Dear ARFC warriors:
These are our team's stats in 2009:
Played = 47
Win = 31
Draw = 4
Loss = 12
GF = 144
GA = 77 (very apt right??)
Overall (since 1991)
Played = 292
Win = 187
Draw = 45
Loss = 60
GF = 1052
GA = 513
Happy New Year!!!!
:)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
ARFC suffers heaviest defeat since formation
In the past match in 2009, ARFC suffered its heaviest defeat since its formation in 1991 by going down 0-7 against Foresight Utd at Tampines SAFRA. Witnessing this heart-wrenching defeat were Elvis’ beau Anna and Lingzhi and kids, family of Ron.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Guest keeper Weili
Right-back: Influential Sebastian
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Sublime Khim
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Subs (both late):
Unpredictable Blackburn
Combative Ron
Two guest players called by Kelvin Wong Weng Tuck
ARFC was 0-3 at half-time after 2 clearly off-side goals were allowed by the referee.
Soon also hit the bar after some great work by Haron and Derrick.
In another unfortunate incident, Alvin delivered a world-class corner from the left that caused mayhem to the opposing keeper and defence. Unluckily, Toh's header amidst the seas of players was clawed off the line by them.
ARFC looked to get back into the match in the 2nd half. However, a very lucky goal by them seemed to puncture ARFC. Why I said lucky? Because the shot was taken from a very acute angle on the right flank (think the acute angle is less than 7 degrees).
ARFC then conceded 3 more goals to lose 0-7.
This was a match when everything seemed to go right for the opponents, and nothing goes right for ARFC. Almost all their shots on target ended up in the net!! ARFC warriors gave their all in the match but was severely hampered by niggling knocks suffered by Sebastian, Alvin and Derrick in the previous match on Saturday.
Just for information, ARFC had drew with the same opponents 4-4 on 07 October 2008, after leading 4-2 at one stage. The opponents only equalized in the last few minutes after ARFC tired out then.
ARFC’s cause was not helped by one of the guest players from Kelvin Wong Weng Tuck. This guest player, who contributed nothing at all to ARFC, even had the audacity to scold our well-loved sweeper Elvis “FUCK” in the match which was only heard by Sebastian who was nearby.
As Sebastian does not think any guest player is qualified enough to abuse any of the ARFC warriors, the guest player was promptly “sent off” by Sebastian.
The guest player was lucky that Elvis or other ARFC warriors did not hear that or else he would surely be hammered, or Elvis would personally “sit on him”, or Derrick would chase him with a flag-pole……..
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Guest keeper Weili
Right-back: Influential Sebastian
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Sublime Khim
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Subs (both late):
Unpredictable Blackburn
Combative Ron
Two guest players called by Kelvin Wong Weng Tuck
ARFC was 0-3 at half-time after 2 clearly off-side goals were allowed by the referee.
Soon also hit the bar after some great work by Haron and Derrick.
In another unfortunate incident, Alvin delivered a world-class corner from the left that caused mayhem to the opposing keeper and defence. Unluckily, Toh's header amidst the seas of players was clawed off the line by them.
ARFC looked to get back into the match in the 2nd half. However, a very lucky goal by them seemed to puncture ARFC. Why I said lucky? Because the shot was taken from a very acute angle on the right flank (think the acute angle is less than 7 degrees).
ARFC then conceded 3 more goals to lose 0-7.
This was a match when everything seemed to go right for the opponents, and nothing goes right for ARFC. Almost all their shots on target ended up in the net!! ARFC warriors gave their all in the match but was severely hampered by niggling knocks suffered by Sebastian, Alvin and Derrick in the previous match on Saturday.
Just for information, ARFC had drew with the same opponents 4-4 on 07 October 2008, after leading 4-2 at one stage. The opponents only equalized in the last few minutes after ARFC tired out then.
ARFC’s cause was not helped by one of the guest players from Kelvin Wong Weng Tuck. This guest player, who contributed nothing at all to ARFC, even had the audacity to scold our well-loved sweeper Elvis “FUCK” in the match which was only heard by Sebastian who was nearby.
As Sebastian does not think any guest player is qualified enough to abuse any of the ARFC warriors, the guest player was promptly “sent off” by Sebastian.
The guest player was lucky that Elvis or other ARFC warriors did not hear that or else he would surely be hammered, or Elvis would personally “sit on him”, or Derrick would chase him with a flag-pole……..
Saturday, December 26, 2009
ARFC in narrow 1-0 win
In a Boxing Day special, ARFC edged out Techwood FC 1-0 in a match that was devoid of much scoring opportunities for both teams. The match was played at the magnificent artificial pitch at Springfield SS and despite it being the festive season, ARFC was still being supported by Anna, Cerine, Tracie and Irene, WAGS of Elvis, Jinzhong, Guoxiong and Alvin respectively.
As Elvis, Jinzhong and Guoxiong were late, ARFC started the match with only 8 warriors. Once they came in, together with Ron, ARFC’s starting 11 is as follows:
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Left-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Dynamic Soon volunteered to be the only sub.
In a 1st half of rare chances, Derrick was put through by Sebastian but his 1st touch let the team down and the ball was lost. Besides this, the only highlight was the poor performance of the referee.
In the 2nd half, the pattern did not change but the tackles were now coming in hard and fast. Thankfully, ARFC was able to rely on the tenacity of Toh, Ron, Tjioe, Derrick and Soon to keep the opponents at bay.
ARFC could have opened the scoring in the 67th min. From a free-kick on the right, everybody including their keeper was anticipating a high ball into the penalty area which was crowded with both sets of players. Instead, Sebastian curled the ball directly over the ball to the keeper’s left but the ball hit the left-hand post and rebounded off the back of the despairing keeper for a corner. Unlucky!!
ARFC finally scored in the 77th min after some very good work by Alvin at the left touch-line. Alvin wriggled his way through but was cruelly hacked down by the defender who earned a caution for the tackle. Alvin dusted himself off the ground and floated in a free-kick right into the heart of the 6-yard box. Their keeper came out, clutched thin air, and off some pressure by Ron, Toh and Tjioe, their defender inexplicably deflected the ball into the net for an own goal. Tjioe tried to claim the goal but camera replays clearly showed an own goal. This would be the 19th own goal conceded by opponents in ARFC matches.
ARFC then hung on for a narrow but well-deserved victory. This is ARFC’s 31st win out of 46 matches in 2009.
Special credit must be given to both Alvin and Hee today as both had to endure some very hard tackles from their tough and no-nonsense central defenders. Both emerged unscath to cause endless problems to the opponents.
Mention must also be given to Derrick, Tjioe and Ron for putting up a tough fight despite some very heavy tackles by the opponents.
Also, it’s always nice to keep a clean sheet which we have not done so since 29 Nov 09 when we whacked Nitroz FC 14-0 at Bowen SS.
Man-of-the-Match is given to Alvin though Soon and Ron came very close.
As Elvis, Jinzhong and Guoxiong were late, ARFC started the match with only 8 warriors. Once they came in, together with Ron, ARFC’s starting 11 is as follows:
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Left-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Dynamic Soon volunteered to be the only sub.
In a 1st half of rare chances, Derrick was put through by Sebastian but his 1st touch let the team down and the ball was lost. Besides this, the only highlight was the poor performance of the referee.
In the 2nd half, the pattern did not change but the tackles were now coming in hard and fast. Thankfully, ARFC was able to rely on the tenacity of Toh, Ron, Tjioe, Derrick and Soon to keep the opponents at bay.
ARFC could have opened the scoring in the 67th min. From a free-kick on the right, everybody including their keeper was anticipating a high ball into the penalty area which was crowded with both sets of players. Instead, Sebastian curled the ball directly over the ball to the keeper’s left but the ball hit the left-hand post and rebounded off the back of the despairing keeper for a corner. Unlucky!!
ARFC finally scored in the 77th min after some very good work by Alvin at the left touch-line. Alvin wriggled his way through but was cruelly hacked down by the defender who earned a caution for the tackle. Alvin dusted himself off the ground and floated in a free-kick right into the heart of the 6-yard box. Their keeper came out, clutched thin air, and off some pressure by Ron, Toh and Tjioe, their defender inexplicably deflected the ball into the net for an own goal. Tjioe tried to claim the goal but camera replays clearly showed an own goal. This would be the 19th own goal conceded by opponents in ARFC matches.
ARFC then hung on for a narrow but well-deserved victory. This is ARFC’s 31st win out of 46 matches in 2009.
Special credit must be given to both Alvin and Hee today as both had to endure some very hard tackles from their tough and no-nonsense central defenders. Both emerged unscath to cause endless problems to the opponents.
Mention must also be given to Derrick, Tjioe and Ron for putting up a tough fight despite some very heavy tackles by the opponents.
Also, it’s always nice to keep a clean sheet which we have not done so since 29 Nov 09 when we whacked Nitroz FC 14-0 at Bowen SS.
Man-of-the-Match is given to Alvin though Soon and Ron came very close.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
X'mas bonanza matches
Dear ARFC warriors,
To celebrate X'mas, I have lined up 2 matches as follows:
26 Dec (SAT) 09 - Boxing Day
Springfield SS - artificial pitch at Tampines
3 pm = 1500 hrs
29 Dec (Tue) 09
Tampines SAFRA
7 pm = 1900 hrs
Pls indicate your availability for both matches to Sebastian.
Will let you know what colour jersey to bring for each match soon.
To celebrate X'mas, I have lined up 2 matches as follows:
26 Dec (SAT) 09 - Boxing Day
Springfield SS - artificial pitch at Tampines
3 pm = 1500 hrs
29 Dec (Tue) 09
Tampines SAFRA
7 pm = 1900 hrs
Pls indicate your availability for both matches to Sebastian.
Will let you know what colour jersey to bring for each match soon.
ARFC in thrilling 3-2 win
In a fast-pace, end-to-end action-packed match at Pioneer SS, ARFC maintained its unbeaten streak in the D2D Div I League after edging out last year’s Div I runners-up Raven 3-2.
The win was witnessed by Anna and Cerine, Elvis and Jinzhong’s beau respectively.
Much to the disappointment of the 77,777 fans, Toh had to withdraw from the match squad in the 11th hour after failing to arrange for someone to take care of his new-born kid. With Guoxiong also out sourcing for stuff for his new matrimonial home, it meant that ARFC had lost half of its defence as Toh and Guoxiong were regulars of the fearsome ARFC defence.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Unbeatable Darren
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick (captain)
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Nippy Kenny
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
The only sub was Speedy Hee who was late.
ARFC was looking to build on the good form of late and immediately set out its stall by stamping its authority on the match. However, Raven did not earn its runners-up position for nothing and was providing stubborn resistance and equal fight.
ARFC nearly opened the scoring after Derrick, who was captaining ARFC for the very 1st time, was put through by Haron. However, he scooped his shot high and wide.
ARFC then took the lead after Kenny was fouled somewhere near the centre mid area. Sebastian showed quick thinking by playing a quick through rolling ball all the way to the path of Alvin and he did not disappoint by side-footing the ball home for his 112th ARFC goal. 1-0
Derrick was giving their left-back a hard time with his right-wing play and he was cruelly fouled for a number of occasions.
In the 20th min, Kenny felt his hamstring tight again and was replaced by Hee, scorer of a hat-trick in the same ground last Sunday.
After missing a couple of good chances, ARFC was punished when Raven scored. 1-1
ARFC did not panic and within minutes, was back in front. Again, Sebastian was the architect when he spotted Haron free just outside the penalty box. With a neat ground pass, Haron took one touch that wrong-footed their defender, moved slightly into the box and unleashed a shot that their keeper could only parry but was unable to prevent the ball from hitting the net. With his 154th ARFC, Haron made amends for missing a hitter just moments earlier when he shot straight at their keeper.
This goal by Haron was also ARFC’s 1050th goal in its history.
Half-time was 2-1.
Probably due to complacency, Raven equalized within minutes of the re-start. 2-2 now.
The match then exploded and provided the fans with plenty of goal-mouth action. A high ball in from the left had Derrick unleashing a volley from the right ala Marco Van Basten in the 1988 European Championship final goal against Soviet Union. The only difference being that Derrick’s volley was tipped over by Raven’s impressive keeper whereas Van Basten’s volley found the net.
Just minutes later, Derrick was again denied when his acrobatic flying scissors kick ala Fernando Torres was again tipped over by their keeper.
Kenny was next to be denied. From a half-cleared corner, Kenny picked up the ball outside the box and thumped in a brilliant shot ala Paul Scholes. Again, their keeper tipped over the bar. ARFC is now wondering how to beat their world-class keeper.
When their keeper was beaten, the woodwork came to Raven’s rescue. First, in a midst of pin-ball fashion, Ron struck the bar. Then, Sebastian deceived the keeper with his ring-wing cross/shot that sailed over the keeper but struck the bar.
Alvin and Hee then missed golden opportunities too.
Raven was not without its moments. They hit the post once and had 2 or 3 good shots well saved by Jinzhong who had a wonderful match.
Haron then turned saviour 7 mins from time, having replaced Hee just 10 mins earlier. Sebastian chipped in a looping ball over to the left wing and in came the sprinting Kenny who reached the ball ahead of their on-rushing keeper. Kenny kicked the ball into the 6-yard box area and the ball then rolled along and there was Haron to prod home his 155th ARFC goal and the match-winning goal. 3-2
Though a very competitive match, it was played in good spirits and credit to both teams for giving the fans a great match to watch.
All ARFC warriors did well in this match but if a Man-of-the-Match award has to be given, it should be jointly-given to Derrick and Blackburn. Derrick had a superb match down the right wing and his wing-play was solely missed by ARFC last season. As for Blackburn, his defensive display, especially in the 2nd half where he shut out their left side, was really a very commendable effort. Blackburn even lasted the whole match and had also dashed back to stop their play on a number of occasions.
As for the overall Man-of-the-Match award, it is fair to say that Raven’s keeper, William, should win this as he almost single-handedly shut out ARFC.
The win was witnessed by Anna and Cerine, Elvis and Jinzhong’s beau respectively.
Much to the disappointment of the 77,777 fans, Toh had to withdraw from the match squad in the 11th hour after failing to arrange for someone to take care of his new-born kid. With Guoxiong also out sourcing for stuff for his new matrimonial home, it meant that ARFC had lost half of its defence as Toh and Guoxiong were regulars of the fearsome ARFC defence.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Unbeatable Darren
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick (captain)
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Nippy Kenny
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
The only sub was Speedy Hee who was late.
ARFC was looking to build on the good form of late and immediately set out its stall by stamping its authority on the match. However, Raven did not earn its runners-up position for nothing and was providing stubborn resistance and equal fight.
ARFC nearly opened the scoring after Derrick, who was captaining ARFC for the very 1st time, was put through by Haron. However, he scooped his shot high and wide.
ARFC then took the lead after Kenny was fouled somewhere near the centre mid area. Sebastian showed quick thinking by playing a quick through rolling ball all the way to the path of Alvin and he did not disappoint by side-footing the ball home for his 112th ARFC goal. 1-0
Derrick was giving their left-back a hard time with his right-wing play and he was cruelly fouled for a number of occasions.
In the 20th min, Kenny felt his hamstring tight again and was replaced by Hee, scorer of a hat-trick in the same ground last Sunday.
After missing a couple of good chances, ARFC was punished when Raven scored. 1-1
ARFC did not panic and within minutes, was back in front. Again, Sebastian was the architect when he spotted Haron free just outside the penalty box. With a neat ground pass, Haron took one touch that wrong-footed their defender, moved slightly into the box and unleashed a shot that their keeper could only parry but was unable to prevent the ball from hitting the net. With his 154th ARFC, Haron made amends for missing a hitter just moments earlier when he shot straight at their keeper.
This goal by Haron was also ARFC’s 1050th goal in its history.
Half-time was 2-1.
Probably due to complacency, Raven equalized within minutes of the re-start. 2-2 now.
The match then exploded and provided the fans with plenty of goal-mouth action. A high ball in from the left had Derrick unleashing a volley from the right ala Marco Van Basten in the 1988 European Championship final goal against Soviet Union. The only difference being that Derrick’s volley was tipped over by Raven’s impressive keeper whereas Van Basten’s volley found the net.
Just minutes later, Derrick was again denied when his acrobatic flying scissors kick ala Fernando Torres was again tipped over by their keeper.
Kenny was next to be denied. From a half-cleared corner, Kenny picked up the ball outside the box and thumped in a brilliant shot ala Paul Scholes. Again, their keeper tipped over the bar. ARFC is now wondering how to beat their world-class keeper.
When their keeper was beaten, the woodwork came to Raven’s rescue. First, in a midst of pin-ball fashion, Ron struck the bar. Then, Sebastian deceived the keeper with his ring-wing cross/shot that sailed over the keeper but struck the bar.
Alvin and Hee then missed golden opportunities too.
