ARFC in last-grasp 3-4 loss

In a match played under scorching sun at ITE Balestier, ARFC succumbed to a last-grasp 3-4 loss to a very experienced team made up of some ex-S-League and even an ex-M-League player.

As dependable Jinzhong was absence due to work commitment, Kiat Gulam volunteered to be the goalkeeper for the first half. His defenders were astute-reading sweeper Elvis, Towering Toh, determined Huiming and reliable David Mak. In the midfield, hard-man Tjioe, influential Sebastiano, left-foot wizard Bernard and hard-running Guoxiong were deployed. Up front, talisman Derrick was partnered by unpredictable Blackburn, leaving powerful Alvin, fearless Boon and speedy Hee as the substitutes.

Upon the start, the experienced opponents quickly seized control of proceedings with their slick passing and movement that had ARFC back-paddling. Nevertheless, ARFC still managed to create several good scoring chances, but talisman Derrick spurned 2 golden opportunities that came his way.

The opponent took the lead in a bizarre fashion after Kiat Gulam inexplicably spilled a weak shot to give them a 1-0 lead. However, the ARFC warriors told Kiat Gulam to put the set-back aside and concentrate on the match.

7 minutes later, ARFC found its equalizer. Influential Sebastiano intercepted a pass and seeing their keeper way off the line, he unleashed a high ball over their keeper, ala Xabi Alonso, from almost 47 metres out!! This was his 49th ARFC goal.

However, lightning struck twice barely minutes later. A quick counter-attack by the opponent saw their ex-M-League midfielder chipped a high ball into Kiat Gulam’s goal. The ball struck the cross-bar and somehow the rebound hit Kiat Gulam and triggled over the line. Unlucky!! However, the ever-faithful ARFC fans did not jeer Kiat Gulam but instead encouraged him to play on.

The half-time saw talisman Derrick taking over the goal from Kiat Gulam, with him pushing into the right-midfield role. Powerful Alvin also did not appear from the tunnel after feeling the ill-effects of his hand injury.

About 7 mins after the re-start, ARFC equalized yet again. Talisman Derrick’s high ball from goal resulted in Speedy Hee winning an aerial dual. He followed up on the loose ball and expertly poked the ball past their keeper. By scoring his 47th ARFC goal, Speedy Hee showed that he is back to business after missing nearly 2 months of football.

In the 57th min, ARFC took the lead for the first time in the match. Unpredictable Blackburn brilliantly picked out reliable David Mak who broke the off-side trap. Striding into opponents’ goal-mouth, he faced the keeper on a one-on-one situation. He then showed that he has not lost his Gary Lineker-like instinct by side-footing the ball home, sending the crowd into delirium. After scoring his 23rd ARFC goal, reliable David Mak dashed to the side-line where his lovely wife Dora Mak and adorable son, Marco Mak were sitting. Reliable David Mak then lifted Marco Mak up and down 7 times and also kissed his fore-head 7 times.

The goal seemed to sparked ARFC into more action. However, speedy Hee missed 2 super-golden chances to bury the opponents when he side-footed wide after being put clear.

The good times, however, did not last long. The opponents scored their equalizer after influential Sebastiano failed to close down the forward thereby allowing him to strike from just inside the penalty box. 3-3 now.

The opponents scored the winning goal with virtually, should be actually, the last kick of the match. The winning goal had the ARFC warriors and fans grasping in disbelief!!
3-4 and ARFC was indeed unlucky to lose the match.

more news on first goal-scorer in new jerseys

I have just been informed that the first-ever goal scorer for ARFC was David Mak, in a 2-3 loss in ARFC's first-ever match.

As for the first goal scorer in our second jersey (red/white broad strip), it was either Bob, Jesmond (both ex-players) or David, who each found the net in the 3-0 win on 10 Apr 1994 at Blk 367 Yishun field.

As for the first goal scorer (white and blue top), it could be Blackburn(2), Sebastian, Hee(3) or Tong, who were the scorers in a thumping 7-1 victory on 29 Oct 2001 at ITE Ag Mo Kio.

Can anyone provide further verification?

first goal in first jersey??

I have looked into our ARFC archive. The first goal-scorer in our very first jersey was either David or Robin as they were the 2 goal-scorers in our very first match which we lost 2-3. Can someone confirm the first scorer?

Unfortunately, our archive did not state when we started using our second and third jersey. Hence, we would be unable to establish the very first goal scorer.

First goal in new jerseys....

Our WO Neo scored the first goal in our latest jerseys. He has promised to treat us to drinks at St James Power Station this coming Friday..... :)

Now, I will go and look into our archive to see who are the other scorers to score first goal in our previous jerseys that we wore for the very first time...

Cheers...

Match this sunday (26 Aug) + required info for ARFC magazine

Dear ARFC warriors:

Our friendly match is on this sunday (26 Aug) at 3 pm at ITE Balestier. Pl bring along both sets of jerseys. I will send you a SMS as usual for you to confirm your attendance. Thanks a lot.

On our magazine, I will need you to provide the following details to me:

Full name (as in NRIC)
Date of birth
address
Height and weight (estimate will do)
Marital status
Current occupation
Current employer
Favourite football club(s)/nation(s)
Favourite football player(s)
Most memorable moments playing for ARFC
Any special/unique fact about yourself that we probably won't know.
Comments/opinions/views on ARFC and anything under the sun
Any other information that you want me to put in the magazine

Please JUST e-mail to me will do and not mass-email to all others.

Thanks a lot and looking forward to your information....

Cheers....

