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.