ARFC thumped Marauders 5-1

Following up on his superb 4-goal feat last week, hard-man Tjioe put in a Man-of-the-Match performance to drive ARFC to a resounding 5-1 victory over Marauders at Broadrick Sec Sch. The match was witnessed by 77,777 fans which included Huiming’s wife, Yanxiu, and an additional 777 diners at the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre which is directly opposite the field.

Before the match, reliable David announced his availability which partially off-set the absence of many ARFC stalwarts, in particular ARFC scoring legend Haron who was away in Perak for a weekend training stint under the former Perak coach M Karuthu.

Line-up as follows:

Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Determined Huiming
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Reliable David
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Hard-man Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Left-foot wizard Bernard
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee

Sub: Unpredictable Blackburn (slightly late due to work)


When the referee blew the kick-off whistle, ARFC wasted no time in harassing opponents to try to stamp its authority on the match. With impressive passing and movements, ARFC quickly gained the upper hand.

In the 17th min, ARFC opened the scoring courtesy of a great pass by David. Receiving the ball at left-back, David gradually moved the ball up and Bernard made a great decoy run at the left flank and pulled a player with him. With a gap opening up, David executed a world-class slide-rule pass with perfect velocity and accuracy on the ground to Alvin who simply had to turn away from their defender and beat their keeper for his 49th ARFC goal. David’s pass had Martin Taylor exclaiming that even Platini and Zidane would be very proud of.

However, ARFC could not add to its tally though its passes and creating of chances were impressive.

ARFC’s stingy defence, powered by Toh and led by Elvis with able support from Huiming and David, stood out with its clever off-side play and vital interceptions. Brilliant and simply world-class!!

Blackburn then took over Bernard at the 30th min mark. Half-time remains 1-0.

During the half-time, ARFC pioneer warrior Huiming gave away the following prizes:

Blackburn – for scoring ARFC’s 800th goal and his 70th goal for ARFC last week;
Hee and Sebastian – for scoring their 50th ARFC goal;

In the 2nd half, ARFC added its lead 7 mins after the re-start. Alvin’s persistence paid off handsomely when he used his power to win the ball in the penalty area and before any of their defenders and keeper could react, he used his outside right-foot to thump home his 2nd goal of the match and his 50th ARFC goal.

In the 57th min, Alvin piled on more misery on the opponent. Sebastian’s volleyed cross from the right was met sweetly by Alvin who expertly headed home a well-placed header ala Tim Cahill for his 51st ARFC goal and chalking up his 6th ARFC hat-tricks.

7 mins later came the save of the match and possibly the year 2008. Their opponent broke our off-side trap and faced Jinzhong one-on-one. He placed his shot which appeared to have beaten Jinzhong but Jinzhong showed amazing reflex by quickly going down on his left and pushed the ball away for a corner. This save is absolutely world-class which Oliver Kahn and Peter Cech would be proud of.

However, the opponent pulled a goal back. 1-3.

Hee then almost scored a goal in the 77th min but his superb free-kick hit the cross-bar.

Seconds later, ARFC restored its 3-goal margin. Tjioe, who was imperious at central midfield, played a ball to Sebastian who had switched to right mid. Looking up, his long cross sailed over their retreating keeper who could not prevent the ball from going n despite getting a touch to it. Fluke, luck or prefect technique? Perhaps a combination of all three elements but nevertheless his 53rd ARFC goal.

ARFC was not done yet. In the dying mins, Huiming mirrored David’s creation by hitting a great ball down the right flank to Hee who looked suspiciously off-side. When the referee waved play on, Hee quickly took up the invitation by well, speeding clear and beat their keeper with a well-placed shot for his 51st ARFC goal.

Once again, credit must be given to ARFC’s defence for yet another no-nonsense display. All stood out, but Toh topped the lot when he put in a typical-Toh-like performance. David also lasted the whole match which was a surprise to all fans present. Of course, Elvis and Huiming gave nothing away. Tong also put in a hardworking shift in midfield.