Playing a friendly match under scorching weather at ITE Balestier, ARFC brushed aside the stubborn challenge of Temasek Royals 5-2 in front of 177,777 fanatical fans which included Anna and Tracie, wives-to-be of Elvis and Guoxiong respectively, Khim’s lovely wife Brenda and super-duper cute son Dylan, and some supporters from Guoxiong’s shop.
The reasons for the big turn-out of 177,777 were two-fold – Khim makes his appearance after many weeks out and also the fans got news that ARFC is planning to field its youngest-ever warrior in the form of a 13 year-old keeper, Liew Chun Haw. Yes, you heard it right – 13 year-old keeper who is very highly-rated.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Liew Chun Haw
Right-back: Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Uncompromising Edwin
Right-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Hardman Tjioe (captain)
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Sublime Khim
Striker: Speedy Hee
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Unpredictable Blackburn
Marauding Boon
Due to the extremely-hot weather, ARFC could not get its game going in the opening minutes and was rather gingerly in its passing and movement. Thankfully, ARFC’s defence held firm and did not concede any goal.
It took all of 17 mins for ARFC to settle its nerves. Captain of the day Tjioe won possession and passed to Khim who spotted Hee making a diagonal run. His pass pierced through and Hee broke clear to beat their keeper with a sliding shot for his 65th ARFC goal.
ARFC doubled its lead just mins later. Edwin (or Blackburn?) chipped in a ball to the left wing for Alvin to chase. Using a combination of power and pace, Alvin shrugged off the determined challenge of their defender and brought the ball right up to the left touch-line. His excellent square ball was perfect for Hee to run in and side-footed the ball home for his 66th ARFC goal.
Just moments before the first half, ARFC scored its 3rd goal with a classic text-book goal right from the training ground. Blackburn’s corner was headed downwards by Edwin to Alvin who was just inside the 6-yard box. With a swivel, Alvin expertly flicked the ball past their keeper for his 95th ARFC goal. 3-0
In the 2nd half, ARFC seemed to be still in dreamland and allowed the opponents to pull a goal back just 77 seconds after the re-start. 3-1.
In the 57th min, ARFC won a free-kick which was taken by Blackburn. The half-cleared ball was picked up by Hee who laid the ball to Sebastian just outside the penalty box. Without hesitation, Sebastian used his instep to “pass” the ball into the net, the ball taking 3 bounces and fooling everybody in the crowded penalty box. This was his 68th ARFC goal. 4-1
The opponents pulled another goal back after they broke our off-side trap. 4-2
ARFC scored its 5th goal after Blackburn’s precise corner was met by who else but Toh. Though in a stooping position, Toh shrugged off his marker to power home for his 33rd ARFC goal. 5-2
ARFC could have scored more goals but Alvin’s powerful shot came off the post while Soon also struck the bar.
Back to our youngest debutant Chuan Haw, he put in a very impressive debut. The 2 goals conceded were not his fault and more importantly, he came up with 2 one-on-one saves to save the tiring ARFC warriors. Also, his handling was calm and composed though his kicking needs more power. Overall, for a 13 year-old playing his first game with adults and big goal-post, it was a real impressive outing for Chun Haw.
Man-of-the-match goes to Hee who harassed their opponents no end. Also, Alvin, Toh, Elvis, Tjioe and Boon also impressed.
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