Raven was not without its moments. They hit the post once and had 2 or 3 good shots well saved by Jinzhong who had a wonderful match.
Haron then turned saviour 7 mins from time, having replaced Hee just 10 mins earlier. Sebastian chipped in a looping ball over to the left wing and in came the sprinting Kenny who reached the ball ahead of their on-rushing keeper. Kenny kicked the ball into the 6-yard box area and the ball then rolled along and there was Haron to prod home his 155th ARFC goal and the match-winning goal. 3-2
Though a very competitive match, it was played in good spirits and credit to both teams for giving the fans a great match to watch.
All ARFC warriors did well in this match but if a Man-of-the-Match award has to be given, it should be jointly-given to Derrick and Blackburn. Derrick had a superb match down the right wing and his wing-play was solely missed by ARFC last season. As for Blackburn, his defensive display, especially in the 2nd half where he shut out their left side, was really a very commendable effort. Blackburn even lasted the whole match and had also dashed back to stop their play on a number of occasions.
As for the overall Man-of-the-Match award, it is fair to say that Raven’s keeper, William, should win this as he almost single-handedly shut out ARFC.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
ARFC scorers
Haron - 153 goals
Alvin - 111 goals
Blackburn - 86 goals
Hee - 73 goals
Sebastian - 72 goals
Robin - 69 goals
Tjioe - 52 goals
Jeffrey - 49 goals
Khim - 43 goals
Toh - 36 goals
Kiat - 25 goals
Soon - 24 goals
Tong - 24 goals
David - 23 goals
Derrick - 22 goals
Jiongjiong (ex-player) - 21 goals
Hock - 21 goals
Jesmond (ex-player) - 19 goals
Hwee (ex-player) - 11 goals
Damian - 11 goals
Guoxiong - 10 goals
Edwin - 7 goals
Boon - 7 goals
Elvis - 6 goals
Kenny - 3 goals
Bernard - 3 goals
Andrew - 1 goal
Huiming - 1 goal
Alvin - 111 goals
Blackburn - 86 goals
Hee - 73 goals
Sebastian - 72 goals
Robin - 69 goals
Tjioe - 52 goals
Jeffrey - 49 goals
Khim - 43 goals
Toh - 36 goals
Kiat - 25 goals
Soon - 24 goals
Tong - 24 goals
David - 23 goals
Derrick - 22 goals
Jiongjiong (ex-player) - 21 goals
Hock - 21 goals
Jesmond (ex-player) - 19 goals
Hwee (ex-player) - 11 goals
Damian - 11 goals
Guoxiong - 10 goals
Edwin - 7 goals
Boon - 7 goals
Elvis - 6 goals
Kenny - 3 goals
Bernard - 3 goals
Andrew - 1 goal
Huiming - 1 goal
5th tournament match details
20 Dec 2009 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Pioneeer Secondary School (again.....)
Bring both colours
Opponent is Raven
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Pioneeer Secondary School (again.....)
Bring both colours
Opponent is Raven
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
Hee's hat-trick
Hee's hat-trick on Sunday is the 3rd time that he has scored hat-trick in a match, allowing him to move level with Blackburn.
ARFC warriors who are ahead of them are:
Alvin - 13 hat-tricks (41 goals);
Robin - 10 hat-tricks (39 goals);
Haron - 10 hat-tricks (34 goals);
Jiongjiong - 4 hat-tricks (14 goals);
Sebastian - 4 hat-tricks (12 goals)
ARFC warriors who are ahead of them are:
Alvin - 13 hat-tricks (41 goals);
Robin - 10 hat-tricks (39 goals);
Haron - 10 hat-tricks (34 goals);
Jiongjiong - 4 hat-tricks (14 goals);
Sebastian - 4 hat-tricks (12 goals)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
ARFC opened Cup challenge with emphatic 8-1 victory
Propelled by Hee’s hat-trick, ARFC open its D2D Cup 1st round match with an emphatic 8-1 victory over FC Huat. The match was played at Pioneer SS in front of 77,777 fans including Anna and Cerine, Elvis’ and Jinzhong’s beau respectively.
Prior to the match, Hee gave a heart-felt “thank you” speech to ARFC warriors for the kind gesture over the medical fees for his nasty injury just above his left eye. His 7-min speech was so touching that it moved the 77,777 fans to tears.
Special credit to Hee too for turning up despite just having his stitches removed just 77 mins earlier.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Nippy Kenny
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Combative Ron (late)
Speedy Hee
Straight off the kick-off, ARFC was in complete total of match proceedings and it looked like ARFC would score its 1st goal which duly arrived in the 7th min. Derrick, who had a great game on right flank, dribbled his way down the right flank. Looking up, he squared the ball across goal for Alvin to arrive unmarked and tap the ball into the empty net for his 111th ARFC goal. 1-0
ARFC doubled its lead just mins later. Tjioe chipped in a delicious ball to Soon who dashed down the left flank and fired in a shot. The ball took a wicked deflection that wrong-footed their keeper for Soon’s 24th ARFC goal. 2-0
Alvin then returned the compliments to Derrick 7 mins later. Using his world-renowned upper body strength, Alvin wriggled free down the left touch-line and squared to Hee. Hee’s shot was blocked by a defender on the line but the rebound went to Derrick who scored with a slight-miscued left-foot shot for his 22nd ARFC goal. 3-0
Hee nearly scored when he broke free and lifted the ball over their on-rushing keeper. Turning away to celebrate, Hee’s jaws dropped to the ground when their keeper incredibly made a speedy (no pun intended) recovery and somehow managed to claw the ball way to safety. Super unlucky but great work by their keeper.
Hee was not to be denied in the 37th min. Ron, who just came in for Kenny, played a superb defence-splitting ball and off goes Hee to fire in his 71st ARFC goal. 4-0
Hee got his 2nd goal in the match when he again latched on to Tjioe’s world-class through ball to side-foot the ball past their keeper for his 72nd ARFC goal. 5-0
During half-time, ARFC was told not to be complacent for fear of being ousted on goal difference.
ARFC got its 6th goal in the match when Toh received a ball from Blackburn about 17 metres outside the penalty box. Looking up, Toh showed Xabi Alonso-like execution when he lifted the ball with razor-sharp precision that just dipped in between the keeper and the cross-bar for his 36th ARFC goal. 6-0
ARFC then conceded a penalty. 6-1
ARFC upped its tempo and Hee finally scored his hat-trick and his 73rd ARFC goal when he received a through ball from Kenny down the left flank. Cutting inwards, Hee simply whacked the ball past their keeper into the top right-hand corner that gave their keeper no chance at all. In fact, the shot was so powerful and sharp that any keeper in the world would not be able to save. 7-1
Alvin and Tjioe then hit the post after some very good work again. Kenny also had a venomous shot saved by their keeper.
ARFC rounded up the score when Blackburn marked his captaincy by doing an almost replica of Toh’s goal. From 37 metres out, he simply ignored all calls for the ball by firing the ball over their keeper that had the crowd screaming goallllllllllllllllllllllllll all the way. 8-1 and it was Blackburn’s 86th ARFC goal.
This was a match where ARFC displayed great team-work, passing and movements. All warriors played very well and the Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Soon and Ron.
Prior to the match, Hee gave a heart-felt “thank you” speech to ARFC warriors for the kind gesture over the medical fees for his nasty injury just above his left eye. His 7-min speech was so touching that it moved the 77,777 fans to tears.
Special credit to Hee too for turning up despite just having his stitches removed just 77 mins earlier.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Nippy Kenny
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Combative Ron (late)
Speedy Hee
Straight off the kick-off, ARFC was in complete total of match proceedings and it looked like ARFC would score its 1st goal which duly arrived in the 7th min. Derrick, who had a great game on right flank, dribbled his way down the right flank. Looking up, he squared the ball across goal for Alvin to arrive unmarked and tap the ball into the empty net for his 111th ARFC goal. 1-0
ARFC doubled its lead just mins later. Tjioe chipped in a delicious ball to Soon who dashed down the left flank and fired in a shot. The ball took a wicked deflection that wrong-footed their keeper for Soon’s 24th ARFC goal. 2-0
Alvin then returned the compliments to Derrick 7 mins later. Using his world-renowned upper body strength, Alvin wriggled free down the left touch-line and squared to Hee. Hee’s shot was blocked by a defender on the line but the rebound went to Derrick who scored with a slight-miscued left-foot shot for his 22nd ARFC goal. 3-0
Hee nearly scored when he broke free and lifted the ball over their on-rushing keeper. Turning away to celebrate, Hee’s jaws dropped to the ground when their keeper incredibly made a speedy (no pun intended) recovery and somehow managed to claw the ball way to safety. Super unlucky but great work by their keeper.
Hee was not to be denied in the 37th min. Ron, who just came in for Kenny, played a superb defence-splitting ball and off goes Hee to fire in his 71st ARFC goal. 4-0
Hee got his 2nd goal in the match when he again latched on to Tjioe’s world-class through ball to side-foot the ball past their keeper for his 72nd ARFC goal. 5-0
During half-time, ARFC was told not to be complacent for fear of being ousted on goal difference.
ARFC got its 6th goal in the match when Toh received a ball from Blackburn about 17 metres outside the penalty box. Looking up, Toh showed Xabi Alonso-like execution when he lifted the ball with razor-sharp precision that just dipped in between the keeper and the cross-bar for his 36th ARFC goal. 6-0
ARFC then conceded a penalty. 6-1
ARFC upped its tempo and Hee finally scored his hat-trick and his 73rd ARFC goal when he received a through ball from Kenny down the left flank. Cutting inwards, Hee simply whacked the ball past their keeper into the top right-hand corner that gave their keeper no chance at all. In fact, the shot was so powerful and sharp that any keeper in the world would not be able to save. 7-1
Alvin and Tjioe then hit the post after some very good work again. Kenny also had a venomous shot saved by their keeper.
ARFC rounded up the score when Blackburn marked his captaincy by doing an almost replica of Toh’s goal. From 37 metres out, he simply ignored all calls for the ball by firing the ball over their keeper that had the crowd screaming goallllllllllllllllllllllllll all the way. 8-1 and it was Blackburn’s 86th ARFC goal.
This was a match where ARFC displayed great team-work, passing and movements. All warriors played very well and the Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Soon and Ron.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
1st Cup match details
13 Dec 09 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Pioneer Secondary School at Jurong West Street 81 (I think)
Bring both colours
Opponent is Huat FC
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Pioneer Secondary School at Jurong West Street 81 (I think)
Bring both colours
Opponent is Huat FC
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot
Sunday, December 06, 2009
ARFC rues 2 points dropped in 4th tournament match
After 4 tournament matches, ARFC stayed unbeaten after snatching a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw against FC Simpang at the poor Sengkang SS pitch. Witnessing the draw were Anna, Cerine and Tracie, WAGS of Elvis, Jinzhong and Guoxiong respectively.
Special credit to Soon for turning up to support despite just finishing the Standard Chartered marathon today in an ARFC record time of 3 hours 27 mins. It's a record time since I don't think any ARFC warrior can better his time in years to come. By the way, Khim's time is 6 hours 10 mins.
Prior to the kick-off, Hee received a trophy from Blackburn for his 70-goal feat for ARFC.
ARFC started with this line-up:
GK - Dependable Jinzhong
DC - Astute reading Elvis (captain)
DC - Towering Toh
DR - Hard-running Guoxiong
DL - Unbeatable Darren
CM - Influential Sebastian
CM - Hardworking Tong
RM - Talisman Derrick
LM - Unpredictable Blackburn
SC - Powerful Alvin
SC - Speedy Hee
Subs:
Nippy Kenny
Combative Ron
Hardman Tjioe
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron (late)
Buoyed by its 3-2 thursday night victory at Tampines SAFRA, ARFC started the match confidently and was able to carve out some chances. The match was just mins old when Hee was left with a nasty cut after an aerial challenge with their keeper and had to be substituted. Kenny came in for him with Blackburn moving upfront.
ARFC nearly took the lead but Derrick's touch from Sebastian's through pass was too heavy. Alvin repeated a similar heavy touch after he was put through on the left. Unlucky!!
FC Simpang then struck the stachion off a corner which was only half-cleared by ARFC.
Alvin could have scored after a defensive mix-up by their keeper and defender but his instinctive shot for the loose ball was slightly wide.
The half ended 0-0.
ARFC fell behind after the opponent scored from the penalty spot after the referee correctly ruled for an infringement. 0-1.
ARFC did not panic and began its search for an equaliser. Tjioe could have been the saviour. From a corner, Toh and Ron caused panic in their box and Tjioe was able to fire in a shot through seas of legs but the ball unfortunately hit the post. Unlucky!!
Derrick was causing all sorts of problems at the left flank but was brutally chopped down by their right-back who earned only a yellow card for 2 offences.
ARFC finally equalised 7 mins from time. Darren, who was unbeatable all day, took a long and quikc throw-in all the way into the box and was picked up by Alvin. Shrugging off 2 defenders, he squared the ball across for Haron but the ball was blocked. Alvin did not give up and swivelled and with a slightly-miscued shot, the ball somehow managed to trickle over the line for his 110th ARFC goal. 1-1
Though a fight-back draw, ARFC was left to rue 2 points dropped rather than 1 point gained.
The Man-of-the-Match is given to Darren though special mention must be given to both Ron and Tjioe as both of them were almost like 2 Russian tanks when they are closing in on opponents. Elvis, Jinzhong, Derrick and Alvin did well too.
After the match, Sebastian acompanied Hee to the clinic where he was given 7 stitches for the nasty cut just above his left-eye. On behalf of ARFC, we wish him a speedy (no pun intended) recovery......
3rd ARFC warrior to be sent off
Towering Toh became only the 3rd ARFC warrior to be sent off after his controversial red card at Tampines SAFRA on Thursday.
Sebastian was the 1st-ever warrior to be sent off after he handled on the goal-line (no choice). Tjioe should be the 2nd warrior after being sent off by the Nigerian "con-man" referee.
Sebastian was the 1st-ever warrior to be sent off after he handled on the goal-line (no choice). Tjioe should be the 2nd warrior after being sent off by the Nigerian "con-man" referee.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Alvin stars in come-from-behind victory
Playing under a very cooling weather at the magnificent artificial pitch at Tampines SAFRA, ARFC recorded a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against a very good team powered by a Messi-lookalike player.
The victory was witnessed by Anna and the lovely wife and daughter of Soon.
ARFC started with this line-up:
GK - Weili (guest keeper from Rendezvous FC);
RB - Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper - Elegant Edwin
Stopper - Towering Toh
LB - Astute-reading Elvis
RM - Sublime Khim
CM - Influential Sebastian
CM - Hardworking Tong
LM - Nippy Kenny
SC - Powerful Alvin
SC - Unpredictable Blackburn
Dynamic Soon only arrived after the match started.
ARFC was troubled by their speedy and tricky player whose playing style is exactly like Messi (no joke!). However, ARFC's defence held firm and was ably supported by the midfielders.
In the 20th min mark, Khim asked to be substituted as he was exhausted due to long-term hiatus as a result of his new-born child. In came Soon to thunderous applause from the fans, with Sebastian switching to right-mid.
However, ARFC fell behind after their forward was given too much time and space to turn and shoot past Weili. 0-1.
Toh was cautioned in the 1st half after he sent their player flying with a hard-hitting tackle.
Khim then came back on for Kenny who suffered from cramps in the 30th min.
Blackburn came close on 2 occasions but was unable to score and the half-time remained at 0-1.
ARFC was determined to find an equaliser and it duly arrived in the 57th min. The ball found its way to Kenny, who just came in for Blackburn just minutes earlier, at the left flank. Kenny managed to find some space to fire in a shot that took a wicked deflection and wrong-footed their keeper for his 3rd ARFC goal. 1-1 now.
Strangely enough, ARFC fell behind again almost immediately after their "Messi" broke the off-side trap to tap past Weili. 1-2.
ARFC's desire to find the 2nd equaliser looked to have ended after Toh was given an early shower after being shown the 2nd yellow card for yet another heavy tackle though the decision was really questionable. The opponents, however, sportingly allowed ARFC to put in another player and Blackburn came back on.
Nevertheless, Kenny again succumbed to cramps and was out of the match, leaving ARFC with just 10 warriors.
ARFC's equalised again in the 77th min after Alvin's corner from the left was only half-cleared. Soon latched on to the ball just at the top of the box, eluded their player with a clever switch from right foot to left foot, and then lofted the ball home with his left foot over their despairing keeper for his 22nd goal. Wonderful goal that had his daughter erupting into laughter.
The best was yet to come 7 mins from time. Alvin shielded the ball expertly in the box and managed to wriggle free from their sea of defenders. The ball rolled out to just at the right edge outside the 6-yard box and he lookd to have lost his footing. Thankfully, Soon came from nowhere and side-footed the ball across their keeper and into the far bottom left-hand corner for his 23rd ARFC goal. This time round, his wife and daughter both cheered non-stop for 7 mins.
