Team having shots at goal? Supporters will appear (9)

I believe the answer is:

sidekicks

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'goal? supporters will appear' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'team having shots at' is the wordplay.
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'having' says to put letters next to each other.
'shots at' becomes 'kicks' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'side'+'kicks'='SIDEKICKS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for sidekicks that I've seen is " close friends".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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