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.
No comments:
Post a Comment