This was a match where ARFC showed its true character by fighting back from 1-2 down with 10 warriors. In defence, Guoxiong had yet another great game by shutting out their "Messi" rather effectively. The midfield also played one of its best match and Khim provided the skill and composure which the ARFC fans have been missing. Khim also covered at left-back for the latter part of the match after Toh was sent off. Even Blackburn played like the 10 years ago Blackburn. Tong combined well at central mid. Soon was his usual industrious self with his superb harassing and at times, strong tackles. It was really unfortunate that he was pipped to the Man-of-the-Match award by Alvin, who not only caused trouble to their defence throughout, but also put in great efforts to help close down their players. Particularly, his hold-up play that created the winning goal.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
4th tournament match details
06 December 2009 (Sun)
3 pm
Sengkang SS at Compassvale Lane (we played there twice before)
Opponent is FC Simpang
Bring both colours
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
3 pm
Sengkang SS at Compassvale Lane (we played there twice before)
Opponent is FC Simpang
Bring both colours
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friendly match at Tampines SAFRA
Dear ARFC warriors:
There will be a friendly match this Thursday (03 Dec 09) @ 7 pm @ Tampines SAFRA. Bring both colours.
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
There will be a friendly match this Thursday (03 Dec 09) @ 7 pm @ Tampines SAFRA. Bring both colours.
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
ARFC equalled its best-ever victory in 14-0 victory
Playing against 7-men (8-men for 2nd half) Nitroz, ARFC equalled its best-ever victory with a 14-0 win at the Bowen SS artificial pitch. Witnessing the record-equalling triumph were Su + Afiqah (Haron's lovely family), Ron's wife as well as Rayes, Derrick's cute son.
ARFC starting 11 were:
Dependable Jinzhong (GK);
Hard-running Guoxiong (RB)
Combative Ron (Sweeper)
Towering Toh (Stopper)
Unpredictable Blackburn (LB)
Dynamic Soon (LM)
Talisman Derrick (RM)
Influential Sebastian (CM)
Hardman Tjioe (CM)
ARFC scoring legend Haron (SC)
Powerful Alvin (SC)
Subs were speedy Hee and nippy Kenny
Haron opened the floodgates after just 3 mins courtesy of an assist by Derrick for his 152nd ARFC goal. Thereafter, the 1st-half scorers were Alvin, Toh, Tjioe, Blackburn and Sebastian for a 6-0 lead at the interval.
After the break, ARFC did not relent and scored 8 more goals through, Haron, Alvin(2), Derrick, Blackburn (2), Hee and Guoxiong who rounded off the score-line with a penalty.
After the penalty, the referee immediately stopped the match which was by then only at 60 mins or less. To its credit, ARFC accepted the decision without any slightest form of protest.
Credit should given to ARFC for not displaying a complacent attitude and most importantly, were serious in the match without any mocking or anything of that sort.
Special mention to Nitroz as well for gamesmanship and played on despite only 7 players though for the 2nd half, they had a guest goal-keeper.
Hee;s goal also finally enabled him to move past Robin at 70 goals and for that, he will be given a trophy this coming Sunday (or Thursday night at Tampines SAFRA).
Though Alvin and Blackburn scored hat-trick respectively, Man-of-the-Match must be given to Derrick for creating 5 goals in the 1st half, scoring with a header in the 2nd half and finally won the penalty which was converted by Guoxiong.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
3rd tournament match details - 29 Nov 09
29 Nov 09 (Sun)
5 pm = 1700 hrs
Bowen SS (artificial pitch at Hougang & Yio Chu Kang Road junction)
Bring both colours
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
5 pm = 1700 hrs
Bowen SS (artificial pitch at Hougang & Yio Chu Kang Road junction)
Bring both colours
Pls e-mail Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
ARFC suffered last-grasp heart-breaking draw
In its 2nd league match, ARFC conceded a last-grasp equaliser to defending champions The OC for a 1-1 draw at Orchid Park SS. Witnessing the heart-breaking draw were its usual fans like, Rayes, Cerine, Anna, Tracie, Su and Afiqah.
ARFC started with this line-up:
GK - Dependable Jinzhong
RB - Hard-running Guoxiong
LB - Combative Ron
Sweeper - Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper - Towering Toh
RM - Talisman Derrick
CM - Influential Sebastian
CM - Dynamic Soon
LM - Nippy Kenny
FW - Powerful Alvin
FW - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron (captain)
Subs:
Hardworking Tong
Speedy Hee
Unpredictable Blackburn
Elegant Edwin
Bouyed by its opening league match victory, ARFC came out firing on all cylinders and immediately put The OC under intense pressure with both Alvin and Haron impressing.
The match was just 7 mins old when Haron won a free-kick just outside the penalty box. Sebastian stepped up to execute a curling ball that was expertly palmed away to safety by their keeper.
ARFC was not to be denied 7 mins later. From a long kick by the opponent, Derrick side-footed the ball back to their half which was picked up by Alvin. Holding up the ball well, Alvin spotted Soon running in from deep and paid the ball to his path. The ball looked to be covered by their defender but Soon was quickest to nick the ball away from him and thumped the ball home for his 21st ARFC goal. Wonderful goal. 1-0
ARFC then made a series of substitutions and held out for a one goal lead at half-time.
As the match progresses in the 2nd half, it was clear to all that The OC, being much younger, gradually had the upper hand with their movements and passing. However, great credit must be given to ARFC, especially its defence which was so water-tight.
With about 2 mins remaining, ARFC failed to clear a loose ball which went to their player just outside the box. He took a pot-shot that went through seas of legs in the box and the unsighted Jinzhong got a touch but was unable to prevent the ball from going in. Unlucky!! 1-1.
To be honest, this draw was a fair result but it was heart-wrenching to concede the equaliser so late in the match and also when the sky was pitch-dark.
Credit must be given to all warriors for giving their all in this match and attendance was again commendable. ARFC's defence of Elvis, Toh, Guoxiong and Ron was really superbly impressive and that was why they played throughout.
Apart from an early blunder that nearly gifted The OC a goal, Jinzhong did very well in this match. The midfielders combined rather effectively to shut them out and Haron and Blackburn gave a decent outing. Though Alvin did not register a shot in the match, he troubled their defence no end with his powerful runs and shielding.
All in all, ARFC once again played very well which augurs well for its remaining matches. Man of the Match? It's an extremely narrow fight between the 4 defenders but Ron just slightly pipped the other 3 for this award.
Monday, November 09, 2009
2nd tournament match details - 15 Nov 09
Match details:
15 Nov 2009 (Sun)
1700 hrs = 5 pm (Tjioe + Hee - pls take note)
Orchid Park SS @ Yishun Street 81
Artificial pitch = won't be postponed unless lightning
Bring both colours
Opponent is Nitroz
Pls e-mail to Sebastian of your availability.
See you all and cheers.....
15 Nov 2009 (Sun)
1700 hrs = 5 pm (Tjioe + Hee - pls take note)
Orchid Park SS @ Yishun Street 81
Artificial pitch = won't be postponed unless lightning
Bring both colours
Opponent is Nitroz
Pls e-mail to Sebastian of your availability.
See you all and cheers.....
Monday, November 02, 2009
Kenny's debut brace inspired ARFC to hard-fought victory over Oogleeee Boys
Courtesy of Kenny’s brilliantly-taken debut brace for ARFC, ARFC opened its D2D Div I league campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over a very young, fit and determined Oogleeee Boys at Ahmad Ibrahim SS.
The win was witnessed by:
Rayes (Derrick’s soooooooo-cute son);
Anna (Elvis’ wife);
Tracie (Guoxiong’s soon-to-be wife);
Cerine (Jinzhong’s new-found girlfriend);
Wife + hyper-active children of Darren.
ARFC was hit with the last-min withdrawal of Edwin who fell ill after witnessing Liverpool’s bizarre defeat by Fulham and also performed too much “luma” after that. Nevertheless, ARFC did not let the withdrawal affect their determination to secure the win.
Prior to the match, Haron was given the “Centurion Award” for chalking up 151 goals thus far over a 10-year distinguished career. Alvin is the other warrior to be in the same Centurion Club as Haron.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Combative Ron
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Left-mid: Talisman Derrick
Striker: Powerful Alvin (captain)
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Dynamic Soon
Nippy Kenny
Astute-reading Elvis
Unpredictable Blackburn
Gigantic Andrew
ARFC scoring legend Haron
Just one look at the subs bench would send shivers down the spines of every GOOD team in the world like Liverpool, Barcelona and Spain. We have the ARFC scoring legend Haron, Players’ Player of the year + Player of the year in Soon and Franco Baresi-like Elvis, not to mention Blackburn, Kenny and Andrew. Hence, the starting warriors were urged to give their all as the subs are all very able replacements.
Indeed, all warriors took heed and played like possessed demons by closing down and challenging for every ball. Guoxiong and Tong once again combined effectively to shut out their Indian winger though ARFC suffered some nervous moments when the Indian winger struck the post in the 7th min.
ARFC gradually took control of the match and began to crave out chances with Toh, Haron and Alvin going close. Alvin played like a true-blue captain when he caused countless problems to their defence with his power but his weak left-foot let him down.
In the 27th min came the save of the match and possibly season. The opponent took a shot from outside the box and the ball looked destined to nestle in the bottom left corner of ARFC’s goal when Jinzhong executed a full-length body dive ala Pepe Reina to touch the ball out for a corner. Super world-class save that had Cerine jumping up and down for 7 mins.
Kenny then came on and his first contribution was to unleash a fierce drive from 27 metres which their keeper saved and conceded a corner.
Sebastian also had a ferocious left foot shot which was turned over for a corner.
From the various corners and free-kicks won, ARFC was unable to make full use, mainly due to their 2 tall defenders clearing all balls pumped in.
Tjioe was booked for persistent fouling and had to be substituted for fear of a red card.
In the 2nd half, ARFC came very close to opening the scoring after Haron put Soon through who ran in from deep. After putting the ball away, the referee inexplicably blew for an off-side on Soon which angered the whole world. Clearly a poor decision but ARFC did not let this bad call affect them.
ARFC finally opened the scoring in the 77th min. Andrew, who put in a battling match, and Haron combined which led to Haron feeding Kenny through on goal. With a great first touch, Kenny moved clear of their defence and placed the ball into the car left-hand corner for his 1st-ever ARFC goal. The goal sparked off wild celebrations in the venue and all fans and warriors were behaving crazily which saw Alvin took off his jerseys and run around the field displaying his bulging muscles. 1-0.
However, ARFC conceded an equalizer 7 mins later after yet another Rory Delap-like throw-in was headed into the net past the bewildered Jinzhong. Though a bad goal to concede, it must be noted that this was probably the only occasion where ARFC’s magnificent defence failed to deal with this throw-in as advised before the match. 1-1
ARFC did not allow its head to drop and true enough, ARFC regained the lead just mins later. Soon picked up a loose ball in our half and embarked on a 27 metres run down the middle before releasing Kenny down the left flank. Without much hesitation, Kenny bettered his earlier goal when he let fly a thunderous shot from the left flank that had their keeper beaten all the way and the ball landed nicely into the top left-hand corner. 2-1.
With this goal, the fans and warriors went totally berserk and the Indian grounds-man had to calm us down by treating us to cigarettes, roti-pratas and teh-tariks.
After an eternity where the sky was totally pitch-dark and no one could see each other, the referee finally blew the final whistle.
Credit to the great attendance for this match and also Kenny’s great debut brace for ARFC. Unfortunately, all of you should know by now that Sebastian does not usually give out Man-of-the-Match Award for goal-scorers (very rarely done) and hence Kenny would have to wait to receive one.
Instead, I should say that the entire team played really well. The defence of Ron, Toh, Guoxiong, Darren and later on Elvis was totally world-class. All warriors also played their hearts out and this spirit was epitomized in the dying mins when Alvin came from nowhere to charge in and challenge for a loose ball down the right flank and eventually won a corner (or foul).
But if a MOM award is to be given, the recipients would jointly be to both Guoxiong and Darren who totally gave their wingers no chance at all.
Also, special mention to Elvis for his great understanding and sacrifice as he played the least for this match (I think). The reason for this is purely tactical as it was felt that he might struggled against this young, fit and fast team if he was to play from the start. Andrew also took a bad hit in his left-eye for his challenge for a ball though it was accidentally caused by Hee’s flailing boot. I think this should be the spirit for all ARFC warriors in matches to come – understanding and sacrifice.
The win was witnessed by:
Rayes (Derrick’s soooooooo-cute son);
Anna (Elvis’ wife);
Tracie (Guoxiong’s soon-to-be wife);
Cerine (Jinzhong’s new-found girlfriend);
Wife + hyper-active children of Darren.
ARFC was hit with the last-min withdrawal of Edwin who fell ill after witnessing Liverpool’s bizarre defeat by Fulham and also performed too much “luma” after that. Nevertheless, ARFC did not let the withdrawal affect their determination to secure the win.
Prior to the match, Haron was given the “Centurion Award” for chalking up 151 goals thus far over a 10-year distinguished career. Alvin is the other warrior to be in the same Centurion Club as Haron.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Combative Ron
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Left-mid: Talisman Derrick
Striker: Powerful Alvin (captain)
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Dynamic Soon
Nippy Kenny
Astute-reading Elvis
Unpredictable Blackburn
Gigantic Andrew
ARFC scoring legend Haron
Just one look at the subs bench would send shivers down the spines of every GOOD team in the world like Liverpool, Barcelona and Spain. We have the ARFC scoring legend Haron, Players’ Player of the year + Player of the year in Soon and Franco Baresi-like Elvis, not to mention Blackburn, Kenny and Andrew. Hence, the starting warriors were urged to give their all as the subs are all very able replacements.
Indeed, all warriors took heed and played like possessed demons by closing down and challenging for every ball. Guoxiong and Tong once again combined effectively to shut out their Indian winger though ARFC suffered some nervous moments when the Indian winger struck the post in the 7th min.
ARFC gradually took control of the match and began to crave out chances with Toh, Haron and Alvin going close. Alvin played like a true-blue captain when he caused countless problems to their defence with his power but his weak left-foot let him down.
In the 27th min came the save of the match and possibly season. The opponent took a shot from outside the box and the ball looked destined to nestle in the bottom left corner of ARFC’s goal when Jinzhong executed a full-length body dive ala Pepe Reina to touch the ball out for a corner. Super world-class save that had Cerine jumping up and down for 7 mins.
Kenny then came on and his first contribution was to unleash a fierce drive from 27 metres which their keeper saved and conceded a corner.
Sebastian also had a ferocious left foot shot which was turned over for a corner.
From the various corners and free-kicks won, ARFC was unable to make full use, mainly due to their 2 tall defenders clearing all balls pumped in.
Tjioe was booked for persistent fouling and had to be substituted for fear of a red card.
In the 2nd half, ARFC came very close to opening the scoring after Haron put Soon through who ran in from deep. After putting the ball away, the referee inexplicably blew for an off-side on Soon which angered the whole world. Clearly a poor decision but ARFC did not let this bad call affect them.
ARFC finally opened the scoring in the 77th min. Andrew, who put in a battling match, and Haron combined which led to Haron feeding Kenny through on goal. With a great first touch, Kenny moved clear of their defence and placed the ball into the car left-hand corner for his 1st-ever ARFC goal. The goal sparked off wild celebrations in the venue and all fans and warriors were behaving crazily which saw Alvin took off his jerseys and run around the field displaying his bulging muscles. 1-0.
However, ARFC conceded an equalizer 7 mins later after yet another Rory Delap-like throw-in was headed into the net past the bewildered Jinzhong. Though a bad goal to concede, it must be noted that this was probably the only occasion where ARFC’s magnificent defence failed to deal with this throw-in as advised before the match. 1-1
ARFC did not allow its head to drop and true enough, ARFC regained the lead just mins later. Soon picked up a loose ball in our half and embarked on a 27 metres run down the middle before releasing Kenny down the left flank. Without much hesitation, Kenny bettered his earlier goal when he let fly a thunderous shot from the left flank that had their keeper beaten all the way and the ball landed nicely into the top left-hand corner. 2-1.
With this goal, the fans and warriors went totally berserk and the Indian grounds-man had to calm us down by treating us to cigarettes, roti-pratas and teh-tariks.
After an eternity where the sky was totally pitch-dark and no one could see each other, the referee finally blew the final whistle.
Credit to the great attendance for this match and also Kenny’s great debut brace for ARFC. Unfortunately, all of you should know by now that Sebastian does not usually give out Man-of-the-Match Award for goal-scorers (very rarely done) and hence Kenny would have to wait to receive one.
Instead, I should say that the entire team played really well. The defence of Ron, Toh, Guoxiong, Darren and later on Elvis was totally world-class. All warriors also played their hearts out and this spirit was epitomized in the dying mins when Alvin came from nowhere to charge in and challenge for a loose ball down the right flank and eventually won a corner (or foul).
