better about the Ellie situation. Clare was a former Captain, Ellie would remember how easily Clare had handled things back in Rio. She was not about to mess around with Clare and Emily on the field.

Not that there was enough time for her to get in trouble again, really. The Matildas were firmly keeping the Irish out of their net, and there in Sydney, the whistle finally blew on a 1-0 victory for the home team.

It wasn't, Alanna thought, an auspicious start for Katie McCabe's girls in green. No doubt Sully would be entering a very....heated locker room.

Especially considering what had gone down at the beginning of the match with The Handshake, Alanna reflected.

Oh. Oh no.

Sully, walking into a locker room with a captain who'd just had her heart broken, with a captain's ex who had publicly snubbed...

Alanna spun away from Ellie as they headed down the tunnel, and shouted after the Irish. "Sully! McCabe! Wait!"

When she reached the Irish girls, it was to find Denise separated from Katie by Sinead Farrelly and Marissa Sheva, Sully's fellow NWSL players. They all played for different teams back in the US, but that didn't matter; here, they were the closest thing they each had to neighbors.

"So we're waiting," Katie said brusquely. "Get to the point, Kennedy."

"So...um..." Alanna thought fast. "Wouldn't it be nicer if you and Sully came and had your talk on our side? Caitlin's there."

Katie paused. Caitlin's company was infinitely preferable to Ruesha's at the moment, to be fair.

"I can't," she said reluctantly. "I have responsibilities." She grimaced. "Including to this one."

"Looked like you had responsibilities to more than Sully," Alanna tried. "We could take Sully off your hands? I promise she'll get a proper smacking."

"Alright," Katie conceded. "And Caitlin knows where my room is, later."

Thankfully for her sanity, Ruesha had traded roommates. Though considering Katie's current roommate was Sully...well, they'd have to see how that all went.

So, Sully grabbed her bag (giving Ruesha a wide berth) and rejoined Alanna, following the Australian back to the home team's side.

When Alanna steered Sully inside, she found the main room mostly empty. The girls had quickly changed out of their uniforms, heading for the baths to soak away their aches, or for the training room to work out.

Remaining behind were Sam, Steph, Clare, Ellie, Hayley, and Caitlin.

Caitlin took one look at Denise, blushed vibrantly, and disappeared into the baths. 

"What's the matter with her?"

"She probably doesn't want to imagine you over her girlfriend's knee," Alanna said bluntly. Now Sully was the one blushing.

"She is not Cap's girlfriend."

"Littlejohn sure seemed to think so."

"Ruesha's being Ruesha. They're friends until they choose to tell us otherwise." Sully sighed. "Can we please be mature adults about this." 

"Right, because Katie was going to be such a mature adult about blistering your arse," Alanna countered. "That's why I had to rescue you, you know."

"My knight in shining armor." Sully sighed. "You didn't have to rescue me. I'm a big girl. I even captain my own team."

"Good for you."

That comment came not from Alanna, but from Sam. "Are we doing this or not?" she continued, staring hard at Sully.

"You're not touching me," Sully retorted. "You weren't wearing the armband today."

"You can wait your turn in the corner, O'Sullivan." Steph pointed, and with a sigh, Sully obeyed, flicking her ponytail in irritation.

"Raso." 

Hayley turned to look at Steph warily. "I didn't get carded, Cap."

"But you did foul. Repeatedly. And your little temper tantrum on the pitch didn't go unnoticed. You know how we deal with misbehaving brats who throw temper tantrums."

"I'm not a brat," Hayley protested.

"Just a very naughty girl then. Same difference," Steph shrugged. "Clare, you wouldn't happen to have it, would you?"

Clare smirked slightly. "Oh, this you mean?" 

She fished a well worn plimsoll out of her sports bag. Though to be fair, it was mostly the sole that had been worn out, due to repeated slipperings over the years. 

Ellie squealed and dived for the relative safety of Alanna's arms when she saw it. "No, no, no, Lanna, no..."

"Shh," Alanna soothed, petting Ellie's hair. "I'm pretty sure Steph was talking about Raso."

"For now," Sam muttered, glancing between Clare, Steph, and Hayley. She tugged Ellie down to sit on her lap, curling an arm around the younger girl as Alanna sat beside them.

"Come here Raso."

Reluctantly, Hayley went to Steph, who'd taken the slipper from Clare, and Steph braced her leg on the bench, bending Hayley over her thigh. She tugged Hayley's shorts down, exposing her briefs, and landed a flurry of sharp smacks with her hand to Hayley's bottom.

