ARFC in very freakish loss

In its 2nd Cup match at Woodgrove SS, ARFC conceded an extremely freakish goal to go down 1-2 to Unico FC. With the loss, ARFC's hope of qualifying for the knock-out round hangs in the balance.

ARFC was supported by Anna and Irene, beau of Elvis and Alvin respectively. Prior to the match, ARFC was rocked by the late withdrawal of Haron (swollen left eye) and Ron (work commitment). Hee also failed to recover from his right knee injury and could not make it to the match. Once again, Sebastian had to risk his still-injured left knee to take the field as there are only 11 warriors present.

ARFC started with this line-up:

GK - Weili (guest keeper)

RB - Hard-running Guoxiong

SW - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

CB - Towering Toh

LB - Unbeatable Darren

RM - Talisman Derrick

CM - Dynamic Soon

CM - Hardman Tjioe

CM - Influential Sebastian

LM - Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)

SC - Powerful Alvin

The 1st half beloned entirely to ARFC as it took complete control of match proceeding with its neat passes, support and movements off the ball. Derrick spurned 2 good chances within 15 mins though the good point is that he had gone into the scoring position.

Toh also threatened with his aerial prowess when, from a Blackburn corner, he outjumped their defender but headed just wide.

Darren was next to miss narrowly when he connected with Sebastian's free-kick from the left but his header flew across the goal-mouth for a goal-kick.

After incessant pressuring, ARFC finally took the lead. Guoxiong brought the ball upwards from his right-back position and passed to Soon. With a clever flick over their defender, Soon burst clear down the right flank and floated in a cross to Alvin. Unmarked, Alvin did not disappoint the team, fans and Irene when he expertedly nodded home for his 114th ARFC goal. 1-0.

Just mins before the break, a rather dubious off-side decision goes against ARFC and they equalised. This is probably their only chance in the half. 1-1

In the 2nd half, ARFC continued where it started and still dominated play. However, it could not capitalised on several free-kicks and corner kicks floated in.

Disaster struck in the 57th min. Elvis made a back pass to Weili, whose kicking was nightmarish all day, who delayed his clearance. When he finally cleared the ball, their player stuck out a foot and the ball hit him and rolled into the empty net for a totally-freakish goal!!! 1-2

ARFC pressed hard for an equaliser but all efforts were futile and ARFC continued its winless streak in year 2010.

This was a match that ARFC totally did not deserve to lose. Football can be cruel and when the chances are not taken and some complacency crept in, such freak thing would happen. Also, the opponents pressed hard and challenged for every ball which is a good trait for every team.

However, the point worth mentioning is that all warriors played well, including Sebastian who can only function with his right foot due to his crocked left knee, and this defeat was really a bitter pill to swallow.

Man-of-the-Match is Derrick for winning many free-kicks as the opponent could not cope with his trickery and wing-play. Soon came close too. Credit to Tjioe as well for soldiering on despite his severe hang-over after drinking too much over Man Utd's win over Hull last night.

Cup match this Sunday (24 Jan 2010)

2nd Cup Match details:

24 Jan 2010 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Woodgrove Sec Sch
@ junction of Woodlands Ave 1 x Ave 6.
Good grass pitch.

Opponent is Unico FC.

Bring both colours.

Pls e-mail to Sebastian of your availability. Thanks.

ARFC in gallant 4-7 loss

Due to the walk-over victory over FC Nitroz, ARFC played a friendly match on Sunday instead against a very young and fit team. In the absence of Sebastian who was "cruising away", Alvin + Derrick took charge of the team on his behalf.

ARFC started with this 4-3-3 line-up:

GK - Weili (guest keeper from Rendezvous FC)
Sweeper - Astute-reading Sweeper Elvis
Stopper - Towering Toh
RB - Hard-running Guoxiong
LB - Unbeatable Darren
CM - Hardman Tjioe
CM - Combative Ron
CM - Dynamic Soon
RF - Speedy Hee
LF - Unpredictable Blackburn
CF - ARFC Scoring Legand Haron

Subs:

Powerful Alvin
Talisman Derrick


Tjioe gave ARFC the lead for his 54th ARFC only for the opponent to equalise. Toh regained ARFC's lead with his 37th ARFC goal but the opponent drew level again.

