ARFC faltered 1-3

Playing on an unusual Monday night (7 pm kick-off) at the magnificent artificial pitch at Meridien Junior College, ARFC succumbed to a very strong Hwa Chong Old Boys 1-3 in front of the usual 77,777 fans which included the wife, Caren, and mother-in-law, Caren senior, of influential Sebastian.

Just hours before kick-off, ARFC received 3 huge blows when sublime Khim (wife sick), versatile Kiat (work) and towering Toh (in-grown toe-nail operation) pulled out, leaving ARFC with just 13 warriors.

ARFC started with dependable Jinzhong as keeper with astute-reading sweeper Elvis, Edwin (guest-player), hard-running Guoxiong and left-foot wizard Bernard as defence. Hardworking Tong, influential Sebastian, unpredictable Blackburn and talisman Derrick formed the midfield quartet with ARFC scoring legend Haron partnering powerful Alvin unfront. Speedy Hee and hard-man Tjioe (late) were the subs.

ARFC started the match on even footing as the opponents and even had a couple of half-chances but wasted them all. ARFC then paid dearly in the 7th min when off their very first attack, they opened the scoring after a mix-up between astute-reading sweeper Elvis and hard-running Guoxiong. 0-1.

ARFC tried to re-group but fell further behind 7 mins later. Influential Sebastian's under-hit pass was intercepted and the ball pumped high into the 6-yard box. Dependable Jinzhong seemed the favourite to punch the ball away but did not get a strong punch as he was clearly impeded by their player. As a result, the loose ball fell kindly to their striker just 0.77 inches from the goal-line and he gleefully thumped the ball high into the roof. 0-2.

Speedy Hee then replaced the ineffective unpredictable Blackburn and he managed to inject some urgency into the play. Edwin also swopped position with astute-reading sweeper Elvis and ARFC then started to play like the usual ARFC and much better as the half went by.

In the 27th min, powerful Alvin was put through but his shot was brilliantly saved by their impressive keeper. Influential Sebastian and talisman Derrick also had their chances but failed to put them away. ARFC scoring legend Haron also troubled their defenders no end but failed to add to his 120 ARFC goals.

When play resumed, hard-man Tjioe came in at the centre with influential Sebastian switching to right-back replacing hard-running Guoxiong. The switches apparently worked as ARFC had its fair share of play and even threatened to pull a goal back. Hard-man Tjioe also provided much-needed muscle and strength to aid hardworking Tong who was regularly outnumbered in midfield.

However, another defensive lapse allowed them to lob the ball over the advancing dependable Jinzhong. Though it was now 0-3, the fans did not give up and continued cheering the warriors. With morale lifted, all warriors gave their all, with talisman Derrick, Edwin, astute-reading sweeper Elvis and left-foot wizard Bernard particularly impressive.

In fact, ARFC could have quickly scored but the very good chances were spurned by talisman Derrick, ARFC scoring legend Haron, powerful Alvin and influential Sebastian and even Edwin failed to connect with a header.

In the 67th min, talisman Derrick, who gave their left-back a torrid time throughout, was sent off after verbal exchanges with their player who was also dismissed. The referee, who had a good game, gamely allowed both teams to substitute a player each. Hence, unpredictable Blackburn took over talisman Derrick.

7 mins later, ARFC finally pulled a goal back. ARFC scoring legend Haron, who was repeatedly fouled as their defender was having great difficulty coping with his guile and foot-work, won a free-kick in the right. Influential Sebastian sent in a perfectly-flighted ball straight onto the head of unpredictable Blackburn who nodded home ala Olivier Bierhoff for his 65th ARFC goal. 1-3

Hard-running Guoxiong then replaced the tiring Haron to play at right-mid with unpredictable Blackburn took over the left-mid and speedy Hee partnering powerful Alvin up front.

Towards the end, ARFC still managed to spurn a golden chance and the final score stayed 1-3.

Speaking to all, influential Sebastian thanked the fans for never giving up on ARFC and their continued encouragement even when the chips are down.

"The fans tonight were fantastic, as with usual matches. After the Liverpool and Everton fans, I think the ARFC fans are the best in the world!!

I also want to say that we should have no shame in losing 1-3 to Hwa Chong Old Boys. The team has many ex and current players playing for Katong FC in our NFL Division I and some of them are even ex-Singapore Chinese national team players. Therefore, I feel the scoreline was respectable. Also, we have to bear in mind that we are missing 3 regulars in determined Huiming, towering Toh and sublime Khim. In fact, if we have put away the many golden chances that came our way, we might even snatch a victory. So, no shame at all in the loss."