In a match played under drizzling rain at the magnificent artificial pitch at Tampines SAFRA, ARFC came from behind to defeat a vey strong Yellow Submarine 2-1 with goals from hard-man Tjioe and ARFC scoring legend Haron.
Half an hour before the match, the heavy downpour almost forced the match to be called off. Fortunately, the weather turned for the better though it still drizzled. Despite so, the ever-faithful 77,777 ARFC fans still packed the stadium as it was announced through the local papers that ARFC scoring legend Haron would be still his comeback from his injury. Indeed, he was to be the pivotal for ARFC’s victory later on.
Much to the fans’ disappointment, however, he was late for the match due to the jam. ARFC thus started with guest-player Robin as GK, determined Huiming and reliable David as right and left back respectively, astute-reading sweeper Elvis and towering Toh at the heart of defence. Influential Sebastian partnered hard-man Tjioe in the middle, with sublime Khim and guest-player Raymond on the left and right flank respectively. As powerful Alvin was also late, talisman Derrick and unpredictable Blackburn were the forwards. Dependable Jinzhong, who was available in the last minute, was the only sub.
The opening proceedings saw both sides even out. However, their speedy right winger/striker was causing problems for reliable David with his speed and ARFC has no choice but to switch determined Huiming over to counter his speed. This move reapd dividends as their player was neutralized.
Returning from a long lay-off, reliable David soon tired out and as replaced by dependable Jinzhong in the 20th min. Though usually a keeper, dependable Jinzhong was to put in a competent display at right-back. Barely minutes after reliable David’s exi, determined Huiming’s boots went “crocodile mouth” and was replaced by reliable David!! Luckily, ARFC scoring legend Haron arrived to replace the latter, prompting the crowd to rise to their feet.
Despite some penetrative forays down the right flank by both Raymond and talisman Derrick, ARFC was not able to make a break-through as the forwards were wither missing or arrived late in the box. Hard-man Tjioe though came up with a few power shots but to no avail. ARFC’s defence, again led by the imperious astute-reading sweeper Elvis, managed to neutralize their attacks with several good off-side traps.
The first half ended goal-less which was a huge surprise since it has been a long time since ARFC did not score in the first half.
The second half saw talisman Derrick replacing Raymond, determined Huiming replaced unpredictable Blackburn at left-back, and powerful Alvin and ARFC scoring legend Haron paired up front. This forward line soon provided more thrust and penetration, and ARFC nearly opened the scoring but missed some chances.
Disaster struck in the 57th min. A long hopeful punt from the opponent into our penalty box saw their player reached the ball ahead of our keeper. He then slotted the ball into the empty net despite the valiant effort of determined Huiming who tried to clear the ball away. 0-1.
Luckily, ARFC did not panic and equalized 7 mins later. A series of one-twos between ARFC scoring legend Haron and hard-man Tjioe saw the latter with the ball in the penalty box. Though being heavily closed down by 2 defenders, hard-man Tjioe showed immense composure and “tone-tjioe” (no pun intended) the ball home. This was his 35th ARFC goal.
In the 70th min, reliable David replaced dependable Jinzhong at right-back and unpredictable Blackburn took over sublime Khim who suffered an injury. These 2 substitutions paid off handsomely as both combined to set up a world-class winning goal. 7 minutes after his arrival, reliable David won the ball on the right and switched the ball elegantly to unpredictable Blackburn on the left flank. Receiving the ball, he switched the ball expertly back to the right where ARFC scoring legend Haron was lurking. With one exquisite touch, he looked up, took aim and thundered a shot that dipped in wickedly at the last moment to beat their otherwise impressive keeper for his 120th ARFC goal.
His goal had the entire crowd grasping unbelievably and even the commentator Martin Taylor was stunned for 7 seconds before exclaiming that “it was absolutely world-class! Pure magic!”. The goal also signaled that he has not lost his unparalleled scoring touch despite being out with a pulled hamstring a month ago.
ARFC then held out and could have won by a bigger margin if not for some more wasteful finishing, particularly influential Sebastiano’s last few minute’s “horrible Zulkifli-Kartoyoho-type-balloon” after being presented with a open chance by talisman Derrick.
Speaking to the 100 FHM Girls Next Door contestants, Man-of-the-Match (MOM) talisman Derrick, who consistently brushed aside their left-back throughout the entire match, was beaming with the victory over such a strong opponent “I hope that my performance today will win over ARFC fans after some insipid displays earlier in the season. To celebrate this MOM award, I will be giving a 77% discount on every renovation package by my company to all fans. Just give me a call for a quotation. No obligation hor….”
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