ARFC team news

Dear ARFC warriors:

Just wanna share my personal views on yesterday's match.

I was extremely pleased to see so many of the warriors' wives + children out yesterday. As you all know, we are at the age where career/family probably takes precedence over soccer these days. Hence, it was great to see our family members out to support us (the aging warriors) "struggling" on the field. I think we should try our best to involve our families more to build up our bond and possibly the future generations of ARFC warriors..... :)

If possible, after the ARFC magazine has been launched, we may look into an overseas soccer trip where we can also bring our families along. If the response to this suggestion is good, I will look further into it.

ARFC resumes its winning streak

After an almost 6 weeks’ summer break, ARFC continued where it let off with a comprehensive 5-2 victory over Chinese Swimming Club at Temasek Secondary School. As it was the first match after the summer break and also ARFC would be unveiling its new jerseys, the match was already sold-out 7 days before the match day, in a scene that reminds us of the old Malaysia Cup days when Singapore take on Selangor. Despite no more tickets, scores of fanatical fans still made their way to the match venue, causing a huge traffic jam that goes all the way to Changi Airport.

All ARFC warriors were enthusiastic about the match. Some of them even brought along their wives and children, especially sublime Khim’s wife and son who was supporting ARFC for the first time. However, the biggest applause from the fans was to semi-retired deadly Robin Giam who made his first appearance after nearly 5 years!! All in all, 19 ARFC warriors turned up, including used-to-be-speedy right-back Boon. However, he did not play due to high fever.

When the starting line-up was announced over the stadium, almost all the jaws of the fanatical fans dropped!! On the subs bench were influential Sebastiano, talisman Derrick, towering Toh, hard-running Guoxiong and unpredictable Blackburn. To top it all, sublime Khim and ARFC scoring legend Haron were also on the subs bench, nearly causing some of the fans to have heart-attack!!

Dependable Jinzhong started in goal, with astute-reading sweeper Elvis and determined Huiming at the heart of the defence. Reliable David Mak (father of Marco Mak) and Kiat Gulam guarded the flanks. In the midfield, hard-man Tjioe and hard-working Tong patrolled the centre and was supported by WO Neo and left-foot wizard Bernard. The forwards were powerful Alvin and deadly Robin.

ARFC wasted no time pressing forward to impress the fans and show that the summer break was worth the wait. Deadly Robin showed that he still has the touches and moves, and the defence, though aging, was a stumbling block. In the 17th min, ARFC took the lead. Reliable David Mak (father of Marco Mak) punted a long ball all the way to the opponents’ penalty area and their keeper spilled the ball after being challenged. The loose ball fell to WO Neo who expertly slotted the ball home to open the flood-gates. This was WO Neo’s 47th goal for ARFC. Once again, his daughter seems to be his lucky charm as whenever she is there, WO Neo would mostly always score.

ARFC increased its lead just moments later. Left-foot wizard Bernard spotted a clever run by powerful Alvin and released a superb through ball to him. Powerful Alvin’s pace and power proved too much for the defender and he side-footed home for his 30th ARFC goal. 2-0 now.

After taking a 2-0 lead, ARFC started a string of substitutions with all the subs being introduced. Complacency soon set in. In the 27th min, their right-winger broke through on our left and spotting dependable Jinzhong in a stray position, he pulled a goal back.

Disaster struck 7 mins later. The opponent took a free-kick and astute-reading sweeper Elvis pushed up his defence. However, WO Neo did not hear the shout and played their striker on-side who then headed in the equalizer. 2-2 was the score at half-time.

When play resumed, ARFC cooled down and played its usual passing game. All ARFC warriors were also fired up and determined to put on a good display.

7 mins in the half, ARFC regained its lead. Receiving the ball from talisman Derrick, ARFC scoring legend Haron displayed sweet foot-work and eluded 2 defenders. Seeing sublime Khim in a free position just outside the box, he touched a nice ball to him. Sublime Khim faked a shot, goes past the defender and fired an accurate ball into the bottom right-hand corner that gave their keeper no chance at all. This was sublime Khim’s 25th ARFC goal and he immediately ran to his lovely wife and son and kissed them.

7 mins later, ARFC furthered its lead. Off a superb corner taken by Kiat Gulam, deadly Robin headed the ball down to the path of talisman Derrick. Keeping his cool, talisman Derrick half-volleyed the ball home for his 10th ARFC goal. 4-2 now.

In the 77th min, ARFC put the result beyond doubt. Unpredictable Blackburn’s precise free-kick from the left found the head of on-rushing Kiat Gulam who nodded the ball in the corner for his 25th ARFC goal, causing his lovely daughter to jump up and down and only stopped when Kiat Gulam’s wife frantically stopped her.

When the referee, who again had a great game, blew the final whistle, the fans rushed onto the pitch to hug all the ARFC warriors who all had a great game. This was ARFC’s 124th victory. It was also rare that all 5 goals were scored by 5 different scorers.

Game this sunday + Team photo for new jersey

Dear ARFC warriors:

After a 4-week summer break, ARFC will resume its season with a friendly match this sunday at Temasek Secondary School at 3 pm. The school is located at No. 600 Upper East Coast Road. For those who drive, you may park your vehicle at Blk 155 or Blk 163 carpark and then walk across.

Please try to be there at about 2.30 pm as we will be taking a team photograph with our new jerseys.

Even if you cannot play due to injury and/or other commitments, do still try to be there. After the photo-taking, you may then leave.

Also, please bring along $47 for the jerseys payment.

Thanks a lot and see you this sunday....