But if a MOM award is to be given, the recipients would jointly be to both Guoxiong and Darren who totally gave their wingers no chance at all.
Also, special mention to Elvis for his great understanding and sacrifice as he played the least for this match (I think). The reason for this is purely tactical as it was felt that he might struggled against this young, fit and fast team if he was to play from the start. Andrew also took a bad hit in his left-eye for his challenge for a ball though it was accidentally caused by Hee’s flailing boot. I think this should be the spirit for all ARFC warriors in matches to come – understanding and sacrifice.
Monday, October 26, 2009
1st Tournament League Match details
Dear ARFC warriors:
01 Nov 2009 (Sun)
1700 hrs = 5 pm (Tjioe + Hee - Pls take note)
Ahmad Ibrahim SS (in Yishun where Kenny made his debut)
Wear RED jerseys
Pls reply via e-mail to Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
01 Nov 2009 (Sun)
1700 hrs = 5 pm (Tjioe + Hee - Pls take note)
Ahmad Ibrahim SS (in Yishun where Kenny made his debut)
Wear RED jerseys
Pls reply via e-mail to Sebastian of your availability.
Thanks a lot.
ARFC top-10 scorers
Haron - 151 goals;
Alvin - 106 goals;
Blackburn - 82 goals;
Sebastian - 71 goals;
Robin + Hee - 69 goals;
Tjioe - 51 goals;
Jeffrey - 49 goals;
Khim - 43 goals;
Toh - 34 goals
Alvin - 106 goals;
Blackburn - 82 goals;
Sebastian - 71 goals;
Robin + Hee - 69 goals;
Tjioe - 51 goals;
Jeffrey - 49 goals;
Khim - 43 goals;
Toh - 34 goals
ARFC snapped 4-match losing streak with thumping victory
On the back of a superb performance from both Tong and Guoxiong as well as a hat-trick by Alvin, ARFC snapped its 4-match losing streak by hammering Eng Lai’s team 6-1 at 1st Toa Payoh SS in front of 77,777 fans.
Witnessing the emphatic victory were Rayes (precocious son of Derrick) and Caren, 3-month pregnant babelicious wife of Sebastian who finally lent her support after god-knows-when ago.
Prior to the match, Blackburn gave out the Centurion Goal Award to Alvin and the 70-goal Award to Sebastian. Tjioe and Hee were also told that should they score one goal in this match, they would be eligible for 50-goal and 70-goal Award respectively. New recruits Kenny and Darren were also given ARFC DVD as a “welcome present”.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Talisman Derrick
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong (Captain)
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Left-mid: Dynamic Soon
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Kenny
Towering Toh (late)
Darren (late)
ARFC was determined to end its 4-match losing streak and came out charging like Spanish bulls. The match was just mins old when Guoxiong chipped in a long ball from his right-back position to put Alvin through on goal. Despite having only the keeper to beat, Alvin hesitated and their keeper made a great save. Unlucky!
7 mins later, Alvin missed yet another golden chance when Sebastian’s diagonal ball found him through on goal again. With their keeper charging out, Alvin did not use his left foot to lift the ball over him and the chance was lost.
ARFC continued to carve out and missed a couple of chances.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 17th min. Soon made a great run from the left and was clumsily upended by their defender giving the lousy referee an easy chance to point to the spot. Tjioe was cajoled to take the penalty and he duly obliged by scoring, though his spot-kick down the middle was nearly saved by their impressive keeper. 1-0 and its was Tjioe’s 50th goal for ARFC.
ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins later. Another foul on Tong, who had a great match, led to a free-kick on the right. Sebastian stepped up and his chip was chested down expertly by the in-coming Tjioe, ala Paul Scholes. With a swivel, Tjioe volleyed home, ala Paul Scholes, for his 51st ARFC goal to spark off wild celebrations. With such a swivel, it was a surprise that Tjioe did not sprain his back and it was later revealed that his 7 sessions with PDMMs had reaped dividends as his back is now stronger than his NS days!
Darren, Kenny and Toh then came on to replace Blackburn, Soon and Edwin respectively.
Darren’s first contribution led to ARFC’s 3rd goal. Off a quick throw-in by Darren, Alvin powered clear and easily beat their keeper for his 104th ARF goal. World-class finish. 3-0 now.
Just mins from the first half, Alvin got his 2nd goal in the match courtesy of a good piece of work by Hee. Hee used his world-renowned speed to sprint down the left flank and delivered a precise low cross, ala Ryan Giggs, to the free Alvin in the box. Keeping his composure, Alvin unleashed a stiff grounder that had their keeper beaten all the way. 4-0
The imperious Tong had to leave at half-time due to personal commitment. But by then, he had done enough to earn a joint Man-of-the-Match Award with Guoxiong as both of them totally dominated the right-hand side of the play.
Soon came back on to replace Tong with Edwin taking over from Ron. Tjioe volunteered to be keeper and Derrick played on the right with Soon partnering Sebastian in the middle.
ARFC turned complacent and conceded a goal. 4-1.
Waking up, ARFC scored its 5th goal in the 57th min. Toh and Blackburn exchanged a series of one-twos that had Toh powering through on the right which was a rare occurrence. Looking up, Toh saw Blackburn free on the left and his cross was duly thumped home by Blackburn for his 82nd ARFC goal.
Hee then asked to be replaced by Alvin and Alvin duly got his hat-trick after Derrick tricked his way down the right flank and squared to Alvin who gleefully shot home for his 12th ARFC hat-trick!! 6-1
Blackburn then struck the post and Derrick also had a header cannoned off the cross-bar.
With this emphatic victory, ARFC is gearing up nicely for their 1st League match this coming Sunday.
As mentioned earlier, Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Tong and Guoxiong.
Speaking to the dethroned Miss Singapore Ris Low, who interviewed Tjioe with the group of FHM girls washing cars at the background, Tjioe was over the moon at chalking up 50 goals for ARFC. “I am absolutely delighted to join the elite band of scorers, Haron, Alvin, Blackburn, Sebastian, Robin and Hee, in achieving this feat. Now that I have hit 50 goals, I intend to reach for the 70-goal mark and for that to happen, I have to undergo more intensive sessions with the PDMMs. Then I will be BOOMZ.”
Immediately after the interview, Tjioe was spotted chatting up the 7 FHM girls……
Witnessing the emphatic victory were Rayes (precocious son of Derrick) and Caren, 3-month pregnant babelicious wife of Sebastian who finally lent her support after god-knows-when ago.
Prior to the match, Blackburn gave out the Centurion Goal Award to Alvin and the 70-goal Award to Sebastian. Tjioe and Hee were also told that should they score one goal in this match, they would be eligible for 50-goal and 70-goal Award respectively. New recruits Kenny and Darren were also given ARFC DVD as a “welcome present”.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Talisman Derrick
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong (Captain)
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Left-mid: Dynamic Soon
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Kenny
Towering Toh (late)
Darren (late)
ARFC was determined to end its 4-match losing streak and came out charging like Spanish bulls. The match was just mins old when Guoxiong chipped in a long ball from his right-back position to put Alvin through on goal. Despite having only the keeper to beat, Alvin hesitated and their keeper made a great save. Unlucky!
7 mins later, Alvin missed yet another golden chance when Sebastian’s diagonal ball found him through on goal again. With their keeper charging out, Alvin did not use his left foot to lift the ball over him and the chance was lost.
ARFC continued to carve out and missed a couple of chances.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 17th min. Soon made a great run from the left and was clumsily upended by their defender giving the lousy referee an easy chance to point to the spot. Tjioe was cajoled to take the penalty and he duly obliged by scoring, though his spot-kick down the middle was nearly saved by their impressive keeper. 1-0 and its was Tjioe’s 50th goal for ARFC.
ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins later. Another foul on Tong, who had a great match, led to a free-kick on the right. Sebastian stepped up and his chip was chested down expertly by the in-coming Tjioe, ala Paul Scholes. With a swivel, Tjioe volleyed home, ala Paul Scholes, for his 51st ARFC goal to spark off wild celebrations. With such a swivel, it was a surprise that Tjioe did not sprain his back and it was later revealed that his 7 sessions with PDMMs had reaped dividends as his back is now stronger than his NS days!
Darren, Kenny and Toh then came on to replace Blackburn, Soon and Edwin respectively.
Darren’s first contribution led to ARFC’s 3rd goal. Off a quick throw-in by Darren, Alvin powered clear and easily beat their keeper for his 104th ARF goal. World-class finish. 3-0 now.
Just mins from the first half, Alvin got his 2nd goal in the match courtesy of a good piece of work by Hee. Hee used his world-renowned speed to sprint down the left flank and delivered a precise low cross, ala Ryan Giggs, to the free Alvin in the box. Keeping his composure, Alvin unleashed a stiff grounder that had their keeper beaten all the way. 4-0
The imperious Tong had to leave at half-time due to personal commitment. But by then, he had done enough to earn a joint Man-of-the-Match Award with Guoxiong as both of them totally dominated the right-hand side of the play.
Soon came back on to replace Tong with Edwin taking over from Ron. Tjioe volunteered to be keeper and Derrick played on the right with Soon partnering Sebastian in the middle.
ARFC turned complacent and conceded a goal. 4-1.
Waking up, ARFC scored its 5th goal in the 57th min. Toh and Blackburn exchanged a series of one-twos that had Toh powering through on the right which was a rare occurrence. Looking up, Toh saw Blackburn free on the left and his cross was duly thumped home by Blackburn for his 82nd ARFC goal.
Hee then asked to be replaced by Alvin and Alvin duly got his hat-trick after Derrick tricked his way down the right flank and squared to Alvin who gleefully shot home for his 12th ARFC hat-trick!! 6-1
Blackburn then struck the post and Derrick also had a header cannoned off the cross-bar.
With this emphatic victory, ARFC is gearing up nicely for their 1st League match this coming Sunday.
As mentioned earlier, Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Tong and Guoxiong.
Speaking to the dethroned Miss Singapore Ris Low, who interviewed Tjioe with the group of FHM girls washing cars at the background, Tjioe was over the moon at chalking up 50 goals for ARFC. “I am absolutely delighted to join the elite band of scorers, Haron, Alvin, Blackburn, Sebastian, Robin and Hee, in achieving this feat. Now that I have hit 50 goals, I intend to reach for the 70-goal mark and for that to happen, I have to undergo more intensive sessions with the PDMMs. Then I will be BOOMZ.”
Immediately after the interview, Tjioe was spotted chatting up the 7 FHM girls……
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Giving out awards this Sunday
Dear ARFC warriors:
We will be handing out some awards before this Sunday's match as follows:
100 goals - Haron
100 goals - Alvin
70 goals - Sebastian
In addition, if Tjioe and Hee managed to score a goal each this Sunday, they would be receiving one as well as follows:
70 goals - Hee
50 goals - Tjioe
Hence, the 5 warriors mentioned are requested to be present. Pls do bring along your love ones too.
See ya......
We will be handing out some awards before this Sunday's match as follows:
100 goals - Haron
100 goals - Alvin
70 goals - Sebastian
In addition, if Tjioe and Hee managed to score a goal each this Sunday, they would be receiving one as well as follows:
70 goals - Hee
50 goals - Tjioe
Hence, the 5 warriors mentioned are requested to be present. Pls do bring along your love ones too.
See ya......
Monday, October 19, 2009
Match details this Sunday (25 Oct)
friendly match details:
25 Oct 09 (Sun)
1700 hrs = 5 pm (Tjioe & Hee - Pls take note.... don't come at 3 pm for warm-up first ;p)
1st Toa Payoh SS (artificial pitch)
wear RED jerseys
Pls e-mail to me your availability. Thanks a lot.
25 Oct 09 (Sun)
1700 hrs = 5 pm (Tjioe & Hee - Pls take note.... don't come at 3 pm for warm-up first ;p)
1st Toa Payoh SS (artificial pitch)
wear RED jerseys
Pls e-mail to me your availability. Thanks a lot.
ARFC's worst record
I have checked ARFC's archives and found out that our 4th consecutive losses this year is NOT the worst in ARFC's illustrious history.
In 2002, ARFC actually suffered 5 successive defeats as follows:
14 Jul 2002 - 1-4;
21 Jul 2002 - 1-3;
25 Aug 2002 - 0-1;
01 Sep 2002 - 0-2;
28 Sep 2002 - 3-5
So, all hope is not lost and we have this Sunday (25 Oct) to prevent the matching of this unwanted losing streak....
In 2002, ARFC actually suffered 5 successive defeats as follows:
14 Jul 2002 - 1-4;
21 Jul 2002 - 1-3;
25 Aug 2002 - 0-1;
01 Sep 2002 - 0-2;
28 Sep 2002 - 3-5
So, all hope is not lost and we have this Sunday (25 Oct) to prevent the matching of this unwanted losing streak....
ARFC suffered last-min heart-break
In a friendly match at Ahmad Ibrahim SS, ARFC conceded a last-min goal and suffered an agonizing 1-2 defeat against yet another youthful opponent that were full of running. Witnessing the heart-wrenching loss were Anna (Elvis’ babelicious wife), Cerine (Jinzhong’s future wife??), Su & Afiqah (Haron’s beautiful family), Reyes (Derrick's cute son - unlike the father) and the lovely wife & hyperactive kids of Darren.
ARFC received 3 huge doses of boost when Haron turned up despite announcing earlier that there was only a 77% chance of making it; Guoxiong also recovered from his serious ankle injury to take the field and Hock finally turned up after his recent marriage.
However, their presence were neutralized by the last-min absence of Tong (hangover from too much drinking for Deepavali), Toh (fatherly duty) and David who was still out with his serious ankle injury that luckily was not found to be torn.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe (Captain)
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
Subs:
Dynamic Soon
Hard-running Guoxiong
Mean-machine Hock
Andrew
Kenny (potential new player)
As for the opponents were late, ARFC started its own 8-a-side which provided ample warm-up for the aging warriors. This happened for probably the first time in ARFC’s illustrious history.
In the opening minutes, the very youthful opponents came charging and running at ARFC which is not surprising considering their age. Expectedly, ARFC could not cope with it but gradually exerted its influence into the match.
ARFC nearly opened the scoring when Alvin did some fantastic work down the left flank and squared the ball across goal. Derrick dashed in but missed and the ball rolled towards Haron. Haron made space for a shot but it went just slightly over the bar. Afiqah was displeased and showed her face.
ARFC continued to create chances but could not take them.
In probably their first attack, the opponents scored! 0-1.
In the 25th min, Hock replaced captain Tjioe who requested the change. At the same time, Soon also came in for Hee and 3 mins later, Guoxiong tok over from Blackburn.
Half-time came and gone. Andrew and Kenny took over from Alvin and Derrick respectively, with Kenny at left-flank and Soon back to centre-mid and Hock switched over to right flank.
ARFC continued to threaten but still could not get the equalizer.
In the 57th min, ARFC finally equalized. The impressive Kenny won a corner at the left which was taken by Sebastian. Sebastian floated the ball in to the head of Andrew, who also had a much-improved outing, and he headed the ball back into the 6-yard area and their keeper parried the ball out. Haron reacted quickest and forced the ball over the line for his 151st ARFC goal. This time round, Afiqah was totally pleased and smiled very widely. 1-1 now.
Andrew nearly repeated his act 7 mins later but his header off another Sebastian’s corner flew narrowly over.
Jinzhong then came into the rescue when he made a world-class one-on-one save with his leg that saw Cerine jumping up and down outside for about 7 mins.
By now, ARFC was in a rampant mood and totally dominated the match with Derrick, Alvin and Andrew coming close. Andrew had a goal chalked off when he pushed their defender away before thumping home.
With virtually the last kick of the match, the opponent took a shot from 37.77 metres out that caught every warrior by surprise when the ball ended up in the net.
With this shot, ARFC suffered its 4th consecutive defeat and things looked ominously with the new season kicking off in 2 weeks’ time.
On the positive note, the attendance was great as it has been quite a while since ARFC had 16 warriors for a match. The more encouraging feat is that every warrior played well, except maybe Blackburn, and hence the defeat was even harder to swallow. Also, Andrew is gradually finding his feet and it was his header that led to Haron’s goal. Darren, as usual, had a solid game at left-back and was totally unbeatable. Derrick also showed glimpses of his right-wing play with several penetrative runs down the right flank. Ron showed that he is more than a capable replacement for Toh with yet another combative display at stopper while Elvis was totally commanding as sweeper. With Hock making more appearances, ARFC would be much strengthened and you must remember our best player, Khim, is still out due to fatherly duty. If Kenny is willing to join ARFC on a permanent basis, then every position would have competition which can surely be good for ARFC and its fans.
ARFC received 3 huge doses of boost when Haron turned up despite announcing earlier that there was only a 77% chance of making it; Guoxiong also recovered from his serious ankle injury to take the field and Hock finally turned up after his recent marriage.