Steph didn't lecture. There'd been enough of that. After she deemed Hayley sufficiently warmed up, she tapped Hayley's bottom with the pliant leather, checking her aim, and swatted down firmly.

The sole cracked down across Hayley's bottom cheeks six times, leaving Hayley breathless with tears.

"Ow, fuck, Cap, I'm sorry I fucked up, I shouldn't have let my temper get to me!"

"Why did you?" Steph asked calmly, pausing in the slippering.

"I was upset because Kerr wasn't out there with us," Hayley admitted.

"Understandable. You're not being smacked for having emotions, Hayley," Steph made sure to tell the young forward. "You're perfectly welcome to have your emotions, and work through them, and express them in a safe manner. What you must not do is let your emotions get into your head and affect your decision making on the field, or off of it. Got it?"

"Yes Cap," Hayley said with a sniffle. "I got it."

"Just this last one then." 

Hayley tried not to tense as the seventh smack landed on the tenderest part of her bottom. She'd be feeling that for a while. 

Steph helped her stand up and pulled Hayley's shorts back up for her. "There you are. Forgiven. Just don't do it again."

Nodding earnestly, Hayley escaped to the relative safety of the baths, to nurse her bottom and soothe her other aches.  Steph turned her attention to the youngest Matilda in the room (no longer team youngest; that honor now belonged to Alanna's Man City teammate, Mary Fowler). "Ellie Madison Carpenter, come here," Steph said.

Ellie looked at the slipper in Steph's hand, shaking her head frantically. "N-nooo, Steph, can't, I can't please!!"

Steph put the slipper down. "Come here," she repeated, a touch more gently. 

Tears pooling in her eyes, Ellie looked to Sam for direction.

"Do as Steph says, little one," Sam said softly. "She's Captain right now. Listen to her just like you would listen to me."

Slowly, Ellie pushed herself out of Sam's lap and went to Steph, dragging her feet all the way. She looked plaintively at Steph. "I don't want the slipper, Steph..."

Steph picked the younger girl up and sat Ellie on her lap, giving her a searching look. "Okay Ellie," she said softly. "You should be getting the slipper, for letting your emotions rule you today and fouling twice, being naughty just like Hayley. But I'm willing to listen to you little one. I know you wouldn't tell me no if you didn't have what you thought was a good reason."

"B-because Rio," Ellie's lip trembled, and Clare sighed heavily, while Sam and Alanna exchanged alarmed looks.

"What really happened that day, little one? All I ever heard was that you disappeared with some Canadian friends, and Sam, Alanna, and the Captains had to fetch you back, because you'd made yourself sick," Steph said slowly.

Ellie stared at her lap. "Uh huh, that was what happened. Kind of. Only it wasn't like normal sick, there was a...a thing that the older girls had and I tried it. And we weren't supposed to have it, but it looked like fun at the time. Only it wasn't, and Captain Lisa ordered me to...to be slippered, and no quarter. Until I wouldn't sit for a week."

"Oh, Ellie." Steph sighed, hugging the little blonde close. "No, no, no. That's a whole different thing to throwing a tantrum, Ellie," she said softly. "You'll get a few swats, just like Hayley. But most of it will be with my hand, just like Hayley. And I'm not going to slipper you until your whole bottom's red card red, Ellie, sweetheart, this wasn't for red card, or for risking your life. You're going to be okay."

Ellie nodded, sniffling.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “Steph?”

“Hmm?” Steph patted Ellie’s cheek gently.

“I’m sorry I was bad and said no about the slipper.”

“No, honey, you weren’t bad, you were scared. There’s a big difference,” Steph said. “Are you still scared, little one?”

Ellie nodded reluctantly. “But I can be a good girl for you, Steph.”

“That’s okay. Being brave means doing the right thing despite being scared,” Steph encouraged Ellie. “There’s our brave girl. Come on now.”

She gently rolled Ellie over on her lap, tugging Ellie’s shorts down. Ellie was wearing neon orange panties under her dark green shorts, and Steph fought the urge to grin. “Danielle bought you those?”

“Uh huh. Daan’s nice,” Ellie said shyly.

She certainly wasn’t nice on the pitch, but luckily they didn’t have to put up with her right now. Then again, nice didn’t go far in football. “You can tell me all about her later, little one. Now we have something to get out of the way.”

"You asked," Ellie protested, and Steph rolled her eyes. 

"Alright. How old are you, Ellie Madison Carpenter?"

Ellie paused. "For real, or in my head?"

