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.