However, their presence were neutralized by the last-min absence of Tong (hangover from too much drinking for Deepavali), Toh (fatherly duty) and David who was still out with his serious ankle injury that luckily was not found to be torn.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe (Captain)
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
Subs:
Dynamic Soon
Hard-running Guoxiong
Mean-machine Hock
Andrew
Kenny (potential new player)
As for the opponents were late, ARFC started its own 8-a-side which provided ample warm-up for the aging warriors. This happened for probably the first time in ARFC’s illustrious history.
In the opening minutes, the very youthful opponents came charging and running at ARFC which is not surprising considering their age. Expectedly, ARFC could not cope with it but gradually exerted its influence into the match.
ARFC nearly opened the scoring when Alvin did some fantastic work down the left flank and squared the ball across goal. Derrick dashed in but missed and the ball rolled towards Haron. Haron made space for a shot but it went just slightly over the bar. Afiqah was displeased and showed her face.
ARFC continued to create chances but could not take them.
In probably their first attack, the opponents scored! 0-1.
In the 25th min, Hock replaced captain Tjioe who requested the change. At the same time, Soon also came in for Hee and 3 mins later, Guoxiong tok over from Blackburn.
Half-time came and gone. Andrew and Kenny took over from Alvin and Derrick respectively, with Kenny at left-flank and Soon back to centre-mid and Hock switched over to right flank.
ARFC continued to threaten but still could not get the equalizer.
In the 57th min, ARFC finally equalized. The impressive Kenny won a corner at the left which was taken by Sebastian. Sebastian floated the ball in to the head of Andrew, who also had a much-improved outing, and he headed the ball back into the 6-yard area and their keeper parried the ball out. Haron reacted quickest and forced the ball over the line for his 151st ARFC goal. This time round, Afiqah was totally pleased and smiled very widely. 1-1 now.
Andrew nearly repeated his act 7 mins later but his header off another Sebastian’s corner flew narrowly over.
Jinzhong then came into the rescue when he made a world-class one-on-one save with his leg that saw Cerine jumping up and down outside for about 7 mins.
By now, ARFC was in a rampant mood and totally dominated the match with Derrick, Alvin and Andrew coming close. Andrew had a goal chalked off when he pushed their defender away before thumping home.
With virtually the last kick of the match, the opponent took a shot from 37.77 metres out that caught every warrior by surprise when the ball ended up in the net.
With this shot, ARFC suffered its 4th consecutive defeat and things looked ominously with the new season kicking off in 2 weeks’ time.
On the positive note, the attendance was great as it has been quite a while since ARFC had 16 warriors for a match. The more encouraging feat is that every warrior played well, except maybe Blackburn, and hence the defeat was even harder to swallow. Also, Andrew is gradually finding his feet and it was his header that led to Haron’s goal. Darren, as usual, had a solid game at left-back and was totally unbeatable. Derrick also showed glimpses of his right-wing play with several penetrative runs down the right flank. Ron showed that he is more than a capable replacement for Toh with yet another combative display at stopper while Elvis was totally commanding as sweeper. With Hock making more appearances, ARFC would be much strengthened and you must remember our best player, Khim, is still out due to fatherly duty. If Kenny is willing to join ARFC on a permanent basis, then every position would have competition which can surely be good for ARFC and its fans.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Friendly match on 18 Oct 09 (Sun)
Friendly match details:
18 Oct 09 (Sunday)
1700 hrs = 5 pm ** Tjioe - Pls take note.... :) **
Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School at Yishun (we played there many times before)
Wear red jerseys
Pls indicate your availability via e-mail to Sebastian.
ARFC will be looking to Alvin to regain his goal-scoring prowess to snap ARFC's 3-match losing streak. Supporters are all welcome and they are urged to come early in view of the expected full-house at the pitch.
18 Oct 09 (Sunday)
1700 hrs = 5 pm ** Tjioe - Pls take note.... :) **
Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School at Yishun (we played there many times before)
Wear red jerseys
Pls indicate your availability via e-mail to Sebastian.
ARFC will be looking to Alvin to regain his goal-scoring prowess to snap ARFC's 3-match losing streak. Supporters are all welcome and they are urged to come early in view of the expected full-house at the pitch.
Welcoming Darren aka Guang Tian, to ARFC family
On behalf of ARFC, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Darren, aka Guang Tian, to the ARFC family.
Having played with him for many matches during my previous stint with Kampong Boys, I can safely say that he would be a very valuable asset to ARFC with his, stamina, determination and strong tackles. His attributes would make him a very good defender.
Having played with him for many matches during my previous stint with Kampong Boys, I can safely say that he would be a very valuable asset to ARFC with his, stamina, determination and strong tackles. His attributes would make him a very good defender.
David out for at least 7 weeks
In a serious dent to ARFC's title aspirations, David would be out for at least 7 weeks after suffering an ankle injury during the match on 11 oct 09.
Initially, it was thought to be just a slight bruise but after being examined by the same doctor who treated Marco Van Basten, it was diagnosed as a slight torn ligament.
David would start his treatment at the famed Blk 618 Yishun Chinese sin-seh. Unfortunately, the sin-seh is a male and not a female and so David would not be able to get "special massage" at sensitive areas.
Initially, it was thought to be just a slight bruise but after being examined by the same doctor who treated Marco Van Basten, it was diagnosed as a slight torn ligament.
David would start his treatment at the famed Blk 618 Yishun Chinese sin-seh. Unfortunately, the sin-seh is a male and not a female and so David would not be able to get "special massage" at sensitive areas.
Derrick's 20th ARFC goal
Derrick's goal in the 1-2 defeat on 11 Oct 09 was his 20th ARFC goal and first since his long lay-off due to his serious knee injury. His last ARFC goal was on 22 Jun 2008 at the United World College in a 4-4 draw with a Malay team.
Derrick is now level with Soon on 20 goals.
Derrick is now level with Soon on 20 goals.
Darren's debut in narrow loss
ARFC suffered its 3rd successive defeat in a friendly match at the much-smaller pitch at Yio Chu Kang SS when they went down 1-2 to the Singapore Sikh Association team. The supporters are Anna, Elvis’ beau, and Reyes, Derrick’s precocious son.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Reliable David (captain)
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Talisman Derrick
Hardworking Tong
Darren (new player)
David was made captain for probably the first time in his long illustrious ARFC career. He tried his best to fend off the captaincy but to no avail. The referee seemed to want to celebrate David’s captaincy by making both teams lining up at the centre circle for a pre-match briefing followed by shaking of hands of both sets of players. It was almost like a Champions League match except that the music and flag-boys were missing.
Due to the much smaller and bumpy pitch, ARFC could not get its game going and could not create good chances.
In the 20th min, ARFC made a triple-substitution with Derrick, Tong and Darren replacing Alvin, Tjioe and Blackburn respectively. Darren’s appearance led to loud applause since it was after all his debut game for ARFC.
Darren did not disappoint the home crowd and would go on to have a very more than decent outing for ARFC.
ARFC conceded a goal after a failed off-side trap. 0-1.
ARFC tried to respond but several of their shots were blocked by their determined defenders. 0-1 was the half-time score.
In the second half, Tong cam back on at right mid replacing Sebastian. Tjioe came in at centre-mid for Toh as Ron dropped to stopper position. Blackburn also replaced David who had a slight knock at his ankle.
ARFC put in a much-improved performance in second half and was desperately close to an equalizer. Alvin, Derrick and Tjioe were particularly impressive, however, the equalizer still did not arrive.
In the 65th min, Toh replaced Elvis at sweeper, David took over Hee as Blackburn moved to forward and Sebastian took the place of Soon at centre-mid. These substitutions were made to freshen up the attack to get an equalizer.
The move nearly paid dividends when a series of one-twos between Blackburn and Sebastian had Blackburn firing in a shot that was well-saved by their keeper for a corner.
By now, ARFC was committing warriors forward and at times only left 2 defenders behind. It was off such a counter-attack that ARFC fell further behind. 0-2.
Undeterred, ARFC did not give up and was finally rewarded with a goal. From a beautifully-flighted corner from Alvin, their keeper dropped the ball in the 6-yard area after strong pressure by both Toh and Tjioe. Derrick reacted quickest and hooked the ball in for his 20th ARFC goal. 1-2 now and ARFC was firing.
Despite some strong pressure by the warriors and support from the fans, ARFC could not conjure up with an equalizer and fell to its 3rd successive defeat.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Reliable David (captain)
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Talisman Derrick
Hardworking Tong
Darren (new player)
David was made captain for probably the first time in his long illustrious ARFC career. He tried his best to fend off the captaincy but to no avail. The referee seemed to want to celebrate David’s captaincy by making both teams lining up at the centre circle for a pre-match briefing followed by shaking of hands of both sets of players. It was almost like a Champions League match except that the music and flag-boys were missing.
Due to the much smaller and bumpy pitch, ARFC could not get its game going and could not create good chances.
In the 20th min, ARFC made a triple-substitution with Derrick, Tong and Darren replacing Alvin, Tjioe and Blackburn respectively. Darren’s appearance led to loud applause since it was after all his debut game for ARFC.
Darren did not disappoint the home crowd and would go on to have a very more than decent outing for ARFC.
ARFC conceded a goal after a failed off-side trap. 0-1.
ARFC tried to respond but several of their shots were blocked by their determined defenders. 0-1 was the half-time score.
In the second half, Tong cam back on at right mid replacing Sebastian. Tjioe came in at centre-mid for Toh as Ron dropped to stopper position. Blackburn also replaced David who had a slight knock at his ankle.
ARFC put in a much-improved performance in second half and was desperately close to an equalizer. Alvin, Derrick and Tjioe were particularly impressive, however, the equalizer still did not arrive.
In the 65th min, Toh replaced Elvis at sweeper, David took over Hee as Blackburn moved to forward and Sebastian took the place of Soon at centre-mid. These substitutions were made to freshen up the attack to get an equalizer.
The move nearly paid dividends when a series of one-twos between Blackburn and Sebastian had Blackburn firing in a shot that was well-saved by their keeper for a corner.
By now, ARFC was committing warriors forward and at times only left 2 defenders behind. It was off such a counter-attack that ARFC fell further behind. 0-2.
Undeterred, ARFC did not give up and was finally rewarded with a goal. From a beautifully-flighted corner from Alvin, their keeper dropped the ball in the 6-yard area after strong pressure by both Toh and Tjioe. Derrick reacted quickest and hooked the ball in for his 20th ARFC goal. 1-2 now and ARFC was firing.
Despite some strong pressure by the warriors and support from the fans, ARFC could not conjure up with an equalizer and fell to its 3rd successive defeat.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Friendly match on 11 Oct 09 (Sun)
Our friendly match details:
11 Oct 09 (Sunday)
5 pm = 1700 hrs
Yio Chu Kang Secondary School
Bring both colours
ARFC will be looking to redeem itself after suffering 2 humiliating defeats. Both defeats could be avoided if ARFC had more warriors playing. Hence, pls make yourself available.
11 Oct 09 (Sunday)
5 pm = 1700 hrs
Yio Chu Kang Secondary School
Bring both colours
ARFC will be looking to redeem itself after suffering 2 humiliating defeats. Both defeats could be avoided if ARFC had more warriors playing. Hence, pls make yourself available.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Welcoming Andrew to ARFC family
On behalf of ARFC, I would like to welcome Andrew who has agreed to join ARFC officially in a deal worth $7 million. Andrew would be paid weekly wages of $77,777.
In an interview with mioTV, Andrew spoke of his delight in joining the prestigious but aging ARFC team. "I'm absolutely delighted to join ARFC and I looked forward to contribute to the illustrious team. However, I would have to work on my fitness and awareness as I have been out of the game for quite a while. I am confident that I would be able to be a valuable asset to ARFC so as not to let Elvis, ARFC and its fans down."
Team Manager Sebastian enthused "Traditionally, ARFC does not have a gigantic forward as past scoring greats like Robin, Jong-jong and David, and present scoring legends like Haron, Alvin and Blackburn, are all not so big and tall at the same time. Hence ARFC would be getting someone who can offer the team a different variety and style whose kicking technique is very very good. However, Andrew would really need to work on his fitness and understanding with ARFC warriors. Nevertheless, I have full confident that he would be an useful forward for ARFC."
Andrew's debut goal in ARFC defeat
ARFC suffered its 2nd successive defeat in a friendly match at the lousy pitch at East Spring SS after going down 1-4 to its opponent. The sole supporter is Anna, Elvis’ beau.
Once again, ARFC was struck down by attendance issue after Hee and Jinzhong pulled out in the last min. The ever-present Blackburn was also missing and when I called him later in the evening to check, he claimed that he did not receive the match SMS. Replacement keeper, Weili, also pulled out due to an ankle injury sustained in his morning match. Hence, Derrick had to play as keeper. Thankfully, Ron turned up as with Toh who took a 2-hour leave from his fatherly duty to play.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Talisman Derrick
Right-back: Reliable David
Sweeper: Combative Ron
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Right-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Andrew
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
Sub:
Combative Ron
Things were even-stevens in the opening minutes but the opponent took the lead after their cross from the left sailed over Derrick. 0-1
ARFC could have equalized after Toh chested down a cross from Sebastian brilliantly but his volley just sailed 0.77 centimetres over. Unlucky.
The opponent doubled its lead after a defensive error. 0-2.
Just like Toh earlier, Haron also produced a brilliant volley that also sailed just 0.77 centimetres over.
In the 37th min, Haron thought he had equalized after latching on to Edwin’s world-class ball from his half. The referee initially missed Haron’s off-side position and after Haron sprinted clear for 37 metres before firing past their keeper, the referee then blew for off-side, sparking wild protests from ARFC. To the referee’s credit, he apologized for the late whistle as indeed Haron was coming back from an off-side position.
ARFC struggled in the 2nd half due to insufficient substitute and also the opponents had at least 5 subs.
ARFC then conceded 2 more goals to go 0-4 down.
Haron and Alvin then both missed some great chances after being put through on goal but their shots were well parried by their keeper.
ARFC finally pulled a goal back in the 67th min after Ron exchanged one-two with Tjioe on the right flank. Ron’s cross was superbly brought down by Andrew’s gigantic chest and he then swiveled to volley the ball home ala Steven Gerrard for his first-ever ARFC goal. World-class strike!!
Towards the end, most warriors were struggling to even walk, let alone run, but Soon and Elvis managed to contain them with some clever interceptions. Derrick also came up with some saves to bring the score down.
To be brutally honest, ARFC would not have lost if it has more substitutes.
Man-of-the-Match is given to Soon though Tjioe, Elvis and David did well too.
Once again, ARFC was struck down by attendance issue after Hee and Jinzhong pulled out in the last min. The ever-present Blackburn was also missing and when I called him later in the evening to check, he claimed that he did not receive the match SMS. Replacement keeper, Weili, also pulled out due to an ankle injury sustained in his morning match. Hence, Derrick had to play as keeper. Thankfully, Ron turned up as with Toh who took a 2-hour leave from his fatherly duty to play.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Talisman Derrick
Right-back: Reliable David
Sweeper: Combative Ron
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Right-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Andrew
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
Sub:
Combative Ron
Things were even-stevens in the opening minutes but the opponent took the lead after their cross from the left sailed over Derrick. 0-1
ARFC could have equalized after Toh chested down a cross from Sebastian brilliantly but his volley just sailed 0.77 centimetres over. Unlucky.
The opponent doubled its lead after a defensive error. 0-2.
Just like Toh earlier, Haron also produced a brilliant volley that also sailed just 0.77 centimetres over.
In the 37th min, Haron thought he had equalized after latching on to Edwin’s world-class ball from his half. The referee initially missed Haron’s off-side position and after Haron sprinted clear for 37 metres before firing past their keeper, the referee then blew for off-side, sparking wild protests from ARFC. To the referee’s credit, he apologized for the late whistle as indeed Haron was coming back from an off-side position.
ARFC struggled in the 2nd half due to insufficient substitute and also the opponents had at least 5 subs.
ARFC then conceded 2 more goals to go 0-4 down.
Haron and Alvin then both missed some great chances after being put through on goal but their shots were well parried by their keeper.
ARFC finally pulled a goal back in the 67th min after Ron exchanged one-two with Tjioe on the right flank. Ron’s cross was superbly brought down by Andrew’s gigantic chest and he then swiveled to volley the ball home ala Steven Gerrard for his first-ever ARFC goal. World-class strike!!
Towards the end, most warriors were struggling to even walk, let alone run, but Soon and Elvis managed to contain them with some clever interceptions. Derrick also came up with some saves to bring the score down.
To be brutally honest, ARFC would not have lost if it has more substitutes.