“In your head. There’s nothing that’s not real about that. I know you’re chronologically twenty-three; I’ve watched you grow up on this team. But that doesn’t mean you’re a grown up all the time, and that’s alright.” Steph looked searchingly at Ellie.

“Sixteen?” Ellie offered. That was how old she’d been at Rio, and since she was remembering…

Steph understood perfectly. “Alright honey, sixteen it is. Big enough to know better than to make the mistakes you did today, but you’re still practically a baby compared to the rest of us.”

Ellie sniffled and nodded. “Uh huh,” she agreed, and yelped as the first spank, then another, came from Steph’s hand, over her vibrant panties. The thin layer wasn’t enough to protect Ellie from the swats.Steph smacked one spot twice before moving to the other side and swatting twice there.

“Ow,” she sniffed as her smacking continued, pairs of swats alternating over her bottom cheeks. Six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen.

She squirmed and wriggled, but Steph just held her firmly until all sixteen smacks had been delivered. Then, she picked up the slipper, and Ellie went rigid over Steph’s lap, letting out a soft whine.

“Okay honey,” Steph said softly. “I don’t think there’s any other way for me to prove that I meant what I said except to get it over with. I know you’re worried, but I promise you are going to be okay. I’ll make it quick.”

Ellie nodded anxiously, and then the slipper smacked down on Ellie’s bottom. Her panties were still up, and the swat wasn’t as forceful as Steph could have made it. Five more half-strength smacks with the slipper fell, and the last one covered Ellie’s sensitive spots. She sobbed on Steph’s lap, crying apologies.

“Sorry, m’sorry I was such a bad girl, Steph, Captain, promise I’ll be good, promise I won’t be mad anymore about Mummy can’t play. I just want her to play again real soon,” Ellie whimpered, and Steph nodded, gathering the younger Matilda into her arms and kissing her forehead.

“It’s alright sweetheart, all finished, my brave girl. Your smacking is all over and you’re forgiven,” she promised, rubbing Ellie’s back. “That wasn’t so horribly awful now, was it?”

“It hurt lots,” Ellie sniffled, “but not like before.” She shuddered, remembering. “Mummy had to smack me so hard, because the Captains said, and she didn’t want to but if she didn’t Captain Lisa would’ve smacked us both.”

“Shhhh,” Steph soothed her gently. “She didn’t, though, because Sam obeyed orders and carried out your punishment. And it was appropriate for what you did back then, but something that severe wouldn’t have been appropriate here, so I wouldn’t do it for this,” Steph promised. “No more need to fear, Ellie. It’s alright, all gone now.”

“Okay,” Ellie whispered. She stayed snuggled in Steph’s lap, even after Steph tugged her shorts back up.

Steph gave the slipper back to Clare. “Why don’t you take care of our guest, Clare,” she suggested, and the older woman nodded, giving Steph’s shoulder a squeeze. She understood why the vice-captain couldn’t let go of Ellie right now.

Clare took Sully through another door into the film room. She left the door ajar, so that the remaining Matildas could hear the pained squeaks, whimpers, and sobs Denise let out, getting a brisk, thorough, shorts and panties-down smacking right from the start.

It was mostly with Clare’s hand though. At the end, however, Clare asked Sully, “How old are you, Denise?”

Sully blinked. “Um…twenty-nine, why.”

 The Matildas heard the question, and Ellie understood where Clare was going with it immediately.

“I think we’ll round that up, and make it one for every five,” Claire said decidedly.

The slipper impacted Sully’s bottom, making her yelp and squeal, though she did her best to hold as still as she could. One for every five, she thought. She could last through six smacks. Maybe. But fuck if they didn’t burn.

When her spanking was over, Sully returned to the others in Clare’s company. She went to Sam and Steph.

“I’m sorry I fouled,” she told them quietly, and Steph nodded.

“Just try not to do it again,” Sam said. “Whoever gets you next time might not be so lenient.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sully agreed, wincing at the thought.

Alanna saw Sully back over to her own side. Things had quieted down among the Irish, and Katie came to take Sully in hand.

“Thanks for bringing her back to me. She’s taken her punishment?”

“Clare slippered her proper,” Alanna replied, and Katie nodded.

“I’ll be checking for myself when we go to bed. Come on, brat,” Katie led Sully away, and Alanna returned to her own side. The Matildas had a first victory to celebrate, and Alanna hoped things would get better for Australia from there - especially whenever they could have Sam back. Hopefully the Irish would sort themselves out, but their personal problems weren’t the Matildas’ to fix. Alanna had done her best for Sully. That would have to be enough.

Now she could focus on Ellie, and Sam, and they would turn their minds to the next match, together.