At 2-2, Alvin and Derrick replaced Ron and Tjioe respectively and ARFC reverted to 4-4-2 formation. Alvin partnered Haron upfront with Derrick going to RF, Hee gone to LF and Blackburn paired up with Soon in the middle.

The opponent took the lead for the 1st time, but Soon pegged them back with his 26th ARFC goal. 3-3 now.

Alvin then scored his 113th ARFC goal to give ARFC a 4-3 lead at the break.

Unfortunately, Toh had to leave for a wedding dinner and hence Ron took over the stopper position. Due to the fitness of the opponent, ARFC conceded 4 goals in the 2nd half for a 4-7 defeat.

Though defeated, nothing can take away the commendable performance of ARFC especially in the 1st half. According to ESPN pundit Serbegath Singh, ARFC lost not because of inferior skills but mainly due to the better fitness of the opponent. Also, ARFC only had one sub for the 2nd half.

Special thanks to Toh for turning up despite a wedding dinner engagement. Also to Guoxiong for sacrificing his "furniture-buying" trip with Tracie to play in this match.

Walk-over for ARFC over FC Nitroz

ARFC enjoyed a 3-0 walk-over victory over FC Nitroz in its 7th league match. However, ARFC remained 3rd in the table as both Team BI and The OC also chalked up wins in their respective match.

7th League Match Details

17 Jan 2010 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Serangoon Sec Sch
Opponent is FC Nitroz
Pls bring RED jerseys

Pls e-mail your availability to Sebastian.

Alvin + Derrick will be in-charge of this match for Sunday as Sebastian is out of town.

Goals scored by each ARFC warrior in 2009 + wishes for 2010

These are the goals scored by each ARFC warrior in the calendar year 2009:

Alvin - 36 goals;
Haron - 23 goals;
Soon - 15 goals;
Blackburn - 13 goals;
Hee - 11 goals;
Sebastian - 11 goals;
Toh - 9 goals;
Tjioe - 8 goals;
Khim - 7 goals;
Edwin - 4 goals;
Guoxiong - 4 goals;
Derrick - 3 goals;
Kenny - 3 goals;
Tong - 2 goals;
Elvis - 1 goal;
Andrew - 1 goal;
Jeffrey - 1 goal;
Damian - 1 goal;
Own goal - 1 goal.

Out of these, I am particularly pleased to see both Edwin and Guoxiong, as defenders and not usual goal scorers, contributing to our goal tally. Elvis also has a solitary goal to his name. As per normal, our top scoring defender remains Toh who has 9 goals mostly from headers, thereby cementing his nickname as Towering Toh.

As for midfielders, Soon was handsomely rewarded for his never-ending energy during matches by chalking 15 goals; while Tjioe looked to have regained his past prowess by netting 8 goals. Despite not playing in many matches, Khim still manage to weigh in with 7 goals. Aging warriors like Blackburn, Sebastian and Hee performed slightly above expectations by having 13, 11 and 11 goals respectively to their accounts. As usual, the bulk of ARFC's goals came from our deadly striking duo, Alvin and Haron, who unsurprisingly topped the chart with 36 and 23 goals respectively.

Derrick also scored 3 goals despite re-joining ARFC after his injury nightmare which kept him out for most part of 2009, and Tong had 2 goals to his name. Damian, Jeffrey and Andrew netted 1 goal each despite appearing in only a couple of matches. One of our latest addition, Kenny already clocked up 3 goals.

My wishes (in terms of goal-scoring and goal-keeping) in 2010 are these:

(i) Jinzhong to score 1 goal and keep more clean sheets;

(ii) Ron and Darren to open their goal account;

(iii) Haron to reach 200 goals!!!!! (current tally is 156 goals) ;

(iv) Alvin to reach 150 goals!!! (current tally is 112 goals);

(v) Jeffrey to score 1 more goal to reach 50 goals to get an award;

(vi) Khim to reach 50 goals to get an award also (current tally is 43 goals);

(vii) Blackburn to reach 100 goals!!! (current tally is 86 goals);

and finally.......

