In a game played under a water-logged paddy field full of mud, ARFC staged yet another come-from-behind 3-2 victory against a team of PRCs.
Prior to the match, ARFC scoring legend Haron and astute-reading sweeper Elvis had to pull out due to family commitments. As influential Sebastiano was late, ARFC had no choice but to start with only 10 warriors, namely Speedy Hee (as GK), unpredictable Blackburn as sweeper, determined Huiming as stopper, left-foot wizard Bernard as left-back and reliable David as right-back. hard-man Tjioe and hard-working Tong paired up at the middle, with Kiat Gulam and Tjioe's German colleague, a younger Berti Vogts look-alike, Hans, on the flanks. Talisman Derrick was the lone forward.
From what i heard, despite playing with just 10 men, ARFC created several openings that were all squandered by talisman Derrick. Influential Sebastiano then joined the team about 27 mins into the game but just minutes after his entry, the amateurish and anyhow-play opponents took a surprise lead off a free-kick. 0-1!!
Just 70 seconds into the 2nd half, the opponents extended their lead when they counter-attacked and scored. 0-2 now and the ARFC fans began booing the team for their lacklustre display.
Taking matters into his own hands, influential Sebastiano switched hard-man Tjioe to the left and he moved into the middle to partner hardworking Tong who was also told to cover more on the right flank as Hans was clearly tiring. The switch worked wonders and ARFC began pressing for goals.
In the 57th min, ARFC was finally rewarded for their preseverance. Left foot wizard bernard's cross was only half cleared and hard-man Tjioe took a powerful low shot but the ball was stuck in the pool of water in betweeb the penalty box and penalty spot. Up came unpredictable Blackburn who toe-pocked the ball home. 1-2.
7 minutes later, ARFC equalised. A great cross from the right by hard-working Tong (or is it unpredictable Blackburn) found left-foot wizard Bernard free at the far post. He connected with the ball powerfully but their defender used his hands to stop the ball from crossing the line. Again, Bernard was unlucky not to score from open play but at least he won a penalty which was duly converted with ease by unpredictable Blackburn. 2-2 now.
About 17 mins from the end, ARFC finally got the lead that they thoroughly and totally deserved. Reliable David and Hard-working Tong won the ball on the right and relayed the ball to unpredictable Blackburn. A series of wall passes between him and influential Sebastiano saw the latter breaking clear on the right flank. Looking up, the ball was squared to the on-rushing talisman Derrick and he won the ball ahead of their keeper and defenders, and proceeded to leash the ball home. 3-2 and the crowd went wild!!
The match, however, was ended early due to some mini scuffles. The Nigerian referee, who was later found to be a Nigerian con-man instead of a referee, contributed greatly to the frustrated play by both teams with SO MANY dubious and questionable decisions.
Speaking to reporters after the match, joint Man-of-the-Match hard-man Tjioe and unpredictable Blackburn felt that ARFC had only itself to blame for gifting the lousy opponents 2 goals and had to work hard for its victory. Nevertheless, both were glad that ARFC had once again displayed its famed spirit and team-work by working hard and get a victory.
The defence did very well for this game, as with hard-working Tong as well. However, talisman Derrick, despite scoring the winning goal, was rather wasteful in front of goal and lost possessions on many occasions. This could be attributed to the poor pitch condition. Also, if given a better pitch, the oppo0nents would surely be whalloped at least 7-0....
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