Man-of-the-Match is given to Soon though Tjioe, Elvis and David did well too.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friendly match - 04 Oct 09 @ 3pm @ East Spring SS
Friendly match details:
04 Oct 09 (Sunday)
3 pm (1500 hrs)
East Spring (NOT Ease-spring) Secondary School
Tampines Street 34
Parking - I also don't know where
Pls indicate your availability via e-mail to Sebastian
Thanks a lot and cheers!!
04 Oct 09 (Sunday)
3 pm (1500 hrs)
East Spring (NOT Ease-spring) Secondary School
Tampines Street 34
Parking - I also don't know where
Pls indicate your availability via e-mail to Sebastian
Thanks a lot and cheers!!
Monday, September 28, 2009
ARFC loses to itself
In a friendly match at the magnificent but extremely hot artificial pitch at 1st Toa Payoh SS, ARFC wilted and melted 1-3 against a very young opponent.
ARFC was supported by Anna (Elvis’ wife), Tracie (Guoxiong’s soon-to-be-wife), Jinzhong’s new girlfriend, Cerine, and Ron’s entire family.
Prior to the match, ARFC did not have enough players and hence 2 guest players, Raymond and Adrian Quek, were called up to lend their support. Furthermore, David pulled a thigh muscle during his PE lesson but he still turned up for the match as he had to honour his word by indicating his availability earlier in the week.
Credit should also be given to Guoxiong who wanted to play despite his heavily-injured ankle, and Haron who took a break from his Hari Raya + fatherly duty, after both of them responded to the “SOS e-mail” by Sebastian.
Hence, it was an uphill task for ARFC after taking into account the number of warriors and several injured warriors. First-team regulars like Alvin, Toh, Tjioe and Edwin were also missing. The task was made worse when the opponent turned out to be young and fit though not very good in their football.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong (captain)
Right-back: Reliable David
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
Sub:
Guest players Raymond and Adrian
It was clear from the start that Guoxiong could not sprint and kick the ball due to his injury. To his credit, he soldiered on for about 20 mins before finally bowing out and replaced by Adrian. Raymond also came on for Hee who was tiring.
The opponents took a 2-goal lead after defensive blunders. 0-2 at half-time.
In the 2nd half, Guoxiong came back on and in the 57th min, he whipped in a ferocious cross from the right and their defender clumsily handled the ball giving the referee an easy decision to point to the spot. Sebastian stepped up and leashed the ball very near to the keeper who got a hand to the ball but was unable to prevent the powerful shot from going in. 1-2 and it was Sebastian’s 71st ARFC goal.
Some spectacular saves from Jinzhong helped narrowed the score. Obviously, Jinzhong was inspired by the presence of his new-found girlfriend. These saves more than made up for his error in the 1st goal where he allowed the ball to squirm in at his near post.
The opponent scored their 3rd goal after a clear off-side was missed by the referee. 1-3.
Considering the circumstances – extremely hot weather, 2 injured warriors (David and Guoxiong), 2 unfit warriors (Derrick from long-term injury and Haron from Hari Raya break), not enough substitutes, that ARFC was facing, the score was a fairly good result. It was really heart-breaking to be humiliated by such a mediocre opponent. If ARFC was not missing so many players, we would surely have beaten this opponent.
Man-of-the-Match is jointly awarded to Jinzhong and Ron.
ARFC was supported by Anna (Elvis’ wife), Tracie (Guoxiong’s soon-to-be-wife), Jinzhong’s new girlfriend, Cerine, and Ron’s entire family.
Prior to the match, ARFC did not have enough players and hence 2 guest players, Raymond and Adrian Quek, were called up to lend their support. Furthermore, David pulled a thigh muscle during his PE lesson but he still turned up for the match as he had to honour his word by indicating his availability earlier in the week.
Credit should also be given to Guoxiong who wanted to play despite his heavily-injured ankle, and Haron who took a break from his Hari Raya + fatherly duty, after both of them responded to the “SOS e-mail” by Sebastian.
Hence, it was an uphill task for ARFC after taking into account the number of warriors and several injured warriors. First-team regulars like Alvin, Toh, Tjioe and Edwin were also missing. The task was made worse when the opponent turned out to be young and fit though not very good in their football.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong (captain)
Right-back: Reliable David
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: ARFC scoring legend Haron
Sub:
Guest players Raymond and Adrian
It was clear from the start that Guoxiong could not sprint and kick the ball due to his injury. To his credit, he soldiered on for about 20 mins before finally bowing out and replaced by Adrian. Raymond also came on for Hee who was tiring.
The opponents took a 2-goal lead after defensive blunders. 0-2 at half-time.
In the 2nd half, Guoxiong came back on and in the 57th min, he whipped in a ferocious cross from the right and their defender clumsily handled the ball giving the referee an easy decision to point to the spot. Sebastian stepped up and leashed the ball very near to the keeper who got a hand to the ball but was unable to prevent the powerful shot from going in. 1-2 and it was Sebastian’s 71st ARFC goal.
Some spectacular saves from Jinzhong helped narrowed the score. Obviously, Jinzhong was inspired by the presence of his new-found girlfriend. These saves more than made up for his error in the 1st goal where he allowed the ball to squirm in at his near post.
The opponent scored their 3rd goal after a clear off-side was missed by the referee. 1-3.
Considering the circumstances – extremely hot weather, 2 injured warriors (David and Guoxiong), 2 unfit warriors (Derrick from long-term injury and Haron from Hari Raya break), not enough substitutes, that ARFC was facing, the score was a fairly good result. It was really heart-breaking to be humiliated by such a mediocre opponent. If ARFC was not missing so many players, we would surely have beaten this opponent.
Man-of-the-Match is jointly awarded to Jinzhong and Ron.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friendly match this sunday (27 Sep 09) @ 1700 hrs @ Bowen SS
Friendly match details:
27 Sep 09
1700 hrs (Tjioe - pls note, its 5pm) haha...
Bowen Sec Sch - artificial pitch....
Pls respond to me via e-mail for your availability.
Thanks a lot
27 Sep 09
1700 hrs (Tjioe - pls note, its 5pm) haha...
Bowen Sec Sch - artificial pitch....
Pls respond to me via e-mail for your availability.
Thanks a lot
Sunday, September 20, 2009
ARFC seals 2nd position in league after win
In its penultimate league match, ARFC easily dismissed the challenge of 442 FC with a score of 4-2 at the artificial pitch at Orchid Park in front of Anna (Elvis’ wife) and Tong’s “boyfriend”.
The venue was packed to the brink after David made his long-awaited appearance in the league and Bernard responded to the SOS call by ARFC to also make his first appearance in the league. Edwin also turned down a ROM event to turn up for the match.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Elegant Edwin
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Combative Ron (captain)
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Reliable David
Left-foot wizard Bernard
ARFC needed a win to seal its runners-up position in the league. Hence, it came out firing on all cylinders with Tjioe nearly finding the net after just 3 mins. However, his powerful shot was parried to safety by their keeper. Unlucky!
Tjioe continued his rich goal-scoring form and was not to be denied 5 mins later. Hee chipped in a superb long diagonal ball to Tjioe who shrugged aside their defender’s challenge, rounded their keeper and whipped home his 49th ARFC goal. One more goal and he would be rewarded with a trophy. 1-0
ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins later. Latching on a poor back-pass after some incessant pressure by Hee and Blackburn, Alvin sped clear and used his outside right foot to thunder the ball past their keeper. The ball hit the cross-bar, bounced downwards but it was very obvious to the whole world that the ball had crossed the line which was spotted by the eagle-eyed referee. 2-0 and it was Alvin’s 103rd ARFC goal.
By now, ARFC had complete grip on the match and the opponents had to resort to some “Uruguay-like” fouls on ARFC warriors to try and stop their flowing football. Nevertheless, ARFC kept cool and was duly rewarded with its 3rd goal in the match.
This time, it was Blackburn’s precise pass which pierced through their defence. Hee show his world-class speed to, well, speed clear and beat their keeper with an expert finish for his 69th ARFC goal, making him level with Robin. 3-0
The half ended 3-0 in ARFC’s favour.
The only setback was Guoxiong’s serious-looking ankle injury which was an old injury. I just checked with Guoxiong and he would be out for at least 7 weeks from football and was also advised to only lie down and enjoyed the sex but no karma-sutra patterns allowed.
When play resumed, ARFC turned very complacent and a shot by the opponent struck the cross-bar. However, ARFC still did not wake up from its slumber and duly conceded 2 goals. 3-2 now.
ARFC settled all doubts in the match in the 67th min. Bernard’s superb ball from the left found Alvin in the box. Chesting the ball down expertly, Alvin laid the ball and in came the on-rushing Blackburn to thump home his 81st ARFC goal. 4-2
By now, the opponent’s left-back went hay-wire and played like one IMH patient by resorting to very rough tackles and some stupid talking. You can only see this kind of antics in the zoo where the monkeys are. Such a player really don’t deserve to play football. He was rightfully sent off near the end after trying to break Tjioe’s legs.
Man-of-the-Match is undoubtedly Tjioe though it can be said that Tong did really well and it was a long time since we see such performance from Tong. Alvin also did very well.
All in all, it was a very good team performance and ARFC was in full control of the match and a win was really totally expected.
The venue was packed to the brink after David made his long-awaited appearance in the league and Bernard responded to the SOS call by ARFC to also make his first appearance in the league. Edwin also turned down a ROM event to turn up for the match.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Elegant Edwin
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Centre-mid: Combative Ron (captain)
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Reliable David
Left-foot wizard Bernard
ARFC needed a win to seal its runners-up position in the league. Hence, it came out firing on all cylinders with Tjioe nearly finding the net after just 3 mins. However, his powerful shot was parried to safety by their keeper. Unlucky!
Tjioe continued his rich goal-scoring form and was not to be denied 5 mins later. Hee chipped in a superb long diagonal ball to Tjioe who shrugged aside their defender’s challenge, rounded their keeper and whipped home his 49th ARFC goal. One more goal and he would be rewarded with a trophy. 1-0
ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins later. Latching on a poor back-pass after some incessant pressure by Hee and Blackburn, Alvin sped clear and used his outside right foot to thunder the ball past their keeper. The ball hit the cross-bar, bounced downwards but it was very obvious to the whole world that the ball had crossed the line which was spotted by the eagle-eyed referee. 2-0 and it was Alvin’s 103rd ARFC goal.
By now, ARFC had complete grip on the match and the opponents had to resort to some “Uruguay-like” fouls on ARFC warriors to try and stop their flowing football. Nevertheless, ARFC kept cool and was duly rewarded with its 3rd goal in the match.
This time, it was Blackburn’s precise pass which pierced through their defence. Hee show his world-class speed to, well, speed clear and beat their keeper with an expert finish for his 69th ARFC goal, making him level with Robin. 3-0
The half ended 3-0 in ARFC’s favour.
The only setback was Guoxiong’s serious-looking ankle injury which was an old injury. I just checked with Guoxiong and he would be out for at least 7 weeks from football and was also advised to only lie down and enjoyed the sex but no karma-sutra patterns allowed.
When play resumed, ARFC turned very complacent and a shot by the opponent struck the cross-bar. However, ARFC still did not wake up from its slumber and duly conceded 2 goals. 3-2 now.
ARFC settled all doubts in the match in the 67th min. Bernard’s superb ball from the left found Alvin in the box. Chesting the ball down expertly, Alvin laid the ball and in came the on-rushing Blackburn to thump home his 81st ARFC goal. 4-2
By now, the opponent’s left-back went hay-wire and played like one IMH patient by resorting to very rough tackles and some stupid talking. You can only see this kind of antics in the zoo where the monkeys are. Such a player really don’t deserve to play football. He was rightfully sent off near the end after trying to break Tjioe’s legs.
Man-of-the-Match is undoubtedly Tjioe though it can be said that Tong did really well and it was a long time since we see such performance from Tong. Alvin also did very well.
All in all, it was a very good team performance and ARFC was in full control of the match and a win was really totally expected.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfiltri....
On behalf of ARFC, I would like to wish ARFC Scoring Legend Haron, his lovely wife Suhana, even lovelier-daughter Afiqah, and all our Muslim brothers and sisters a:
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri......
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri......
Friday, September 18, 2009
Potential PM of Singapore + Fantastic Four.....
Jerald Toh - potential Prime Minister of Singapore......
Towering Toh with wife Linda, elder son Gerrard and latest addition, Jerald.....Towering Toh becomes 2nd-time father
Dear ARFC warriors,
On behalf of Towering Toh, I'm pleased to announce the arrival of his 2nd child, Jerald Toh Yew Ern (no, no - not Torres), on 16 Sep 09 @ 0843 hrs with a weight of 2.67 kg.
As Jerald is sharing the birthday of our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, we are expecting 2 things:
(i) Temasek Holdings may be sponsoring 77 jersey sets, $777,777 club funds and 77 "Men In White" autographed books to ARFC;
(ii) Jerald could well be the next Prime Minister of Singapore!!!!
We are still waiting the pix of Jerald as the previous photo is too large.
On behalf of ARFC, congratulations......
On behalf of Towering Toh, I'm pleased to announce the arrival of his 2nd child, Jerald Toh Yew Ern (no, no - not Torres), on 16 Sep 09 @ 0843 hrs with a weight of 2.67 kg.
As Jerald is sharing the birthday of our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, we are expecting 2 things:
(i) Temasek Holdings may be sponsoring 77 jersey sets, $777,777 club funds and 77 "Men In White" autographed books to ARFC;
(ii) Jerald could well be the next Prime Minister of Singapore!!!!
We are still waiting the pix of Jerald as the previous photo is too large.
On behalf of ARFC, congratulations......
Monday, September 14, 2009
Penultimate League Match - 20 Sep @ 3 pm @ Orchid Park Sec
Dear ARFC warriors:
Pls note that our league match this sunday is @ Orchid Park Sec @ Yishun Street 81 junction Yishun Avenue 4. Kick-off time is @ 3 pm.
It is an artificial pitch though the size is very small. BUt I guessed the size would be just nice for our aging ARFC warriors..... ;p
Pls reply to my e-mail on your availability.
Thanks a lot and see you.
Pls note that our league match this sunday is @ Orchid Park Sec @ Yishun Street 81 junction Yishun Avenue 4. Kick-off time is @ 3 pm.
It is an artificial pitch though the size is very small. BUt I guessed the size would be just nice for our aging ARFC warriors..... ;p
Pls reply to my e-mail on your availability.
Thanks a lot and see you.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Match notice via e-mail
Dear ARFC warriors:
With immediate effect, SMS would not be sent to all ARFC warriors of the match notice. Instead, it would be sent via e-mail and ARFC warriors only need to reply individually to Sebastian of their availability.
The only exception is Blackburn whom I will still SMS him since he does not check internet and e-mail.
The reasons for this change are:
(i) I will be terminating mobile number 9769 4930 this week;
(ii) At times, I feel quite "stupid" to constantly SMS and re-SMS some warriors when they could not even bothered to reply to the first SMS;
(iii) Easier for me to monitor via e-mail since I have access to my e-mail everyday now.
Of course, if there are last-min withdrawals especially after Friday, ARFC warrior can still SMS me of their unavailability.
Thanks a lot for your understanding.
Sebastian
ARFC
With immediate effect, SMS would not be sent to all ARFC warriors of the match notice. Instead, it would be sent via e-mail and ARFC warriors only need to reply individually to Sebastian of their availability.
The only exception is Blackburn whom I will still SMS him since he does not check internet and e-mail.
The reasons for this change are:
(i) I will be terminating mobile number 9769 4930 this week;
(ii) At times, I feel quite "stupid" to constantly SMS and re-SMS some warriors when they could not even bothered to reply to the first SMS;
(iii) Easier for me to monitor via e-mail since I have access to my e-mail everyday now.
Of course, if there are last-min withdrawals especially after Friday, ARFC warrior can still SMS me of their unavailability.
Thanks a lot for your understanding.
Sebastian
ARFC
Tjioe nets winner ala Paul Scholes
Playing its 12th league match at the magnificent artificial pitch at Bowen SS, ARFC easily brushed aside the challenge of No Name 3-2 in front of the usual 77,777 fans which include Anna (Elvis’ wife), Reyes (Derrick’s very lovely son) and 2 lady supporters who were there to support Jinzhong.
ARFC welcomed back its precocious right-winger Talisman Derrick after his lengthy absence due to his career-threatening right-knee injury. Thankfully and due to his 777 therapy sessions with some very “effective” pei du ma ma, Derrick looked set to put his injury aside and revived his ARFC career. For this match, however, Derrick has to be contented with a place in the subs bench.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn (Captain)
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Dynamic Soon
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Combative Ron
Hardworking Tong
Talisman Derrick
ARFC started confidently and subjected the opponents to immense pressure though it produced no goal. Looking at the match proceeding, it was a matter of time before ARFC opened the scoring.
