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.

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

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……

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......

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.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.