(viii) Both David and Boon to at least increase their current tally of 23 and 7 goals respectively which has been standing still since god knows when........ ;p

ARFC rues misses in narrow loss

Playing its 6th league match against league leaders Team BI, ARFC missed a spate of great chances to go down 3-4 at XinMin SS in front of its usual supporters, Anna, Tracie, Cerine and Lingzhi, WAGs of Elvis, Guoxiong, Jinzhong and Ron respectively. With this loss, ARFC suffered its first league defeat of the season.

ARFC started with this line-up:

GK - Dependable Jinzhong
RB - Hard-running Guoxiong
SW - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
DC - Combative Ron
LB - Unbeatable Darren
CM - Influential Sebastian
CM - Hardman Tjioe
RM - Hardworking Tong
LM - Unpredictable Blackburn
SC - ARFC scoring legend Haron (captain)
SC - Speedy Hee

Subs:

Powerful Alvin
Talisman Derrick
Nippy Kenny
Dynamic Soon

ARFC had a nightmarish start when the match was just mins old. Off a free-kick, ARFC failed to deal with the ball played in and conceded a looping header.

ARFC did not allow this minor setback to affect its play and nearly equalised in the 17th min. Sebastian chipped in a high lobbing ball and in came Guoxiong who broke their off-side trap. However, his inexperience in front of goal showed when he hesitated and the chance was lost.

Haron then showed wonderful skill to fool their defender with a juggle but his shot was slightly wide.

Alvin was next to miss after being set up in the box.

ARFC was made to pay for its wastefulness when Team BI scored from a corner as their player was again unchallenged. 0-2.

Captain Haron gave a rousing speech during the half-time break by rallying that ARFC warriors should and must play with pride and showed semangat.

All took heed when play resumed. Within 7 mins, ARFC pulled a goal back. Blackburn did well to control the ball in the box and fired in a shot that was parried by their keeper. Haron reacted quickest to the loose ball by sticking his foot out to roll the ball into the empty net for his 156th ARFC goal. 1-2 now.

Alvin could have equalised but his placed shot hit their keeper's out-stretched foot for a corner.

ARFC then conceded a contentious goal as their scorer appeared to be off-side. 1-3.

ARFC did not give up and continued its relentless assault at their goal. Hee displayed his world-class speed when he outsped their defender despite being at least 10 metres behind. However, his weak shot after sprinting was saved by their keeper.

ARFC scored its 2nd goal in the match after Sebastian's free-kick caused panic in their box. Latching onto the loose ball, Tjioe whipped in a shot that any keeper in the world would not be able to save. 2-3 now and it was Tjioe's 53th ARFC goal.

With ARFC chasing the match, space tend to be aplenty at the back and ARFC conceded a goal from a counter-attack. 2-4.

ARFC was not done. After a quick one-two with Derrick, Soon broke clear at the right flank and sent in a cross that somehow sailed over their keeper ala Ronaldinho's goal against England in 2002 World Cup. 3-4 and it was Soon's 25th ARFC goal.

This was a match that ARFC was really unlucky to lose. Though Team BI had more of the ball and even hit the bar in the 2nd half from a corner, ARFC had the better scoring chances. On a better day, Alvin could have scored 2 goals in the match. In all honesty, a draw would have been a fairer result.

Despite the loss, ARFC could walked away with its heads held high and all warriors did very well. Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Ron, Tjioe and Soon.

Credit must be given to Team BI for being a sporting team, especially when Jinzhong was injured on the stroke of half-time. Without delay, their players and even their very friendly team manager came over and helped attend to our injured keeper. Good footballing team with great sportsmanship....

6th League Match Details

10 Jan 2010 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Xin Min Sec Sch (think it's at Hougang Ave 8)
Bring both colours
Opponent is Team BI

Pls arrive latest at 1440 hrs.

We have played on the field a few times before. It was the same field where Elvis scored a wonder world-class solo goal..... :)

Happy New Year

ARFC would like to wish all warriors and their love ones a Happy New Year ahead....

Cheers....