The opening goal duly arrived in the 17th min. Edwin’s exquisite chip from inside his own half looked to be cleared by their defender but under pressure from Blackburn, he fumbled. Blackburn needed no second invitation and he expertly lobbed over their keeper for his 80th ARFC goal. 1-0
Midway through the 2nd half, the ineffective strike duo of Alvin and Hee were replaced by Ron and Tong, with Blackburn moving up to lone forward. Tong came in at right mid and Ron formed a midfield threesome with both Tjioe and Sebastian.
Tong played some beautiful one-twos as he looked to regain his confidence while Ron was his usual fiery self.
10 mins before the break, Derrick replaced Soon to rapturous applause. Bouyed by the cheers, Derrick caused their defence some problems with his probing runs.
The first half ended 1-0.
Alvin and Hee came back on in the 2nd half.
Just mins into the half, ARFC doubled its lead. Alvin’s corner looked to be headed to Toh but he misconnect under pressure and the ball fell right in front of the goal. In the ensuing melee, Edwin popped up to sweep in his 7th ARFC goal. Wonderful anticipation. 2-0
At this juncture, ARFC turned complacent and squandered so many chances with Sebastian the chief culprit.
In a crazy spell of 10 mins, the opponents pulled 2 goals back to level 2-2.
ARFC did not panic as it knew that the 3rd goal would come in no time. True enough, it arrived in the 67th min. Blackburn played a beautiful ball to Alvin who held off their challenge and used his super-huge chest to, well, chest the ball down. In came Tjioe, who without breaking his stride, volleyed home that had their keeper beaten all the way. It was a pure world-class build-up and goal and Tjioe’s strike reminded everyone of a certain Paul Scholes. 3-2.
Tjioe is now on 48 goals and 2 shy of receiving a trophy for 50 goals.
ARFC continued to press for a 4th goal but more misses from Sebastian and Hee did not contribute to the cause.
Man-of-the-Match is undoubtedly Edwin who made amends for his penalty shoot-out miss with a superb display as sweeper. Besides creating the 1st goal, he also popped up with ARFC’s 2nd goal. Fantastic!!
ARFC welcomed back its precocious right-winger Talisman Derrick after his lengthy absence due to his career-threatening right-knee injury. Thankfully and due to his 777 therapy sessions with some very “effective” pei du ma ma, Derrick looked set to put his injury aside and revived his ARFC career. For this match, however, Derrick has to be contented with a place in the subs bench.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn (Captain)
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Dynamic Soon
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Combative Ron
Hardworking Tong
Talisman Derrick
ARFC started confidently and subjected the opponents to immense pressure though it produced no goal. Looking at the match proceeding, it was a matter of time before ARFC opened the scoring.
The opening goal duly arrived in the 17th min. Edwin’s exquisite chip from inside his own half looked to be cleared by their defender but under pressure from Blackburn, he fumbled. Blackburn needed no second invitation and he expertly lobbed over their keeper for his 80th ARFC goal. 1-0
Midway through the 2nd half, the ineffective strike duo of Alvin and Hee were replaced by Ron and Tong, with Blackburn moving up to lone forward. Tong came in at right mid and Ron formed a midfield threesome with both Tjioe and Sebastian.
Tong played some beautiful one-twos as he looked to regain his confidence while Ron was his usual fiery self.
10 mins before the break, Derrick replaced Soon to rapturous applause. Bouyed by the cheers, Derrick caused their defence some problems with his probing runs.
The first half ended 1-0.
Alvin and Hee came back on in the 2nd half.
Just mins into the half, ARFC doubled its lead. Alvin’s corner looked to be headed to Toh but he misconnect under pressure and the ball fell right in front of the goal. In the ensuing melee, Edwin popped up to sweep in his 7th ARFC goal. Wonderful anticipation. 2-0
At this juncture, ARFC turned complacent and squandered so many chances with Sebastian the chief culprit.
In a crazy spell of 10 mins, the opponents pulled 2 goals back to level 2-2.
ARFC did not panic as it knew that the 3rd goal would come in no time. True enough, it arrived in the 67th min. Blackburn played a beautiful ball to Alvin who held off their challenge and used his super-huge chest to, well, chest the ball down. In came Tjioe, who without breaking his stride, volleyed home that had their keeper beaten all the way. It was a pure world-class build-up and goal and Tjioe’s strike reminded everyone of a certain Paul Scholes. 3-2.
Tjioe is now on 48 goals and 2 shy of receiving a trophy for 50 goals.
ARFC continued to press for a 4th goal but more misses from Sebastian and Hee did not contribute to the cause.
Man-of-the-Match is undoubtedly Edwin who made amends for his penalty shoot-out miss with a superb display as sweeper. Besides creating the 1st goal, he also popped up with ARFC’s 2nd goal. Fantastic!!
Monday, September 07, 2009
4th goalless draw in ARFC's history
Yesterday 0-0 draw with Samalongkok was only the 4th time in ARFC history that it had happened. The previous 3 occasions were on 28 Jan 2001, 27 May 2007 and 31 May 2009.
Gallant ARFC in heart-breaking shoot-out defeat
In the D2D quarter-final match, ARFC suffered a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out defeat to a very-fit and young Samalongkok at Temasek SS in front of its usual fans including Anna (Elvis’ wife).
ARFC received a huge blow when combative Ron had to pull out due to his tooth-extraction in the morning. Fortunately, ARFC scoring legend Haron made it to the match despite fasting which was a great sacrifice on his part.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Towering Toh (captain)
Left-back: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Dynamic Soon
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Sub:
ARFC scoring legend Haron
The aging ARFC warriors are expecting a very fit and fast team and true enough, Samalongkok came charging at us right from the kick-off. However, the very experienced ARFC held firm and managed to repel all attacks.
In the 17th min, ARFC could have opened the scoring after a relentless pressure resulted in their defender making a bad back-pass. Alvin latched on to the ball and sped right into the penalty box. However, with only their keeper to beat, Alvin placed the ball against the post and rebounded out to safety. Unforgivable miss!!
In the 20th min, Hee was replaced by Haron after receiving a knock at his elbow.
By the 35th min mark, ARFC warriors were tiring but still managed to hold the opponents at bay. In fact, on the stroke of half-time, ARFC could have taken the lead when Alvin again powered past their right-back and faced their keeper one-on-one. To the astonishment of every ARFC warrior, Alvin tried to square to Haron but the ball was played too far away and there goes another golden opportunity. Half-time 0-0
Needless to say, being at least 10 years older than Samalongkok, ARFC was merely hanging on in the 2nd half. Some very stout and clever defending from Guoxiong and Elvis managed to keep them out. Jinzhong also came up with a couple of stops and Edwin and Toh were commanding in the heart of defence and was able to deal comfortably with their Stoke-like throw-ins.
ARFC nearly conceded a goal in the 77th min. In the goal-mouth melee, the ball rolled along the goal-line but was eventually cleared away. In any case, the referee blew for a foul as Jinzhong’s left-hand was injured by the opponent.
The referee blew for full-time and the penalty shoot-out begins (only 3 kicks instead of the usual 5).
ARFC lost the toss and Samalongkok would take the first kick.
Samalongkok scores: 1-0.
Haron then leveled the score by sending their keeper the wrong way. 1-1.
Samalongkok scores again: 2-1.
Alvin then stepped up to easily beat their keeper. 2-2
Samalongkok scores again. 3-2.
Sebastian had to score to keep ARFC in the match and he duly obliged by beating their keeper. 3-3.
The shoot-out then goes to sudden death.
Samalongkok scores. 4-3
Everybody, including the referee, then had to wait for Blackburn as he was doing don’t-know-what in toilet!!
After an eternity, Blackburn appeared and dispatched the 4th kick to make it. 4-4.
Samalongkok scores again. 5-4.
Upstepped the very cool Elvis to slot home the kick. 5-5
Samalongkok’s next kick was superbly saved by Jinzhong who dived full-length to his left to punch away their kick ala Pepe Reina.
Hence, if Edwin scores his kick, ARFC would progress to the semi-final. However, Edwin sent his spot-kick high and wide. Still 5-5.
Samalongkok scores again. 6-5
ARFC then lost when Tjioe’s kick was saved by their keeper.
Despite losing, I am heartened by the great effort and determination shown by all warriors. It is not an easy task to play against an opponents who were at least 10 years ago, and with only one substitute whereas Samalongkok had at least 4 or 5 subs, and the fact that ARFC could hold on till the end was really commendable.
Man-of-the-Match has to be shared jointly by Jinzhong and Guoxiong.
ARFC received a huge blow when combative Ron had to pull out due to his tooth-extraction in the morning. Fortunately, ARFC scoring legend Haron made it to the match despite fasting which was a great sacrifice on his part.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Towering Toh (captain)
Left-back: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Dynamic Soon
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Sub:
ARFC scoring legend Haron
The aging ARFC warriors are expecting a very fit and fast team and true enough, Samalongkok came charging at us right from the kick-off. However, the very experienced ARFC held firm and managed to repel all attacks.
In the 17th min, ARFC could have opened the scoring after a relentless pressure resulted in their defender making a bad back-pass. Alvin latched on to the ball and sped right into the penalty box. However, with only their keeper to beat, Alvin placed the ball against the post and rebounded out to safety. Unforgivable miss!!
In the 20th min, Hee was replaced by Haron after receiving a knock at his elbow.
By the 35th min mark, ARFC warriors were tiring but still managed to hold the opponents at bay. In fact, on the stroke of half-time, ARFC could have taken the lead when Alvin again powered past their right-back and faced their keeper one-on-one. To the astonishment of every ARFC warrior, Alvin tried to square to Haron but the ball was played too far away and there goes another golden opportunity. Half-time 0-0
Needless to say, being at least 10 years older than Samalongkok, ARFC was merely hanging on in the 2nd half. Some very stout and clever defending from Guoxiong and Elvis managed to keep them out. Jinzhong also came up with a couple of stops and Edwin and Toh were commanding in the heart of defence and was able to deal comfortably with their Stoke-like throw-ins.
ARFC nearly conceded a goal in the 77th min. In the goal-mouth melee, the ball rolled along the goal-line but was eventually cleared away. In any case, the referee blew for a foul as Jinzhong’s left-hand was injured by the opponent.
The referee blew for full-time and the penalty shoot-out begins (only 3 kicks instead of the usual 5).
ARFC lost the toss and Samalongkok would take the first kick.
Samalongkok scores: 1-0.
Haron then leveled the score by sending their keeper the wrong way. 1-1.
Samalongkok scores again: 2-1.
Alvin then stepped up to easily beat their keeper. 2-2
Samalongkok scores again. 3-2.
Sebastian had to score to keep ARFC in the match and he duly obliged by beating their keeper. 3-3.
The shoot-out then goes to sudden death.
Samalongkok scores. 4-3
Everybody, including the referee, then had to wait for Blackburn as he was doing don’t-know-what in toilet!!
After an eternity, Blackburn appeared and dispatched the 4th kick to make it. 4-4.
Samalongkok scores again. 5-4.
Upstepped the very cool Elvis to slot home the kick. 5-5
Samalongkok’s next kick was superbly saved by Jinzhong who dived full-length to his left to punch away their kick ala Pepe Reina.
Hence, if Edwin scores his kick, ARFC would progress to the semi-final. However, Edwin sent his spot-kick high and wide. Still 5-5.
Samalongkok scores again. 6-5
ARFC then lost when Tjioe’s kick was saved by their keeper.
Despite losing, I am heartened by the great effort and determination shown by all warriors. It is not an easy task to play against an opponents who were at least 10 years ago, and with only one substitute whereas Samalongkok had at least 4 or 5 subs, and the fact that ARFC could hold on till the end was really commendable.
Man-of-the-Match has to be shared jointly by Jinzhong and Guoxiong.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Sublime Khim exceeding National Average Fertility Rate!!
On behalf of ARFC, I would like to congratulate Khim and Brenda for their 2nd parenthood. Their very lovely daughter, Dylis Tan Ke Qi, was born on 18 Aug 2009 @ 1038 hrs with a weight of 3.250 kg.
On behalf of the Prime Minister of Singapore, I would like to say a big 'Thank You' to Khim and Brenda for exceeding and boosting our national average for fertility rate.
These are the pictures of Dylis:
On behalf of the Prime Minister of Singapore, I would like to say a big 'Thank You' to Khim and Brenda for exceeding and boosting our national average for fertility rate.
These are the pictures of Dylis:
Sunday, August 23, 2009
ARFC in baffling 2-1 defeat
Playing in front of 77,777 fans including Anna (Elvis’ wife) and Tracie (Guoxiong’s beau), ARFC suffered a very undeserving 2-1 defeat to Mammoet despite camping at their half for almost the entire 2nd half!!
ARFC welcomed back Toh (illness), Tong (injury) and Elvis (reservist) but Tjioe continued to be out after his injury last week. ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong (captain)
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Sub:
Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
ARFC started with a lone forward Alvin in a bid to reverse the defeat against the same team just 3 weeks earlier. The moved reaped dividends in the 17th min after some persistent pressing by Tong and Soon resulted in the poor back pass by their defender. In a flash, Alvin intercepted the ball and duly used his outside-right foot to shoot home for his 102nd goal. 1-0
Elvis then replaced Hee who requested the sub and Blackburn moved up to left-mid with Elvis taking the left-back slot.
However, history repeated itself just like the same match against the same opponent. From 2 lapses, ARFC conceded 2 goals to trail 1-2 at half-time.
As Tong has to leave due to praying session, ARFC reverted to 4-4-2 in the 2nd half, with Blackburn joining Alvin in attack and Soon switching to right-mid.
Just mins into the 2nd half, ARFC almost equalized after Sebastian’s corner fell to Soon whose first shot was blocked by their defender on the line. From the rebound, Soon’s shot hit the post and rebounded to safety. Unlucky!!
ARFC was now firing on all cylinders and created so many chances. Particularly, Hee broke clear but was cruelly upended by their last defender. However, the referee merely awarded a free-kick and only booked the defender. From the free-kick, Sebastian’s curling shot just sailed slightly over.
Alvin was also upended at the similar position later. This time the referee did not even booked the offender. Edwin’s resultant free-kick was way too high.
ARFC came close to an equalizer after Alvin’s corner was headed out. Sebastian brought down the loose ball and lobbed everybody but the ball hit the cross-bar. Unlucky again!!
By now, the opponents clearly could not cope with ARFC’s play and resorted to ugly fouls which you see from the Argentina national team and league teams. The lenient referee clearly aided their fouls.
Guoxiong came to ARFC’s rescue when he headed the ball away from the goal-line after their corner almost headed to an empty net. Great defending ala Ashley Cole.
Edwin also ensured ARFC did not fall further behind after he came out tops in his duel against 2 forwards ala Alan Hansen. Fantastic!!
Tried as it could, ARFC simply could not get the equalizer as the opponents “parked a bus in front of their goal”. Real baffling defeat!!
ARFC welcomed back Toh (illness), Tong (injury) and Elvis (reservist) but Tjioe continued to be out after his injury last week. ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Elegant Edwin
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unpredictable Blackburn
Right-mid: Hardworking Tong (captain)
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Sub:
Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
ARFC started with a lone forward Alvin in a bid to reverse the defeat against the same team just 3 weeks earlier. The moved reaped dividends in the 17th min after some persistent pressing by Tong and Soon resulted in the poor back pass by their defender. In a flash, Alvin intercepted the ball and duly used his outside-right foot to shoot home for his 102nd goal. 1-0
Elvis then replaced Hee who requested the sub and Blackburn moved up to left-mid with Elvis taking the left-back slot.
However, history repeated itself just like the same match against the same opponent. From 2 lapses, ARFC conceded 2 goals to trail 1-2 at half-time.
As Tong has to leave due to praying session, ARFC reverted to 4-4-2 in the 2nd half, with Blackburn joining Alvin in attack and Soon switching to right-mid.
Just mins into the 2nd half, ARFC almost equalized after Sebastian’s corner fell to Soon whose first shot was blocked by their defender on the line. From the rebound, Soon’s shot hit the post and rebounded to safety. Unlucky!!
ARFC was now firing on all cylinders and created so many chances. Particularly, Hee broke clear but was cruelly upended by their last defender. However, the referee merely awarded a free-kick and only booked the defender. From the free-kick, Sebastian’s curling shot just sailed slightly over.
Alvin was also upended at the similar position later. This time the referee did not even booked the offender. Edwin’s resultant free-kick was way too high.
ARFC came close to an equalizer after Alvin’s corner was headed out. Sebastian brought down the loose ball and lobbed everybody but the ball hit the cross-bar. Unlucky again!!
By now, the opponents clearly could not cope with ARFC’s play and resorted to ugly fouls which you see from the Argentina national team and league teams. The lenient referee clearly aided their fouls.
Guoxiong came to ARFC’s rescue when he headed the ball away from the goal-line after their corner almost headed to an empty net. Great defending ala Ashley Cole.
Edwin also ensured ARFC did not fall further behind after he came out tops in his duel against 2 forwards ala Alan Hansen. Fantastic!!
Tried as it could, ARFC simply could not get the equalizer as the opponents “parked a bus in front of their goal”. Real baffling defeat!!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
10-men ARFC soldiered on for 3-0 victory
Powered by an inspired display from hardman Tjioe, 10-men ARFC dismissed the strong challenge of K-1-K 3-0 at Ahmad Ibrahim SS in front of 77,777 fans. This was ARFC’s 30th match and 23rd victory in 2009.
ARFC suffered huge blows when Toh (severely sick) and Tong (leg pain) pulled out just hours before the match, leaving ARFC with just 10 warriors. In the pre-match briefing, ARFC was urged to play intelligent possession football due to the shortage of warriors. Furthermore, Alvin was sick and Soon had just ran 20 km in the morning!!
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong (captain)
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Uncompromising Edwin
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Influential Sebastian
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
In a vote of confidence to Jinzhong (for his poor display in the last match), he was made captain of the day. This served to motivate Jinzhong as he would later pull off several miraculous saves to preserve ARFC’s lead.
The match was just minutes old when ARFC opened the scoring. In a ping-pong tussle, Soon headed the ball over their defence and Alvin shrugged off his sick-bug to power clear and tone-joe the ball home for his 101st ARFC goal. This goal rattled the opponents who seemed deflated by this quick goal. 1-0
ARFC nearly went 2 goals up after Hee superbly trapped down a cross from Blackburn from the right and duly volleyed home ala Paul Scholes. However, his goal was correctly ruled out for a slight shove on the defender. Unlucky!!
ARFC was not to be denied in the 27th min. Again, Soon was the architect when he sent Alvin through on goal. Alvin rounded the keeper and was brought down by their keeper giving the referee an easy decision to point to the spot. Despite some antics by the opponent to distract him, Sebastian shut out all disturbances by coolly sending their keeper the wrong way for his 70th ARFC goal.
Sebastian’s goal also allowed him to move past the previous ARFC’s scoring great, Robin’s 69 goals, making Sebastian the 4th other ARFC warriors, the other 3 being Haron, Alvin and Blackburn, to move ahead of Robin.
ARFC suffered a scare when Tjioe was injured during a challenge. Thankfully, he soldiered on, showed his leadership qualities and came back in to help out ARFC. Big credit to him.
In the second half, ARFC merely held out and repelled all their attacks. Jinzhong came out tops yet again when he pushed a violent shot over the bar. World-class!! Simply world-class.
ARFC scored its 3rd goal in the 77th min to effectively killed off the game. Blackburn’s corner looked to be safely caught by their keeper until Hee showed Miroslav Klose-like quality and leaped like a fish by jumping about 1.77 metres above ground to head the ball into the unguarded net for his 68th ARFC goal. Superb!!Brilliant!! Fantastic!!
ARFC held out for a 3-0 victory which bolstered its chances of promotion to Div I. This was also a match where every warriors covered each other very well and all put in superlative efforts to secure this victory. This must be one of the best matches that ARFC ever played.
These are the performance comments of ARFC:
Jinzhong – Truly a captain’s display. Showed very safe-handling and produced several world-class saves to secure a clean sheet yet again. Very Neville Southall-like performance.
Guoxiong – Yet another superb display at right back. Gave opponents no chance at all with his super tackles and recovery. Also, made some surging runs down the right flank. Played like Cafu and Daniel Alves.
Edwin – Marshalled defence very well with his clever interceptions and off-side traps. Played like Alan Hansen.
Ron – Very Carragher-like display with his incessant closing down of opponents whenever they are near him.
Sebastian – Usual display but crucial in organizing the midfield with his shoutings from defence. Cool penalty scored.
Hee – Justified his Most Improved Player with yet another display. Lent great support to Alvin who is lone striker, and also aided Sebastian greatly in defence. Wonderful headed goal which is usually scored by Toh. With this performance, even our very own Khim, who is recognized by every ARFC warrior to be the most complete footballer ever to don an ARFC jersey, would have problems dislodging Hee from the left-midfield position.
Blackburn – Cool display and came out with a great corner scored by Hee.
Soon – Yet another Mascherano-like performance despite his 20 km run in the morning. The opponents could not cope with his tireless running. Re-entered the field after coming down with cramps early in the 2nd half. Great sacrifice for the team.
Tjioe – This must be the BEST performance for him in an ARFC shirt and reminded everyone what Tjioe was during his early ARFC career. His power and strength completed dominated the entire midfield but what was more heartening was that he soldiered on despite taking some heavy knocks at his ankle. This is the spirit that every ARFC warrior should aspire for. A performance that reminded everyone of a certain Roy Keane or Bryan Robson.
Alvin – Whenever he chased after the loose balls played to him, the defenders seemed to fear him. Despite not feeling well, Alvin came up with the goods and if he can produce similar performances by going after the balls, he would conjure up more goals and assists for ARFC. Very Torres-like performance.
Also, for the first time in history, Sebastian did not name his personal Man-of-the-Match. Instead, he polled all 10 warriors in the match and these are their choices:
Warrior Their choice
Jinzhong Tjioe
Guoxiong Soon
Sebastian Tjioe
Edwin Tjioe
Ron Tjioe
Soon Jinzhong
Tjioe Ron
Blackburn Soon
Hee Soon
Alvin Ron
So, the collective ARFC Man-of-the-Match is Tjioe with 4 votes which is very very logical and good choice.
But I also want to add that the other 3 choices, Soon, Ron and Jinzhong, are also good candidates for this award as they also put up fantastic displays!!
ARFC suffered huge blows when Toh (severely sick) and Tong (leg pain) pulled out just hours before the match, leaving ARFC with just 10 warriors. In the pre-match briefing, ARFC was urged to play intelligent possession football due to the shortage of warriors. Furthermore, Alvin was sick and Soon had just ran 20 km in the morning!!
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong (captain)
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Uncompromising Edwin
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Influential Sebastian
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
In a vote of confidence to Jinzhong (for his poor display in the last match), he was made captain of the day. This served to motivate Jinzhong as he would later pull off several miraculous saves to preserve ARFC’s lead.
The match was just minutes old when ARFC opened the scoring. In a ping-pong tussle, Soon headed the ball over their defence and Alvin shrugged off his sick-bug to power clear and tone-joe the ball home for his 101st ARFC goal. This goal rattled the opponents who seemed deflated by this quick goal. 1-0
ARFC nearly went 2 goals up after Hee superbly trapped down a cross from Blackburn from the right and duly volleyed home ala Paul Scholes. However, his goal was correctly ruled out for a slight shove on the defender. Unlucky!!
ARFC was not to be denied in the 27th min. Again, Soon was the architect when he sent Alvin through on goal. Alvin rounded the keeper and was brought down by their keeper giving the referee an easy decision to point to the spot. Despite some antics by the opponent to distract him, Sebastian shut out all disturbances by coolly sending their keeper the wrong way for his 70th ARFC goal.
Sebastian’s goal also allowed him to move past the previous ARFC’s scoring great, Robin’s 69 goals, making Sebastian the 4th other ARFC warriors, the other 3 being Haron, Alvin and Blackburn, to move ahead of Robin.
ARFC suffered a scare when Tjioe was injured during a challenge. Thankfully, he soldiered on, showed his leadership qualities and came back in to help out ARFC. Big credit to him.
In the second half, ARFC merely held out and repelled all their attacks. Jinzhong came out tops yet again when he pushed a violent shot over the bar. World-class!! Simply world-class.
ARFC scored its 3rd goal in the 77th min to effectively killed off the game. Blackburn’s corner looked to be safely caught by their keeper until Hee showed Miroslav Klose-like quality and leaped like a fish by jumping about 1.77 metres above ground to head the ball into the unguarded net for his 68th ARFC goal. Superb!!Brilliant!! Fantastic!!
ARFC held out for a 3-0 victory which bolstered its chances of promotion to Div I. This was also a match where every warriors covered each other very well and all put in superlative efforts to secure this victory. This must be one of the best matches that ARFC ever played.
These are the performance comments of ARFC:
Jinzhong – Truly a captain’s display. Showed very safe-handling and produced several world-class saves to secure a clean sheet yet again. Very Neville Southall-like performance.
Guoxiong – Yet another superb display at right back. Gave opponents no chance at all with his super tackles and recovery. Also, made some surging runs down the right flank. Played like Cafu and Daniel Alves.
Edwin – Marshalled defence very well with his clever interceptions and off-side traps. Played like Alan Hansen.
Ron – Very Carragher-like display with his incessant closing down of opponents whenever they are near him.
Sebastian – Usual display but crucial in organizing the midfield with his shoutings from defence. Cool penalty scored.
Hee – Justified his Most Improved Player with yet another display. Lent great support to Alvin who is lone striker, and also aided Sebastian greatly in defence. Wonderful headed goal which is usually scored by Toh. With this performance, even our very own Khim, who is recognized by every ARFC warrior to be the most complete footballer ever to don an ARFC jersey, would have problems dislodging Hee from the left-midfield position.
Blackburn – Cool display and came out with a great corner scored by Hee.
Soon – Yet another Mascherano-like performance despite his 20 km run in the morning. The opponents could not cope with his tireless running. Re-entered the field after coming down with cramps early in the 2nd half. Great sacrifice for the team.
Tjioe – This must be the BEST performance for him in an ARFC shirt and reminded everyone what Tjioe was during his early ARFC career. His power and strength completed dominated the entire midfield but what was more heartening was that he soldiered on despite taking some heavy knocks at his ankle. This is the spirit that every ARFC warrior should aspire for. A performance that reminded everyone of a certain Roy Keane or Bryan Robson.
Alvin – Whenever he chased after the loose balls played to him, the defenders seemed to fear him. Despite not feeling well, Alvin came up with the goods and if he can produce similar performances by going after the balls, he would conjure up more goals and assists for ARFC. Very Torres-like performance.
Also, for the first time in history, Sebastian did not name his personal Man-of-the-Match. Instead, he polled all 10 warriors in the match and these are their choices:
Warrior Their choice
Jinzhong Tjioe
Guoxiong Soon
Sebastian Tjioe
Edwin Tjioe
Ron Tjioe
Soon Jinzhong
Tjioe Ron
Blackburn Soon
Hee Soon
Alvin Ron
So, the collective ARFC Man-of-the-Match is Tjioe with 4 votes which is very very logical and good choice.
But I also want to add that the other 3 choices, Soon, Ron and Jinzhong, are also good candidates for this award as they also put up fantastic displays!!
Monday, August 03, 2009
ARFC in 1-4 melt-down
In a 5 pm kick-off match against Mammoet at the brand-new and much-improved Braddell-Westlake SS, ARFC suffered a 4-1 defeat in front of 77,777 fans including Anna (wife of Elvis) and the entire family of Blackburn.
ARFC was boosted by the return of hardman Tjioe who made a miraculous recovery from his injured back to take the field. To prove his fitness level, he even turned up at 3 pm to jog around the school compound 77 laps.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Influential Sebastian
Right-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe (captain)
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Sub:
Unpredictable Blackburn
ARFC was in great mood and morale especially after last Saturday’s awards night where Soon was unanimously crowned the Player of the Year & Players’ Player of the Year. Hence, it was no surprise that ARF totally dominated the first 20 mins.
Inspired by the award, Son opened the scoring in the 17th min. Exchanging a very clever one-two with Haron who made it looked so simple, Soon dashed clear and reached the ball ahead of their keeper. Side-stepping their keeper, Soon slotted home for his 20th ARFC goal. 1-0
Strange enough, ARFC turned very complacent after the goal and did not compete at all. In the27th min, Guoxiong again made a Jamie Carragher-like recovery tackle after a mistake by Jinzhong nearly gifted them an easy goal. Wonderful defending!!
From 2 shots, the opponents then scored 2 goals!!
During the half-time break, the ‘Special Star Award’ was given out by Wenhui to her husband Blackburn for his always full attendance and playing in many positions from keeper to striker.
ARFC tried to mount a come-back in the 2nd half but was let down by many many misplaced passes. It did not help that ARFC lost out in many challenges.
ARFC looked to have equalized in the 67th min. Soon made space down the right flank and his Beckham-like cross eluded everyone to the waiting Alvin at the far post. With a gaping goal, Alvin incredibly headed wide!!
Chasing the match, ARFC had no choice but to push up to find the equalizer and was punished in the 80th min when they scored from a counter-attack. 1-3.
Toh could have pulled a goal back but his thunderous header came off the cross-bar.
In the dying mins, they scored from a free-kick. 1-4.
In all honesty, ARFC did not put in a fight and was deservedly beaten. The opponents also played a great game and all credit to them.
ARFC must learn that effort and hardwork are essential in every match and all warriors must work hard for the each other and for the team, and be prepared to challenge and fight for every ball.
ARFC was boosted by the return of hardman Tjioe who made a miraculous recovery from his injured back to take the field. To prove his fitness level, he even turned up at 3 pm to jog around the school compound 77 laps.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Influential Sebastian
Right-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe (captain)
Centre-mid: Combative Ron
Left-mid: Speedy Hee
Striker: ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Sub:
Unpredictable Blackburn
ARFC was in great mood and morale especially after last Saturday’s awards night where Soon was unanimously crowned the Player of the Year & Players’ Player of the Year. Hence, it was no surprise that ARF totally dominated the first 20 mins.
Inspired by the award, Son opened the scoring in the 17th min. Exchanging a very clever one-two with Haron who made it looked so simple, Soon dashed clear and reached the ball ahead of their keeper. Side-stepping their keeper, Soon slotted home for his 20th ARFC goal. 1-0
Strange enough, ARFC turned very complacent after the goal and did not compete at all. In the27th min, Guoxiong again made a Jamie Carragher-like recovery tackle after a mistake by Jinzhong nearly gifted them an easy goal. Wonderful defending!!
From 2 shots, the opponents then scored 2 goals!!
During the half-time break, the ‘Special Star Award’ was given out by Wenhui to her husband Blackburn for his always full attendance and playing in many positions from keeper to striker.
ARFC tried to mount a come-back in the 2nd half but was let down by many many misplaced passes. It did not help that ARFC lost out in many challenges.
ARFC looked to have equalized in the 67th min. Soon made space down the right flank and his Beckham-like cross eluded everyone to the waiting Alvin at the far post. With a gaping goal, Alvin incredibly headed wide!!
Chasing the match, ARFC had no choice but to push up to find the equalizer and was punished in the 80th min when they scored from a counter-attack. 1-3.
Toh could have pulled a goal back but his thunderous header came off the cross-bar.
In the dying mins, they scored from a free-kick. 1-4.
In all honesty, ARFC did not put in a fight and was deservedly beaten. The opponents also played a great game and all credit to them.
ARFC must learn that effort and hardwork are essential in every match and all warriors must work hard for the each other and for the team, and be prepared to challenge and fight for every ball.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
ARFC Awards Winners
At the ARFC Awards Night on 25 Jul 09 at the East Coast chalet, the ARFC warriors enjoyed themselves thoroughly and it was a shame that more warriors did not turn up for the joyous occasion. I will try my best to put up some photos. These are the winners:
Player of the Year - Soon (this award comes with $100 cash);
Most Improved Player of the Year - Hee;
Special Star Award - Blackburn;
Top Scorer - Alvin;
Supporters of the Year - Suhana + Afiqah;
Players' Choice (1st) - Soon (58 points);
Players' Choice (2nd) - Alvin (35 points);
Players' Choice (3rd) - Toh (34 points);
Players' Choice (4th) - Sebastian (26 points);
Players' Choice (5th) - Guoxiong (25 points).
Special mention to Alvin, Jinzhong and Blackburn for achieving the full attendance of 14 matches for the tournament matches.
Special thanks to all those who turned up namely Jinzhong, Elvis + Anna, Guoxiong + Tracie, Sebastian + Caren, Alvin + Irene, Soon, Tong, Hee, Haron + Su + Afiqah + kids, Toh + wife + Gerrard and last but not least Boon for making a cameo appearance and act as a photographer.
Cheers!!!!
Player of the Year - Soon (this award comes with $100 cash);
Most Improved Player of the Year - Hee;
Special Star Award - Blackburn;
Top Scorer - Alvin;
Supporters of the Year - Suhana + Afiqah;
Players' Choice (1st) - Soon (58 points);
Players' Choice (2nd) - Alvin (35 points);
Players' Choice (3rd) - Toh (34 points);
Players' Choice (4th) - Sebastian (26 points);
Players' Choice (5th) - Guoxiong (25 points).
Special mention to Alvin, Jinzhong and Blackburn for achieving the full attendance of 14 matches for the tournament matches.
Special thanks to all those who turned up namely Jinzhong, Elvis + Anna, Guoxiong + Tracie, Sebastian + Caren, Alvin + Irene, Soon, Tong, Hee, Haron + Su + Afiqah + kids, Toh + wife + Gerrard and last but not least Boon for making a cameo appearance and act as a photographer.
Cheers!!!!
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